Lifegaurd warning re: Parking
 

I arrived today at the launch at high tide and backed my rig up to the end of the street. I stayed as far to the south side as possible to give plenty of room for the yak rental guys to get around me if they wanted to drive in the water. As I was unloading two lifegaurds game over and said they were going to write me a parking ticket for not obeying the posted sign that shows I am only allowed to pull onto the beach in the assigned area but not park at the entrance to the beach. They told me I could also use the 15 minute "green" zone on the street.

I told them that the tide was too high for me to pull on the beach and that's why I was all the way over to the side to allow emergecy traffic if necessary. They were good about it and just gave me a warning but menthioned that the were going to be inforcing the law on the beach and didn't want to see us "kayak guys" lose our privilages and to pass the word on.

They were right and I was wrong, I was parked illegally even if was right next to my vehicle. The only reason I'm posting is to warn us "kayak guys" that they may become more strict as summer approaches. We need to police ourselves.

Oh ya, none of the right kind caught today.

Brian

Yeah I got out there at 630 and all I caught was bait......oh yeah

they were being DICKS! it's a launch and if the tide is high and the launch happens to be at the entrance? oh well

Not the way for anyone to approach that situation....... Theres bad apples in every group.. But lifeguards in general choose that line of work to be near the ocean if they wanted to be police theyd be police....
Im friends with some of the LJ ones and a lot of San diego ones and they are great people in general, use common courtesy and basic common sense and dont be a donkey and those guys get just as pumped as these guys when people bring in catches...

I know this is going to be super hard to believe but just like how a lot of people monitroing this site arnt just the super tight knit mums the word never blow up a sensitive bite kayak fisherman...
Same goes for the san diego city lifeguards, news flash a lot of if not the majority of those people are either H&L fisherman, spearos, or some sort of waterman....

So ladies and gentleman the guy who started this post admitted fault, as the case, and respect for doing so. And those guys although theres never anyone perfect, were just doing there job.......

On another note it sounds like the fishings been horrible in LJ.............

Ryan is right. Most Lifeguards are not very excited about the part of their job that includes being semi-cops. They do it because it is part of the job description. If something happens on their beach, they have the responsibility.

The last thing that any Lifeguard wants to do is write a citation. Too much paperwork and lots of headaches down the road. On the other hand, they have a job to do and having to be an occasional traffic cop is a big distraction from their primary job function. They are good guys, (and gals). We should all do what we can to give them a break.

High tide at the Shores can be a problem, especially in the Spring and Fall when the beach can disappear at the launch. During those times, just figure out another way to get your yak to the water. When you cannot drive on the beach, park in the lot, bring your wheels and drag your kayak to the launch. When you come back in, there will be plenty of sand to drive on.

Bob