GOING OVERBOARD

It’s finally starting to feel like summer outside, so the beach figures to be one of the hottest places to be this weekend.

Extremely hot, if your bikes, skates, feet or cars happen to lead you to Hermosa Beach.

I was there Wednesday and saw a kid from Brazil pull off a 540 McTwist, and that’s about as extreme as it gets if you’re a skateboarder.

Lincoln Ueda of Sao Paolo launched himself six feet in the air and performed a 1 1/2 twist while turning upside down, and then righted himself just in time to land on his board and skate away.

Or something like that.

The diminutive but powerful South American was practicing for the extreme skateboard competition during the inaugural Mervyn’s California Beach Bash ‘99, which is in progress through Sunday just north of the pier.

The department store bigwigs pulled out all the stops for this shindig. They shelled out about half a million dollars and basically erected a small city on the beach, complete with huge tents and palm trees and something called the Soul Bowl.

What is a Soul Bowl?

It is the extreme sports venue for an invitational competition featuring skateboarders, in-line skaters and bicycle stunt riders who will be performing lip tricks, aerials, grinds, rotations, flips and flops through Saturday.

Sunday is reserved for the finals of the men’s and women’s pro beach volleyball tournaments, followed by live music by local and national bands who will be performing from 4 to 6:30 p.m. through Sunday. All events are free, even those within the Soul Bowl, but be forewarned that seating is limited to about 1,000.

Unlike traditional “Vert Ramps” used in most extreme competitions, the Soul Bowl is made of European birch and resembles a large swimming pool. It’s flanked by towering bleachers to give spectators a bird’s-eye view.

“The Soul Bowl is unique in that it is a bowl,” said Don Bostick, president of World Cup Skateboarding. “Most competitions and X-Games are on flat walls that are back to back. Now that we’ve bowled off the ends it adds more creativity to the riding. Now they’re doing more carving.

“You can pump more speed and do big board slides and things like that. This will be more fun for the riders and more fun for the spectators.”

Unless summer turns to winter again and it rains.

HOT RAILS

* Albacore update: They’ve been inching up the Baja coast for two weeks and they’re finally in striking distance of San Diego’s overnight fleet. Most boats on Thursday were 50 to 60 miles south and by 1 p.m. each had about 50 tuna on the deck.

“They’re all working about a 10-mile spread of fish, which means there are a lot down there,” said Philip Friedman, who monitors albacore bites via single-sideband radio for his 976-TUNA hotline. “And they’re seeing a lot more than they’re catching, so I would suspect that it’s a time-of-day thing and that the afternoon bite is going to be a real barnburner.”

The albacore are averaging 15 to 25 pounds. There were no reports of bluefin mixed in, Friedman added.

* Huge halibut are drawing the crowds at the northern Channel Islands, but there is a catch: Wind. “That’s our Achilles’ tendon,” said Russ Harmon, owner of Cisco Sportfishing in Oxnard. “Our boats are just sitting here.”

Last week when the wind was down, however, Wil Atkins of Morro Bay, aboard the Sea Hawk out of Sea Landing in Santa Barbara, boated a 57-pound 6-ounce California halibut, which if approved by the International Game Fish Assn. will become a new all-tackle world record.

The current holder is Harmon with a 53-pound 4-ounce halibut caught in 1988. “I just hope he wasn’t using a treble hook because you need a single hook [to qualify for a record],” Harmon said. “But that’s good for him. I held the record for 12 years, so now I’ll just have to go out and break his.”

* Seth Bone of Kingfisher Charters in Sitka, Alaska, reports that Joe Lindorfer of Rancho Palos Verdes recently took big-fish honors for the season with a 7-foot-2, 349-pound Pacific halibut. Salmon fishing is going strong, Bone said, adding that a 51-pounder is the biggest so far. A 52-pound lingcod was also landed. Kingfisher can be reached on the Web at https://www.kingfishercharters.com.

WET AND WILD

Thousands of small mantas have invaded the East Cape region of Southern Baja, casting shadows over only a handful of curious divers as the season is just getting started.

“The mantas are so thick at Cabo Pulmo you can almost walk on them,” said Mark Rayor of Vista Sea Sport in Buena Vista.

They might have Rayor beat in the La Paz area. Whale sharks measuring to 45 feet are back in the area feeding on plankton, casting ominous shadows over a handful of divers taking advantage of a rare chance to swim with these gentle giants, according to Rocio Lozano at Baja Quest in La Paz.

I’ve done this with Lozano and can attest to the fact that seeing a 40-foot shark swimming toward you is unsettling at first, but watching it cruise past you is pretty spectacular.

The two diving operations can be reached on the Web at https://www.vistaseasport.com and https://www.bajaquest.com.mx.

WILD FILE

The Vancouver Province calls it a scene right out of the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds.”

Residents of downtown Vancouver won’t argue with that. They’re complaining about persistent attacks by gulls and crows.

The diving birds are “especially upsetting for children and seniors because they are often easily knocked over,” said Liz Thunstrom, spokeswoman for Wildlife Rescue in Vancouver.

Wildlife officials say all this is merely an annual phenomenon called nesting season and the birds are merely trying to keep people from their young.

NO WILLY, NO WORM

President Clinton and basketball’s Dennis Rodman have at least one thing in common: They top the list of people campers would least like to have along on a trip to the great outdoors.

So says a recent survey conducted by REI on its Web site (https://www.rei.com). Rush Limbaugh was also a castoff.

So, who topped the list of people campers would most like to share their campfires with? Harrison Ford and Sandra Bullock. A bit farther down the list are John Muir, author Jon Krakauer, climber Alex Lowe and former President Theodore Roosevelt.

NO BALONEY

The Department of Fish and Game wardens decided recently to crack down on abalone poachers in Northern California by holding their first roadside checkpoint in Fort Ross.

It turned into quite a circus. In all, 225 vehicles were pulled over and 74 abalone were seized. Some of the poachers--most were cited with over-limits-- weren’t sure how to respond. Some were seen tossing abalone out their car windows as they approached the checkpoint. One went so far as to wrap his abalone in butcher paper and write “Chicken” on it.

The wardens didn’t buy his story, no doubt telling the man that because something tastes like chicken doesn’t mean it is.

ON TAP

* Saturday is free fishing day, one of two this year to help promote interest in the sport. You don’t need a license, but you do need to abide by bag limits and other rules. The DFG also announced the sale of a new two-day license for $10, designed for weekend novices who previously had to shell out $7.50 per day if they didn’t have a yearly license ($27.50).

* The annual Marina del Rey In-Water Boat Show, with more than 2,000 feet of dock space, begins a four-day run on Thursday. Free sailing lessons are also on tap. Details: (949) 757-5959.

* The 552 Club Benefit Shoot clay-target competition is scheduled for Wednesday at Pachmayr International Shooting Sports Park in South El Monte. The shoot, featuring six events, is limited to the first 160 entrants. Cost is $225 per shooter and proceeds benefit Newport Beach Hospital. Details: (949) 574-7208.

* It’s rattlesnake season and you can learn about protecting your best friend--your dog, that is--during snake avoidance clinics offered June 26-27 by the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited. Cost is $50 per dog. Details: (626) 287-5060.

WINDING UP

The United Anglers of Southern California and the American Sportfishing Assn. are urging anglers to attend a 2 p.m. hearing Monday at LAX regarding the removal of the oil island off Belmont Shore.

The conservation groups contend that the 16,000 tons of quarry rock have become valuable marine habitat over the years and would like to see the island--as well as other decommissioned oil structures--remain in place.

But since there is no way Exxon or the state will assume liability for a decommissioned oil island many see as a navigational hazard, it will be removed.

Therefore, UASC and ASA instead want the rock to be added to the Bolsa Chica artificial reef, doubling its structure. That’s the concession they hope to gain at the California Lands Commission hearing. They say public support is paramount.

The hearing is at the Department of Airport Administration building. United Anglers can be reached at (714) 840-0227.