2024 Ocean Festival Guide by San Clemente Times

SAN CLEMENTE OCEAN FESTIVAL Event Guide

JULY

We are back!

JOIN US ON JULY 20 AND JULY 21 FOR ‘THE

GREATEST

SHOW ON SURF’

The 46th annual San Clemente Ocean Festival is returning on July 20 and July 21 with new sand that has recently been added to our beaches surrounding the San Clemente Pier! Athletes, friends and families, come on down and wiggle your toes in the sand, run, swim, play and enjoy another AMAZING weekend of athletic competitions, fun family activities and entertainment, great food, Saturday evening concert and more!

There is limited parking, but don’t fret, you can take the train right to the Pier and avoid traffic altogether or take advantage of the free parking and shuttles from the Outlets at San Clemente. Entry into the event is free, and you can start out both days with a delicious pancake breakfast on the beach prepared by our San Clemente

Lifeguards – all proceeds go to the San Clemente Surf Lifesaving Association for lifeguard equipment and programs.

HONORED VOLUNTEER: ANNA MILLER

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Anna Miller is a beloved member of the San Clemente Ocean Festival family. She has volunteered for five years but has spent more than a decade showing her handcrafted art at the festival.

“What I display at the Ocean Festival are my pillows and blankets. I do memory quilts,” she said. “I’ve been doing concert merchandise for bands, and that’s taken a lot of my time.”

For five years, Miller has helmed the art show at the San Clemente Ocean Festival.

Miller loves Southern California, but her heart is with The Aloha State. Her first pieces were Hawaii-inspired clothing for folks headed to the islands.

On Saturday, you can catch the Push-In Division of the Groms Rule® Surf Contest, sponsored by Rainbow Sandals. For our up-and-coming athletes, the Dolphin Dash Kid’s Beach Run, with nearly 200 children, 12 and younger, takes place south of the Pier, where all participants receive a collectible Ocean Festival medallion!

In the Lifeguard Competition on Saturday, Ocean lifeguards, junior lifeguards, swimmers and multisport athletes will be competing for commemorative Ocean Festival medallions and cash prizes. Don’t miss the super exciting thrills and spills of the National Doryman Association Races on Saturday — where two-person teams paddle 300-pound dory boats in and out of the crashing surf! Beach Flags for Junior Lifeguards is always a crowd pleaser along with many other races and competitions on this year’s schedule. Pull up your favorite beach blanket on Saturday evening as the sun sets over Dana Point and enjoy a Free concert featuring Creedence and Company! And, no need to cook dinner – meals will be available for purchase from Fisherman’s Restaurant & Bar – right on the beach!

Our Youth Pavilion will be packed full of crafts, games and entertainment for families to enjoy throughout the weekend. Car enthusiasts can take a stroll down the Pier to check out Button’s Woodies on the Pier Exhibit with 15 uniquely different cars on display each day. Looking for a memento to take home with you? Stop by our T-shirt booth north of the Pier for a commemorative T-shirt, hat or hoody – two colors and a variety of styles with artwork from two artists to choose from! You can also view the beach activities from above at the Ocean Art Show that stretches along Parque Del Mar, where you can pick up that “special something” in remembrance of the great time you had at the event.

Sunday events include Sand Sculpting Competitions south of the Pier, plus the Groms Rule® Surf Contest, sponsored by Rainbow Sandals, continues for boys and girls, 10 and younger, and 11 to 14 years of age. Don’t forget to check out the new San Clemente Bodysurfing Invitational as contestants ride on and through the waves vying for first place! The Great Rubber Duck Race is the event’s grand finale with exciting prizes – whale watching, fishing trips, concert tickets, and much, much more!

Beach Events include the 5K Beach Run, Biathlon, Open Ocean Paddle, One Mile Ocean Swim, Run-Swim-Run, SUP Sprint Races and Splash & Dash Relay.

The San Clemente Ocean Festival has grown into a “tradition” for many within our community, the Inland Empire, and as far-reaching as the East Coast, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. We thank San Clemente’s incredibly dedicated lifeguards, watching over all of us as we enjoy the weekend’s events.

Net proceeds from the event’s activities and ever-popular T-shirt sales enable us to produce the San Clemente Ocean Festival and support many local organizations and programs, benefiting families in San Clemente - Adopt-A-Class field trips to the Ocean Institute for local high school Environmental Science and Marine Biology students, San Clemente Lifeguard programs, scholarships for local students, and more.

To our sponsors and volunteers – thank you for all your hard work and support! To those who will be joining us for the first time, or have made the Ocean Festival an annual event, we hope you will agree that it truly is “The Greatest Show on Surf”! For more information and complete event schedules, please visit our website at www. oceanfestival.org.

“We did have our ups and downs, struggling with getting volunteers after COVID,” she said. “I think we had less than 20 people putting this show together in 2022. It’s always hard when you take a year off, to get the momentum back up again.

“We have so many wonderful volunteers this year. This is going to be one of the best shows that we have. It’s one of our biggest, and we have people coming in from all over the place.”

Miller is part of a movement trying to save the lost art of sewing. The craft has re-emerged among millennials thanks to Instagram and TikTok — and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I like our show, because it’s all handcrafts,” she said.

“The show is juried, so you have to prove that you’re making your art. I think that’s very important to the people who take the time to create. We’re cramming, trying to get enough inventory for this show.”

“I used to hula dance,” Miller said. “When I walked into a wholesale shop that sold nothing but Hawaiian material, I was a kid in a candy store. Then I saw beautiful quilts. I thought, oh, my gosh, this is out of my league. I fell in love with it, though. I’ve been doing it for the last 23 years.”

Miller’s quilts tell stories, and it can be heart wrenching.

“They pull at the heart strings sometimes,” she said. “I’ve worked with wonderful people who have lost loved ones. That’s a hard one for me to charge for. I’m creating (a quilt) out of the shirts they’ve worn. They have seen their loved ones in the shirt a hundred times. When I make a quilt, I’m telling a story. I’m not just putting pieces of fabric together.”

To say Miller has been successful is an understatement. Miller has pieced quilts for music royalty, including Kenny Loggins, The Temptations, Kenny G, The 5th Dimension and Muddy Waters, along with The Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band.

“They allow me to sell my quilts and pillows and everything I have that is based on The Beatles,” she said. “It’s so much fun. I feel like a kid again.”

Peggy Vance

Anna Miller frequently pieces quilts for musicians. (Anna Miller/ Submitted)

Shark Lab Returns to Ocean Fest

BY JOHN SANDERS

California State University, Long Beach’s Shark Lab Program is set to appear at this year’s Ocean Festival on July 20 and 21 and will teach guests about the white sharks living within the ecosystem. It has operated in San Clemente since 2018.

Shark Lab is a state-funded program that monitors changes in migratory patterns for great white sharks specifically, who according to the program director, Dr. Chris Lowe, have been increasing in appearance. Lowe is a professor of marine biology at CSULB.

“We’ve been studying sharks for 30 years,” Lowe said. “White shark populations started to recover because of protections put in place in the ‘90s, and as they’ve started to come back, people started seeing more and more along public beaches, and that got people concerned. We had been working with all the ocean lifeguards in California prior to that.”

Lowe said that the program is designed to study sharks and inform lifeguards and the public.

“The program has three arms,” Lowe said. “It’s got a research arm, which enables us to tag and track sharks. We’re using a lot of new technology to do this. And then, that research that we get goes directly to lifeguards — goes directly to the public — to help understand why the sharks are doing this. And then that goes out via an education arm. … We work directly with lifeguards. We provide them with training. … We teach them how to identify all of the different marine life, how to identify sharks, and more importantly, how to identify their behavior, because that might make a decision on whether they close the beach and pull people out of the water. … We also have an outreach program. And that is the other (third) arm, where we go out and we educate the public about hazardous marine life.”

Lowe said that some beaches in Southern California are aggregation sites for great white sharks

and that they appear because of ideal water temperatures and safe living conditions. He said that about 40 great white sharks have been eyed at some beaches just outside the wavebreak, and they will stay in those areas for up to eight months. Despite the frequent appearance of these sharks, Lowe said the number of biting incidents is relatively low.

“We think a lot of the reasons why the real young ones show up is because it’s safe,” Lowe said. “We don’t know where females give birth. We just know that they’ll (young sharks) show up as newborns and (go to the) beach starting around April. And, once they find that beach, they’ll hang out there for months, and then they move — in some cases even migrate — 1,000 miles to go to Baja in the winter and then return to those beaches the next spring. A lot of that movement is attributed to temperature.”

Lowe said his team uses underwater acoustic receivers and buoys that give real-time updates to lifeguards via text message when a tagged white shark is near. As for the receivers, divers have to retrieve, download, and place them back where they were, which takes about a month. Lifeguards also receive this data every month which allows them to know where the tagged white sharks have been detected.

“The important part is our monitoring,” Lowe said. “So we tag about 60 to 70 sharks a year. And then, we have acoustic receivers all up and down the coast. We have about 100 from Morro Bay to the San Diego border.”

All of this data allows them to determine if warning signage should be placed or if a beach needs to be closed, which Lowe said could have financial implications if done so.

Shark Lab is also in danger of running out of funding itself. Lowe said that the program up until now saved money for taxpayers due to state funds being routed through CSULB to the program. Without this funding, Lowe will have to look elsewhere.

“Right now, I’m trying to find private funds just

to stay operational for the next year or so,” Lowe said. “Hopefully, the California state budget will get better and we will get refunded through the state.”

For more information on the program, visit csulb.edu/shark-lab.

Artists celebrate the city with T-shirt designs

BY BRIDGETTE M. REDMAN

The San Clemente Ocean Festival has already declared winners of one of its first competitions — the debut T-Shirt Design Contest.

Chosen from more than 20 submissions, the two winning designs will be splashed across the collector T-shirts. The two winners are Dirk Murset and Paul Graff. Murset’s design is on a white event T-shirt, while Graff’s appears on a charcoal T-shirt.

The T-shirts are helping to celebrate the return to the beach of the festival, dubbed “The Greatest Show on Surf.”

The idea of a contest came after the 2022 retirement of Bob Harlow, whose whimsical designs had been the iconic illustrations on collectible shirts for 30 years. Roy Gonzalez took over for a year and then during the past year when the festival went on a one-year hiatus, the committee decided to turn the design into a contest.

Both winners have extensive experience in graphic arts and brought their love for Southern California to the contest.

to create a design where people of all ages would wear it. That’s important. You have to design toward what the general audience would want from children all the way up.”

The result was a design with a strong sense of place using a warm color palette of blues and oranges.

“I redrew the pier with what felt like a sunset and some fun writing on it,” Graff said.

Murset also featured the pier as the central element of his design with silhouettes of surfers.

Graff said he believes having two designs by two artists will be a profitable choice for the festival.

“I think it’s a good idea to have a broader audience to sell the white shirt and the dark shirt,” Graff said. “I think they’re going to do much better than they normally do by having that option.”

Graff effectively captured the spirit of the festival, because his San Clemente roots go so deep. He launched his 40-plus year art career while in high school here.

Murset was born and raised in Southern California and throughout his artistic career has created hundreds of T-shirt designs, logos signs and surfboards. Now a resident of San Clemente, he’s the owner of Dirk Murset Studio.

Graff was born and raised in San Clemente. He and his three children all attended San Clemente High School. A lifelong graphic artist whose career was art direction, he now writes and illustrates children’s books.

He’s been to many of the ocean festivals over the years, often to watch his brother, sister-in-law and other friends compete in it. Those experiences contributed to his design.

“They wanted lifeguards and everything else in there, but I’ve been doing T-shirts and designs for too many years to talk about,” Graff said. “I wanted

“Mr. Rick Delanty, the famous artist here in town, was my teacher in high school back in the day,” Graff said. “He really inspired me to stay in art. He encouraged me to go to art school.”

His commitment to San Clemente extends to the festival, and Graff said he was happy to illustrate or draw whatever the organizing committee needed. His desire is that the city, community and tourism team continue to embrace and support the festival.

“I think we should keep it always,” Graff said of the festival. “I’ve lived here, so I understand it. It takes volunteers.”

Proceeds from T-shirt sales will support the festival and local organizations with a focus on lifeguards, ocean and environmental programs. They can be purchased at the festival or from the online store at oceanfestival.org. T-shirts range from $15 for youth shirts to $25 and $30 for adult shirts.

Dana Barbour Travel Advisor/Owner

Divers have to retrieve nearly 100 of these receivers and download the white shark movement data from them which takes about a month. (CSULB Shark Lab/Submitted)

Ocean Festival

Featured Booths & Vendors

Schedule of Events

15th Annual “GROMS RULE®” Surf Contest PUSH-IN DIVISION (BOYS & GIRLS 7 AND UNDER)

SATURDAY, JULY 20

LIFEGUARD COMPETITIONS

Main Competition Area-Northside of San Clemente Pier, featuring:

7:45 am Event #1 Jr. Lifeguard Beach Flags

8:45 am Event #2 Surf Race - JG Heats #1 & #2

9:00 am Surf Race - Women

9:15 am Surf Race - Men

9:30 am Event #3 Rescue Relay (2 person, rescue can & fins) - Women/Combo

9:45 am Rescue Relay (2 person, rescue can & fins) - Men

10:15 am Event #4 Surf Ski Race (Lifeguard spec) - Women

10:30 am Surf Ski Race (Lifeguard spec) - Men

10:45 am Event #5 National Doryman’s Association - NDA Race #1

11:30 am Event #6 International Ironman (swim, ski, paddle) - Women

11:45 am International Ironman (swim, ski, paddle) - Men

12:00 pm Event #7 Jr. Lifeguard Run-Swim-Run - JG Heat #1

12:15 pm Jr. Lifeguard Run-Swim-Run - JG Heat #2

12:30 pm Event #8 Paddleboard Rescue Relay (2 person, 10’6”) - Women/Combo

12:45 pm Paddleboard Rescue Relay (2 person, 10’6”) - Men

1:30 pm Event #9 National Doryman’s Association - NDA Race #2

2:30 pm Event #10 10’6” Paddleboard Sprint Race - JG Heat #1

2:45 pm 10’6” Paddleboard Sprint Race - Women

3:00 pm 10’6” Paddleboard Sprint Race - Men

3:45 pm Event #11 Taplin Relay (swim, board, ski)

4:00 pm BODY SURFING DEMO

4:30 pm LIFEGUARD EVENTS AWARDS CEREMONY (Main Stage)

Schedule of Events

SUNDAY, JULY 21

NEW! SAN CLEMENTE OCEAN FESTIVAL BODYSURFING INVITATIONAL

10:00 am Registration/Check-In @ SURF Registration booth, North of Pier

11 am - 3 pm North of Pier

15th Annual “GROMS RULE®” Surf Contest (BOYS & GIRLS 10 AND UNDER & 11-14)

SAND SCULPTURE TEAM COMPETITION

6:30 am Registration & Sculpting, South of Pier

1 pm - 1:30 pm Judging/Viewing (depending on the tides)

2:00 pm (apx) Awards - Immediately following judging

CITY LIFEGUARD PANCAKE BREAKFAST

7 am - 11 am North of Pier, near Marine Safety

29th ANNUAL BUTTON’S WOODIES ON THE PIER

OCEAN ART SHOW

9 am - 5 pm Parque Del Mar, overlooking event & south of beach tunnel

BEACH EVENTS

Main Competition Area-Northside of San Clemente Pier, featuring:

8:00 am Event #12 5K Beach Run/Walk

9:00 am Event #14 Open Ocean Paddle Race (SUP, Prone, Ski – apx 5.5miles)

9:15 am Event #15 Biathlon (1k Swim & 5k Beach Run)

11:30 am Event #16 One Mile Ocean Swim

2:15 pm Event #17 Run - Swim - Run (200m Run, 300m Swim, 200m Run)

2:30 pm San Clemente Marine Safety Demo

3:00 pm Event #18 SUP Sprint (Women)

3:15 pm SUP Sprint (Men)

3:30 pm Event #19 Splash & Dash Relay (runner 100m & swimmer 300m)

4:30 pm SCOF FINAL AWARDS CEREMONY (Main Stage)

YOUTH PAVILION

All day events: Arts, Crafts and Games hosted by City of San Clemente Recreation Division. Plus, Shark Lab booth.

8:00 am Ticket sales begin for crafts and games

8:00 am - 3:00 pm Arts & Crafts, Game Booths (hosted by SC Parks & Recreation Division)

9:00 am Mermaid Parade

9:30 am Los Rios Rock School - performance

10:30 am FoxRidge Band - C.O.A. performance

11:30 pm Stereosity - C.O.A. performance

1:30 pm School of Rock “House Band” – music and entertainment

29th ANNUAL GREAT RUBBER DUCK RACE

3:30 pm (approximate time) Sponsor ducks are $5 each – GREAT PRIZES!!

*Announcement of winners following Athletic Awards

*SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

DEDICATED

InvitationalBodysurfingmakes a splash

BY JAKE HOWARD

The time-honored practice of bodysurfing is coming to the San Clemente Ocean Festival this year. Going down on the north side of the San Clemente Pier, the Bodysurfing Invitational is an opportunity to get in the water, ride a few waves with friends and have a whole lot of fun.

Bodysurfing, known as kaha nalu in the Hawaiian language, enjoys a rich, deep history and heritage that dates to pre-European contact in Polynesia. For centuries, wave-riders in Hawaii and Tahiti not only bodysurfed for pleasure, but it held cultural significance, and was also, at times, highly competitive.

Skip to the 20th century and as the popularity of surfing begins to enjoy a resurgence in Hawaii, so does the islands’ beach boy culture. Like its predecessors, bodysurfing was ingrained in their daily lives. By the time surfing is exported to the West Coast in the early 1910s and 1920s, it is local lifeguards in places like Santa Monica that not only popularize riding waves on a board, but also make bodysurfing accessible to the masses for the first time.

More than a hundred years down the track, and bodysurfing continues to be

enjoyed by countless people around the world. Swim out in the ocean, ride a wave to shore and repeat. It’s a time-tested recipe for a good time.

“Everybody should have a voice, and we never get to hear from bodysurfers,” explained filmmaker Keith Malloy in a piece in the San Clemente-based publication The Surfer’s Journal.

“There’s such an intrinsic cultural value in what they do, yet you never hear anything about them. … It’s the essence of why we all got in the ocean in the first place.”

The Bodysurfing Invitational at the San Clemente Ocean Festival will take place on Saturday, July 20. Registration for the event is $40 if you sign up early or $50 on event day. There is only one “open” division, meaning that men, women and kids will all be in the water, riding waves together. Judging will be based on wave selection, length of ride, take-off maneuver, ride tricks and more.

If you’ve been thinking about entering a bodysurfing contest but were never quite sure how to get involved, now’s the time. Whether you’re an old salt or just giving something a go for the first time, the Ocean Festival is fun for everyone.