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OC Beach Blog ~ The latest news on all things along the 42 miles of beach in Orange County, Calif.

Archive for the 'wedge' Tag

Fund-raiser for bodysurfer injured at the Wedge

September 3rd, 2009, 3:50 pm by Jeff Malanca, contributing writer

rob-bodysurfingRobert Khoury, a 21-year-old from Newport Beach, suffered a severe neck injury last week while bodysurfing at The Wedge.

Because of the limitations of his medical insurance, Khoury does not have the coverage to receive the required medical treatment that could possibly get him walking again.

Several of his closest friends have established a special fund and are holding a fundraiser this weekend to help pay for some of Khoury’s medical needs.  Donations can be made to the Robert Khoury Fund, by mailing checks to: The Robert Khoury Fund, c/o Aitken Aitken Cohn, 3 MacArthur Place, Suite 800, Santa Ana CA 92707.

If you’d like to attend the fund-raiser, it’s on Sunday Sept. 6 at Generic Youth, 1609 Pomona Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.  There will be a silent auction with a ton of items that have been donated by several surf and skate brands.

They include Ambigous, Atwater, Billabong, Cordell Surfboards, Crap Eyewear, Factor 54, Freedom Artists, Grn Apple Tree, Hamboard Skateboards, Hippy Tree, Hurley, Surfline.com, Tavik, Vestal, Viper Surfing Fins, Volcom, Antiapparel.com among others.

The event will be catered by the Pizza Bakery, and Primo has donated beer, both of which will be available for a small donation.  The band “Make Moon” and a few other special guests will be providing the entertainment.  For more information, email friendsofrob@hotmail.com

Swell drops a bit, but still fun waves to be had

August 28th, 2009, 1:32 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

The swell dropped a bit on Friday, with a lot of people saying “you should have been here yesterday, it was amazing!”

Well, there were still plenty of waves coming through in Newport Beach this morning. I started out at the Point, then cruised down to the Wedge to see what was happening.

Here’s some snapshots:

 

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Check out the full slideshow here.

Bodysurfer injured at the Wedge

August 26th, 2009, 5:25 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

A bodysurfer was rescued from the Wedge in Newport Beach today, after suffering a neck injury that sent him to the hospital.
The spinal cord injury comes about a month after a man was killed taking on big waves at the famous bodysurfing spot just north of the Newport Harbor entrance.
While the waves were not as large as that day,  a south swell sent waves up to 8 feet to the Wedge today.
“He was out riding waves, and ended up in trouble,” lifeguard Capt. Jim Turner said of today’s injury.

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(Photo courtesy of Kevin “Mel” Thoman)

On duty lifeguards, citizens and two Huntington Beach city lifeguards rushed to pull the man, said to be in his 20s, out of the water. With the big waves, it was a struggle to get him from the water. The rescue happened about 2:30 p.m.
Paramedics transported the man to the hospital. It is unknown how severe his injuries are, but Turner said he was conscious when he was on the sand.
“Until we have X-rays and the swelling goes down, you can’t tell for sure,” Turner said. “I’ve had patients we’ve thought were going to be in trouble, but ended up fine.”
Turner said spinal cord injuries can happen at any time at the beach, and people need to remember to avoid diving into the water head first, and to have arms stretched out if they are bodysurfing.
“You’d much rather hurt a shoulder, than have a neck injury,” he said. “You have to protect yourself.”

UPDATE:

Wedge bodysurfer Kevin “Mel” Thoman said the surfer, identified as 22-year-old Robert Khoury, is a pro tennis player and regular at the Wedge.
“He took off and rode the wave very well, but something must have happened after it tubed over him,” he wrote in an e-mail. “As you know, if it’s hollow, we don’t pull out, we just keep going into the tube.”

Thoman said Khoury is being treated at Hoag Hospital, and will likely have surgery Thursday.

Ask the expert: Is the Wedge too dangerous?

August 18th, 2009, 9:10 am by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

Three-time international surf champ Corky Carroll answers your questions each week on the Beach Blog. To hit him up, email him at Corkysurf@aol.com

wedgeQ.  I heard about the bodysurfer getting killed at the Wedge this summer.  Do you think that place is really too dangerous when the swell is big and that the city should close it when it gets like that?

A.  That was a sad thing.  But the Wedge is what it is,  and if people are crazy enough to want to put it all on the line for the thrill that is their choice.  Just like surfing giant waves in Hawaii or other places around the world.  It would not be fair to the great surfers who do that to be denied the chance just on the merit that it is very dangerous.  It would be nice if there was some sort of qualification method to determine if somebody is actually skilled enough to attempt some of these challenges, but there isn’t.  So, in my opinion NO.  I don’t think that the city should not allow people to take the risk if they want to do that.

Q.  If you had to pick one place on Earth that would be the ideal location for a surfer, where would that be?

A.  Wow, that all depends on the person.  If it was totally based on surfing and nothing else, I would probably say some island in the South Pacific where there were no people and just perfect surf.  But life is more than just surfing to most people.  We like a social structure, too.  With that in mind I would have to say that right here in Orange County is pretty darn good.

Q.  Where do you surf most of the time?  I used to see you at Cotton’s Point all the time.

A.  I loved Cotton’s and that was my main spot for most of my life really.  But recently I spend more time at spots that don’t require walking far.  I have become lazy in that aspect.  I like Huntington Beach and San Onofre.  Also I spend a lot of time in Mainland Mexico, especially when it’s cold here in the OC.

Surfline: Big swell shot from sky shows OC beaches getting slammed

July 30th, 2009, 12:02 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

While most of us were sitting on the shore watching the coast get pounded from that massive south swell that brought waves up to 20 feet to Orange County’s beaches, Newport’s Tom Cozad was capturing it all from a different perspective.

Cozad - most known for his Web site Newportsurfshots.com - was working with Surfline.com to pull together this amazing slideshow. And knowing that Cozad is scared of heights, please make sure you take a few seconds to check it out.

He captured some amazing images - people looking like the size of ants sitting on the shore watching the Wedge go off, the massive rip current whirlpools making big brown circle formations, and my personal favorite - a dolphin putting on a show for surfers as it leaped from a huge wave.

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From Cozad’s first person on Newportsurfshots.com: “… while I was a little bummed that I didn’t capture a lot of surfing, Bill Sharp said something that put it in perspective. ‘Who cares about surfing when nature is getting freaky’?”

Check out the photos here.

More surf news from the Beach Blog:

Family of bodysurfer who died at the Wedge speaks out

July 29th, 2009, 12:36 pm by Jeff Malanca, contributing writer

monte_valentin_072509-450The family of the body surfer who lost his life trying to tackle the giant surf last week issued a statement to those who tried to save 50-year old Monte Valentin’s life.

Here’s what the statement, given to Surfer Magazine, reads:

“We, the family of Monte Kevin Valentin, would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the courageous and caring surfers and lifeguards who risked their lives trying desperately to save Monte last friday at the Wedge” in Newport Beach.

We will miss him beyond imagination!  But, we know in our hearts that Monte is ok and that he “transitioned to his next life” doing what he loved most…riding waves!

Most Sincerely,

Luana Valentin, Natashia Valentin, Eric Valentin, Nicole Valentin-Smith, and families.”

Read the full post from Surfer Magazine here. And read more from the story on ocregister.com.

> Get more Orange County surf  coverage.

Death at the Wedge

July 24th, 2009, 4:43 pm by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

The Orange County Register is reporting that a body surfer who slammed into the rocks today at the Wedge after going into massive waves died after being pulled from the rough waters today.

The Wedge - which sits north of the Newport Harbor entrance - is one of the most dangerous waves around. They can suddenly double in size when waves bounce off the harbor rocks, then meet up with another wave.

Here’s more from what they wrote:

The man was pulled from the waves by lifeguards at the Wedge in Newport Beach at about 1 p.m., officials said.

He had been body surfing near the Wedge when a set of waves up to 20 feet high came rolling through, throwing the surfer into the rocks, Schulz said.

Newport Beach lifeguards pulled the badly injured surfer into a lifeguard boat and took him to shore.

He was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he died.

Click here to see the full story.

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Wedge hitting 15 feet; high surf and rip advisory

July 24th, 2009, 7:21 am by Laylan Connelly, staff writer

The Wedge in Newport Beach is crankin’ out 15-footers, according to OC Register reporter Gary Robbins, aka Sciencedude.

Robbins says there’s already a few news crews on the sand, and as I talked to him on the cell, I could hear people cheering in the background as these crazy dudes took on these monster waves.

The Wedge is one of the world’s most famous bodysurfing wave, and when a big south swell hits, it bounces off the jetty, meets up with another wave, and doubles in size.

Check out this slideshow from this morning:

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It’s one of the most amazing sights you’ll see on the coast, so head down there if you get a chance today.

I’m headed down to the US Open to see how the waves look at the U.S. Open of Surfing, and how HB’s Brett Simpson  is going to handle it during his heat, which is one of the first this morning.

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