Countywide : Silver Strand Beach’s Guardian Angels Receive Honors

They call themselves the Life Guardian Angels.

They surf at Silver Strand Beach during the winter when there are no lifeguards on duty and the strong riptide and surf can suck swimmers out to sea or pummel them into the rocks.

In April alone they rescued more than 20 swimmers. For their efforts, the seven were honored Tuesday with commendations from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

They describe themselves as a loose-knit group of friends who live in the Silver Strand area near Port Hueneme. Most work summers as paid lifeguards at the one-mile stretch of beach. During the winter they work other jobs and spend virtually all their free time surfing.

“Every weekend there are four or five of us out there,” said James (J. P.) McClelland, 27. “This is what we do. When we’re not surfing, our eyes are trained on the ocean, watching.”

They have pulled in boogie-boarders swept out by rip currents; they have assisted surfers who have lost their boards, and they have plucked people from capsized boats.

One morning just before Easter, Mark Makela, a member of the group, was getting ready to surf when he heard screams.

“A kid was ready to be sucked into the surf,” said Makela, 38. “There was no time to get on my wet suit.”

The boy, about 8, had been boogie-boarding and was caught in a rip current. Makela swam out to him on his board and saved him.

The group has been together for four or five winters. They don’t hold meetings or keep records. But they get together frequently as friends and talk about rescues.

What they also talk about is why the beach is staffed with lifeguards only during the summer, instead of year-round. They have urged the county to hire them as full-time lifeguards.

Manning the beach’s four lifeguard stations year-round isn’t likely for budget reasons, said Frank Anderson, manager of the Channel Islands Harbor.

“It’s a struggle to keep them on during the summer,” he said. The beach has lifeguards from June 15 through Sept. 7.

He said the beach had year-round lifeguards only during the late 1960s and early 1970s before Proposition 13 cut funding. They are needed more in the summer because more people use the beach then, he said.

Anderson, a longtime surfer, commended the men who make the winter rescues at Silver Strand, adding that surfers up and down the coast often make rescues.

“It’s clearly a service,” he said. “You always hear about all the bad things about surfers. You never hear about the many rescues.”