Danette Goulet
NEWPORT BEACH - The summer season has returned, which brings people
flooding back to the last frontier, the last domain where common sense is
expected to be man's guide.
As the west once offered man the freedom of life with fewer laws, now
the beaches and waterways are the last place where rules of common sense
outnumber actual laws.
On the sandy shores of Newport Beach, the lifeguards are the primary
guardians of public safety.
Of course city, county and state laws apply, but when Lt. Jim Turner
of the Newport Beach lifeguards considers the laws of the waves, his
first thought is, "We don't have many."
"On the beach we don't have a lot of problems, so we don't have a lot
of ordinances," he said.
There are a few, however.
"We don't allow boats within 1,000 feet of shore; just surf boards,
paddle boards, and surf kayaks, but they don't mix extremely well with
surfing," he said.
While other cities have had more problems with scuba diving accidents
or deep holes dug in the sand, Newport Beach is primarily a surf town.
"They don't do much scuba diving in West Newport, so we don't have a
lot of rules," Turner said. "We have a lot of surfing in West Newport, so
we have a lot of rules."
If there are more than 100 people on the beach between two lifeguard
towers, or more than 25 people using the waves -- not splashing in the
shallows, but actually out using the waves -- or if there are dangerous
surf conditions, that area will be black balled for surfers.
"We don't have a lot of rescues when surfers are out," he said with a
chuckle. "But when we call them in and the swimmers head out, the rescues
start."
There are also a couple of specific rules for specific breaks. Between
40th street and 44th street, no hard boards are allowed between May and
October. Down at The Wedge, no aids to flotation of any kind are allowed
between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. from May through October.
"At Big Corona and Little Corona, there are swim lines to keep the
bathers in and the boaters out," he added.
As for those boaters, their primary guardians are the Sheriff's
Department Harbor Patrol and the Coast Guard.
The No. 1 rule for boaters in Newport Beach is that they must launch
their vessel from the Dunes, said Sgt. Donna Soto of the Harbor Patrol.
That is anything from a ship or yacht to a Jet Ski.
As an officer of the law, Soto came up with a few other legal
regulations such as the 5 mph speed limit in the harbor. Among them, is
that children under the age of 11 must be wearing a life vest in any
