Camp Pendleton is testing alert system

OCRegister
… what it calls a Mass Notification System for neighborhoods on the base with community-alert sirens linked to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. …

Surfers ponder Trestles safety, park’s future

A contest to design a safe rail crossing for beach access is generating dialogue not only about the trail but about the future of San Onofre …

On Monday there was a meeting about the State Park’s future in regards to the renewal of the 50 year lease which ends in 11 years. Steve Long, advisory of the San Onofre Foundation, mentioned that the lease will not be discussed for renewal up until a year prior to the ending of the lease.  He also quotes “Everyone who cares about the park should be concerned”

Read More…

San Onofre State Beach — On August 16, 2010

Abby Joseph and her son were Stand Up Paddle Boarding at Dog Patch, San Onofre State Beach. It was 8:30 AM and they had been on the water about 10 minutes. The sky was overcast with a light fog. Air and water temperatures were estimated in the mid-60 Fahrenheit. The ocean was flat and glassy with small waves. No marine mammals were observed in the area.

Joseph reported; “I was Stand Up Paddle Boarding with a 10′ 3″ board, orange bottom, yellow paddle. I first saw the shark when I had just paddled out. I noticed a fin about 20 feet out, Northwest from my location. I was pretty much by myself, except for my son who was nearby on a longboard. There was a group of about five standup paddlers and watercraft South of me. I pointed out the fin to my son. He did not see it. I saw the fin disappear, and did not see the shark swim away. I just thought I may have been imagining something. I continued to paddle around and catch waves. A group of guys were on the South end of Dog Patch and they remarked that a shark was swimming right by where I had been and told me to stay in the group and not fall off the board. The guys who talked to me had gone in. I kept talking to my son about it and he said if I really saw a shark I wouldn’t still be in the water. Right then, we heard some guys in the water talking about there being a ‘big one.’ I looked over and about 40 feet away saw the shark swimming through the group of SUP’s and kayaks/watercraft. I was able to see the fins and by the way the shark moved it was clearly not a dolphin. The dorsal fin was triangular, with part cut out. The second time I saw the dorsal fin, another fin, and the tail were also visible. It just skimmed the water and swam in and out of their group within just feet of the men. My son and I got out of the water. I think we had enough for the day. On the beach, I talked to the guys who had seen the shark. One of the men who had been near the shark said that it was about 10 feet long, which he said was as long as his paddle board.”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

San Onofre State Beach — On August 16, 2010

Mike Johnson and George Flambures were accompanied by several friends that were wave skiers and Stand Up Paddle Boarders . It was about 9:00 AM and they had been on the water 45 – 60 minutes. The sky was overcast with a clearing fog and an estimated air temperature in the upper 60s Fahrenheit. The sea was glassy smooth with 10 feet or more of water visibility and an estimated temperature in the upper 50s Fahrenheit. They were about 200 yards from shore. No marine mammals were observed in the area.

George and Mike provided the following information; “(George) I observed a White Shark inside of my location, swimming very rapidly in circles, chasing baitfish about 200 feet off of the beach. The shark then submerged and was not seen again for several minutes. (Mike) Several minutes later the shark returned and approached George’s board. The shark swam by very slowly on its side to get a look at George. (George) I could see the eye looking at me as the shark swam past my board, which is 10 feet 6 inches. The White Shark was as long as my board. (Mike) Most of the group saw the shark at least once before it finally departed.”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

White shark in video carried ID tag

OCRegister

By PAT BRENNAN

And it is not unusual to find great white sharks off San Onofre. “These white sharks have been in the Southern California, central Baja region for thousands …

Chuck Patterson, a very gutsy stand up paddling surfer who equipped himself with a new Go Pro HD camera in search of great white shark or jaws at San Onofre State beach, California! As Chuck paddled out 250 yards offshore, he just so happened to bump into couple jaws that are swimming around him! Fortunately, he was able to stick his camera into the ocean and capture close encounter of couple great white sharks that are surrounding him as long as 7 feet! Amazing close encounter with great white shark caught on tape!

Find out what Chuck Patterson does: http://chuckpattersonsports.com/

For more daily vs.: http://www.dailyvsvidz.com

Jim Serpa, Supervising Park Ranger, Doheny State Beach, was snorkeling at Dogpatch, a well utilized location at San Onofre State Beach.

Serpa reported the following; “ Chuck Patterson and Brian Lane’s story made me inquisitive, so Lifeguard Mike Brousard and I went down on the boat today. We got there and looked all around the area including Trail1 and didn’t see anything. It was shallow and clear, so I jumped in and snorkeled around for about 30 minutes or so. I observed baitfish in the area, including grunion. Water was only 7 – 10 feet deep with visibility about 10 feet.  When the boat pulled back over to me and waived me to come back I started to kick over. They waived me over faster and said ‘get in quick.’ I thought ‘why, is there a call we need to go to?’ They said, ‘the shark is right in front of the boat.’ I scrambled up and in, but the shark was on the side of the boat now. It was about 6 feet in length and was just cruising around. No doubt about it, White Shark for sure. We followed it for a minute or two and it started to head off to the right, at that time Lifeguard Grant Howard, the deckhand, yelled, Jim look over here. I looked and saw there was another smaller shark right in front of the boat. This second shark was thinner and shorter by about a foot. So we had two sharks. Cruising by for so long I wanted to get in and have a look below the water, but thought that would be stupid since I have no idea if that would spook them or even cause them to get aggressive….not what I need, that’s for sure.”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

The Sacramento Bee’s posted article makes their readers assume that the State prohibited nudism under the pretense that it is not a valid sun recreational activity in addition to putting blame on the nudists for any misconduct within the State Park System.  What the readers should know is that this accusation is a direct contradiction of what the State park Spokesman, Roy Stearn, said about the nude sunbathing in his recent interview with  OCLNN:

“For many years it was a very remote, mostly isolated trail and there weren’t many complaints about the clothing optional part of the beach; however, in recent years as Orange County grew it just wasn’t the same remote place, and began to draw gawkers and lurid activity,” Stearns said.

“The area was attracting an element that was rather unsavory — not the nudists themselves — but an element that seemed attracted to that,” Stearns said. “We were finding sex toys in the bushes and other kinds of things, and sex acts here and there, and it became apparent we needed to do something about it.” (Source)

To sum up what Stearns said the entire legal battle banning nudity was simply based on the law of attraction; given this into account, it should be noted that “element” he speaks of,  does not necessarily limit itself to the State Parks lands nor nude beaches. Within a week prior to this article, SanOnofreBeach.org discovered an international  website designed for gay men to find local public locations where they can engage in sexual activities with other men. This site included detailed tips, maps and comments of suggested places all throughout the state of California, some of which include a Borders Book Store, lifeguard tower in Santa Monica, Griffith Park, Echo Park, San Antonio College Main Library and many other various restaurants, schools and beaches (Source). Immediately after finding this site, the county authorities were notified for the sake of protecting our public lands, including San Onofre. These issues should be dealt with directly by the governed authorities and the punishment should not be inflicted on the surrounding lifestyles of any bystanders, including the nudists in the San Onofre case.  It if difficult to believe simple nudity would be more provocative then a bathing suit, while clothing leaves more to the imagination.

Friends of San Onfore Beach advised us that “no citations have been issued since May 14, 2010.” Since the removal of the Cahill Policy, a total of 4 misdemeanor citations have been handed out to men for public nudity on Trail 6. Two of which were issued to sun bathers while another was issued to a volleyball player. With these numbers and no known illicit activities reported, we can only assume that crime has not been escalating at San Onofre SB.  According to the most recent crime report, dated 1999-2008,  the majority of the lewd conduct took place in more common areas such as the parking lot, restrooms or outside the State Park Ranger jurisdiction on Camp Pendleton. The rangers continue to patrol the areas and will often be found overlooking the bluffs to monitor the activities on both sides of the fence along trail 6.  There are no further reports of crime reported to date.

Criticisms, that began  the nude sunbathing ban, all started due to a sexual harassment claim filed in 2007, from a maintenance worker at San Onofre, who stated on behalf of herself and co-workers that they were working in a  hostile environment. An additional sexual harassment claim, was filed separate from the Britto case and recently settled March of this year in the case of Jennifer Donovan vs. the California Department of Parks of Recreation. This sexual harassment lawsuit, brought in August of 2008  by Donovan, a State Park Ranger, argued that she was harassed and experienced gender and sexual-orientation discrimination from her co-workers and direct supervisor during the six years she worked at San Onofre and San Clemente State Beaches. View the side by side comparison of the NAC and Donovan case vs. the Department of Parks and Recreation.

On a positive note, nudists really have contributed much to help support the State Parks. In fact, some stories of community service have included and are not limited to the maintenance of the goat trail at trail 6 as well as regular beach cleanups.  it is also important to read more about clothing optional beaches; some of the best researched and documented literature was done by The Resources Agency of the State of California in a State memorandum, dated January 23, 1979.  In this  document the State of California identifies that nude sunbathing was a valid form of recreation after receiving public input by clothing optional beach groups, local citizens and local District offices in affected areas.  Their conclusion is as follows:

By law, the California State Park System is operated under the California Administration Code, which states: (Read Section 4322)

The wording “. . . except in authorized areas set aside for that purpose . . ” is assumed to mean areas authorized by the Director for use as clothing optional areas.

….It is the recommendation of F.C. Buchter, Statff Councsel for the Department, “. . . that the Department not establish clothing optional beaches within jurisdictions which have an ordinance prohibiting nudity”

In conclusion to this document, it was recommended was further recommended that a  trial period was to be given for two beaches to have this designation…one up North and the other one San Onofre.

Click here to view and comment on the referenced  article: “San Onofre State Beach, San Diego County”   by Marjie Lundstrom with the  Sacramento Bee

A petition is circulating right now to re-establish the rights of the people who have contributed much to help preserve our Sate Parks. This is a petition to allow the designation of clothing optional beaches in the State of California. If you are interested in helping restore the rights of the people of San O and other parks, you can do so here.

Learn more about the bare the facts by visiting the Naturist Action Committee.

OCRegister

What would happen to San Clemente if such an oil spill were to occur near our shoreor if San Onofre suddenly went haywire? I began to have a stronger …