Soggy Sneakers Biggest Loss to Record High Tides

There was no catastrophe along San Diego’s coast. Not even a minor disaster. Perhaps one or two irksome inconveniences, such as soggy sneakers and wet doormats, as the sun and moon lined up to create a series of very high and low tides.

The heralded 7.7-foot tide Tuesday and a slightly higher 7.8 one arriving at 8:44 a.m. today are impressive but harmless, except for an extra-heavy loss of sand on the beaches, lifeguards along the county’s 76-mile coastline reported.

Locals and tourists came early to the beach Tuesday for a look at the record high tides which marched in on schedule, in slow majestic rollers that exploded into foam and spray as they broke along North County bluffs and South Bay beaches.

A mild Santa Ana wind, blowing from the east, aided in calming the surf before it hit the shore, sending a halo of spindrift into the atmosphere which turned to mini-rainbows in the early morning sun.

Surfers also were out in number early Tuesday morning to claim the honor of riding the high-tide surf. However, the waves looked better than they were and most of the wet suit crowd joined watchers on shore for the visual show. But, as the high tide ebbed, the waves rose, turning the poor surf into perfect curls. The surfer pipeline hummed with the word, sending every surfer who could sneak away out into the 60-degree ocean.

For visitors from Iowa, watching the waves from the balcony of the Del Mar Motel, the sight was “totally awesome.” For beach veterans watching the waves lap harmlessly at mounds of sand and boulders placed to keep them in their place, the show was “a bomb.”

“I’ve seen the waves halfway up the (Del Mar lifeguard tower) window,” bragged an old-timer. “This is nothing.”

Andrew O’Leary, county lifeguard captain, said that no damage to the bluffs or the county park facilities occurred Tuesday and none was expected today.

“Most of the damage occurs during and after heavy rainstorms,” O’Leary said. “We have lost a substantial amount of sand and, of course, that will also make the bluffs more vulnerable to storm waves.”

But Tuesday’s high tides were more of a show than a problem, O’Leary said. Surfers, and even swimmers, were out in droves and beach crowds numbered in the hundreds, a rare event for late December. Afternoon low tides added to beach attractions as shell collectors and tide pool browsers joined the crowds.

Steve Danon, county disaster preparedness office operations officer, confirmed that there were no cries for help from oceanfront communities Tuesday. Danon, who has sat out the potential high-tide emergency at the county’s Ruffin Road complex in Kearny Mesa, plans to go to the beach this morning to watch the high-tide show.