Tugging boats old hat to lifeguards

Deepa Bharath

It was like watching an episode of “Baywatch” without the babes.

Newport Beach resident David Groverman stood on the beach near

Island Avenue on July 5 with his girlfriend and other neighbors and

watched awestruck as lifeguards arrived on a boat near the 6th Street

location to rescue a powerboat whose engine was failing. On board

were a man and two children, Groverman said.

“It was pretty close to getting messy,” he said.

But for Newport Beach lifeguards, it was all in a day’s work,

Capt. Jim Turner said. One of the lifeguards dove into the water,

hooked his line to the powerboat, and the lieutenant, who was

operating the lifeguard rescue boat, towed the struggling powerboat

to safety, Turner explained.

Groverman said it was “funny” that the lifeguards thought it was

“no big deal.”

“They seemed real efficient and were very quick doing what they

did,” he said.

It’s in situations like these that a lifeguard reaps the rewards

for enduring those vigorous days of training, Turner said.

“One of the first things a rookie learns, and is surprised by, is

that they can actually pull a big boat by clipping their buoy on to

the boat,” he said.

Newport Beach lifeguards performed an even more dramatic rescue on

June 29, when they pulled a 27-foot boat struggling about 50 yards

from the Balboa Pier, Turner said.

“The boat was being blown into the pier by a strong western wind,”

he said. “It was also in danger of getting close to the surf line.”

The danger of that is two-fold, Turner said. One, the boat could

hurt surfers, swimmers or body boarders and secondly, a strong surf

could tear the boat to pieces, endangering the lives of the people in

the boat. There were two people on that boat, he said.

But Lifeguard Jen Broderick got in the water and used her rescue

buoy to clip on to the boat, Turner said.

“There’s quite a bit of anxiety until we get the boat away from

the surf line and get it moving in the right direction,” Turner said.

“After that, it’s exhilarating, the feeling of you, a lone person

pulling a big boat. It’s quite a rush.”