LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Michael Sabatino, Lawrence Alamain on “Days of Our Lives,” just returned from a family vacation along the California coast that he won’t soon forget. It seems his father proved to be a regular daredevil on the trip.

“I took two kayaks with us and everyone got a kick out of them,” he reports. “We had great fun out on the ocean with them. I looked up and saw my 73-year-old father sitting on a kayak riding a wave. If I had known that he was going to be out there, I would have panicked. Instead, when I saw him surfing the wave, I was quite impressed.”

Sabatino found out later that his father was well trained for his escapade.

“As it turns out, my father knew the beach better than I did,” Sabatino explains, “because he patroled it on horseback during a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II.”

The actor, who is leaving “Days,” is set to begin taping his first scenes for “The Bold and the Beautiful” in late September. There is still no word on a character name for Sabatino, who will portray a successful fashion designer.

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Fans missed seeing the manipulative and scheming Alexandra (Alex) Spaulding (1984-92), when Beverlee McKinsey left her longtime role on “The Guiding Light.” Well, there’s good news. The soap has signed Marj Dusay to re-create the role. Dusay, who is an expert at playing cunning and powerful women, should have no problem settling in. The storyline has Alex living in Europe and then turning up in the Indonesian jungle. It has been said that Alex will return to Springfield “in a most unusual way.”

The actress was last seen as Pamela Capwell on “Santa Barbara,” a role she created in 1987 and played for a year before being written out of the story. Dusay briefly returned on “Santa Barbara” in 1992.

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“Days of Our Lives” has brought back the popular, albeit evil, character of Stefano DiMera. Joseph Mascolo, who originated the role in 1982, resurrects Stefano (better known to “Days” followers as “The Phoenix”) from the dead for the fifth time.