Just a quick post before bed-
My favourite days are the stormy ones. We had a great one recently- Warm and sunny in the morning, lots of business, and then around 2pm some stormclouds rolled in. You know it's going to be a good one when the temperature drops ten degrees. We began to clear our water for lightning, and as everyone packed up and schlepped all their things off the beach, the heavens opened. Eventually, we were given permission to seek shelter, and three adjacent guards and I sought it in the covered parking structure under the Disney Beach House. Radio reception in there was spotty, but there was a collective groan when we made out the transmissions from area supervisors clearing their guards to head back to the beach. Finally, Area 2 was cleared and we trudged back out. It was still lousy enough though that there were very few people left, and that made breakdown that much easier.
Wednesday was packed. In the morning, there was a baby shark that was found rolling in the waves, dead, a mess of hooks and lures and line tangled about it. I really hate when fishermen are too dumb to know how to properly fish in the surf. Not knowing how to, or too afraid to handle dangerous marine life that they catch, they cut their line and just let the poor sharks or stingrays back into the water, only to wash up dead and dangerous later. I don't want to think of what could have happened if someone stepped on the three open hooks in that cluster. My neighbour Hana (also Canadian) and I worked to free the shark, and then disposed of the hooks and shark appropriately.
Later that morning, we were drawn to the water's edge by a crowd of pointers (not a good sign) that was growing by the second. Arriving there, we found that there was a 4 foot shark cruising quite close in. We did our thing and cleared the water, and as an unfortunate side effect, attracted more attention. The shark was close and shallow enough that we could see both the tail and dorsal fins clearly out of the water, much to the delight and shock of the crowd. Our main priority was crowd control. I was on my bare feet for three hours as this stupid shark did LAPS (!), starting north at the Marriott and heading down to the Disney, and then back again. Every so often it would disappear and the crowd would lose interest, only to be brought back frantically running to the water's edge by a shout. Eventually, it left the area for long enough (30 mins) for us to let people back in.
That afternoon, we heard reports from guards to the south that the weather was starting to look bad and winds had picked up. This must have prompted a look at the radar, because a few moments later, Alan at Shore Base called all the guards and let them know to close any unused umbrellas. Several minutes later, a decidedly more distressed voice let us know that we could 'accelerate the teardown process.' This is a happy call, as an early breakdown means that we get to get off the beach, to the office, and then home much quicker. Usually we must wait till 5 to start, but we started at 4:15. Our highchairs watched the water while we rental guards packed up at a more leisurely pace than usual. To the south, the skies had definitely blackened. I had the opportunity to look at a screengrab of the radar from that time this afternoon, and it indeed looked like we were about to be demolished by a storm. Weirdly, though, it dissipated and that evening's training went ahead as planned. I'll try and get to trainings in my next post.
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Windy City
Today was windy. I'm not messing about. Seriously windy. I'm talking 30mph winds constantly through the day.
When I got on to the beach, I had to laugh at the sheer ridiculous-ness of the situation. It was like I was being sandblasted as the wind whipped off the surf and picked up loose sand. I started my setup, and it became clear that there would not be the usual Sunday crowd headed to the beach that day due to the weather. (overcast and blowy as hell) My original setup plan diminished from 15 and 15 to 8 and 8. All the umbrellas I dug were inserted on an angle against the wind, and they were left unopened to further prevent any flying-away. I finished early due to my reduced setup, and so did all the other guards in the area.
We took one look at the really rough surf and immediately knew what to do. We all grabbed body boards from our rental stands and went as far north as we could; a little past the Marriott. We strapped on the leashes and hit the water. The surf, propelled by the strong offshore winds, was huge by Hilton Head standards. The four foot breakers and the wind whipped up a ton of white water and swirling strong currents. We caught a few fun waves in, but most of the time was spent just trying to stay afloat in the rough surf.
As 9 o clock drew near, we got out and discovered we had been pulled nearly a quarter mile south by the longshore current. We all ran back to our stands and I had just enough time for a shower and sunscreen before I opened my umbrella. I decided today was a 'shirt' day, and as such, didn't bother with sunblock on my chest, back, or arms. I ended up wearing my shirt and windbreaker all day.
My hair suffered today. My straight, thin hair gets a 'blowout', were it basically stands on end when it's windy out. I don't want to imagine how silly I looked. It ended up that a fair number of people came to the beach, which took extra effort to guard. I had spotted several rips forming, and we made sure to keep everyone in waist-deep water. (which, with our shallow slope, is still fairly far out). Fortunately, we were able to keep everyone in close enough to stay out of danger (a danger ZONE, perhaps?) and we didn't have to pull anyone out.
I stayed later at the office today talking with a supervisor friend of mine, David, who is a film-school grad. We talked about some new cameras that came out, and shared our thoughts on different technologies. We talked in the 'backyard' of the office, where they keep the jeeps and all the equipment. David and all the other supervisors have to wash the Jeeps everyday, due to their constant exposure to salt and sand. We talked and he washed. When I emerged into the office again, all the other guards had gone home, and it was just me and the supervisors.
A few veteran guards and I went out to an Asian buffet tonight (Vari Aisan) and I had a wonderful, fun time with them.
That's all I can think to get down about today, hopefully I'll post again soon. Just thought I'd share the big Sunday I had.
When I got on to the beach, I had to laugh at the sheer ridiculous-ness of the situation. It was like I was being sandblasted as the wind whipped off the surf and picked up loose sand. I started my setup, and it became clear that there would not be the usual Sunday crowd headed to the beach that day due to the weather. (overcast and blowy as hell) My original setup plan diminished from 15 and 15 to 8 and 8. All the umbrellas I dug were inserted on an angle against the wind, and they were left unopened to further prevent any flying-away. I finished early due to my reduced setup, and so did all the other guards in the area.
We took one look at the really rough surf and immediately knew what to do. We all grabbed body boards from our rental stands and went as far north as we could; a little past the Marriott. We strapped on the leashes and hit the water. The surf, propelled by the strong offshore winds, was huge by Hilton Head standards. The four foot breakers and the wind whipped up a ton of white water and swirling strong currents. We caught a few fun waves in, but most of the time was spent just trying to stay afloat in the rough surf.
As 9 o clock drew near, we got out and discovered we had been pulled nearly a quarter mile south by the longshore current. We all ran back to our stands and I had just enough time for a shower and sunscreen before I opened my umbrella. I decided today was a 'shirt' day, and as such, didn't bother with sunblock on my chest, back, or arms. I ended up wearing my shirt and windbreaker all day.
My hair suffered today. My straight, thin hair gets a 'blowout', were it basically stands on end when it's windy out. I don't want to imagine how silly I looked. It ended up that a fair number of people came to the beach, which took extra effort to guard. I had spotted several rips forming, and we made sure to keep everyone in waist-deep water. (which, with our shallow slope, is still fairly far out). Fortunately, we were able to keep everyone in close enough to stay out of danger (a danger ZONE, perhaps?) and we didn't have to pull anyone out.
I stayed later at the office today talking with a supervisor friend of mine, David, who is a film-school grad. We talked about some new cameras that came out, and shared our thoughts on different technologies. We talked in the 'backyard' of the office, where they keep the jeeps and all the equipment. David and all the other supervisors have to wash the Jeeps everyday, due to their constant exposure to salt and sand. We talked and he washed. When I emerged into the office again, all the other guards had gone home, and it was just me and the supervisors.
A few veteran guards and I went out to an Asian buffet tonight (Vari Aisan) and I had a wonderful, fun time with them.
That's all I can think to get down about today, hopefully I'll post again soon. Just thought I'd share the big Sunday I had.
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