Apparently, I was wrong.
When I described the water as frigid a few weeks back, it was a
bit of an overstatement. This time, it really was frigid.
As I ever so slowly waded out into the water -- described by surf
instructor Scott Morlan as in the low 60-degree range -- last
Saturday just north of Newport Beach Pier, I started questioning why
I took this class in the first place.
The rust-bucket color water -- also described by Morlan -- and the
occasional meandering jellyfish didn't help the situation.
I was thinking to myself that I could have been lying in bed at 8
a.m., cozy and comfortable under the warm blankets with images of
Baywatch running through my head.
Instead, I was out learning how to stay warm in frigid water with
images of deadly jellyfish dancing in my skull.
It all turned out for the best, however, because, for starters,
and most importantly, I didn't drown -- and I lived through Day 3 of
the Saturday Surf Class with Scott Morlan, offered by the city of
Newport Beach.
At a cost of $100 for Newport Beach residents, the class meets
every Saturday morning for five weeks. The instructors go through the
basics during the first few lessons and then it's hours of
unadulterated surfing. Surf boards are provided.
This time around (my third lesson), the sky was sunny, but the
water was brisk, rust-colored and choppy. Did I mention it was cold?
And to think, right in the middle of summer.
My descriptions of frigid water in the past have prompted
instructors Morlan, along with Tim and Dave Northup, to label the
chilly conditions as the "Yemma curse."
But I wasn't the only one this time to think it was cold.
Little Ryan Look, 11, of Newport Beach, was the first to drop,
about an hour into the lesson, although he was the only one not
wearing a wetsuit.
And by the near-end of the instruction, there were 11 people
remaining in the water out of 17 who showed up. I, of course, was one
of them who remained, not to pat myself on the back or anything.
"When it's cold like this, it's hard keeping the kids in the
water," Morlan, also the surf coach at Newport Harbor High, said
after the lesson. "What am I going to say to the kid when he is
miserable?
"When it's cold it can be a problem."
Midway through the two-hour session, Newport Beach resident and
classmate Dana Fugett, who had purchased her own board a few weeks
ago, went in to shore to switch to one of the class' boards. I
inquired why.
Turns out, it didn't really have much to do with the equipment,
