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.
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