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one_leg
04-12-2007, 03:15 PM
Wedge fishing fatalities identified.

Pair missing from jetty ID'd
Police say Yi Ni Kwong, 49, of Irvine was fishing in Newport on Tuesday with Sean Shungfei Yeh, 53.

CatchthatTrout
04-12-2007, 04:19 PM
They haven't been found yet...........right?

seanyboi
04-12-2007, 04:41 PM
Aww man that is really sad. I heard that the waves were getting to 15 feet over there thats crazy

bones
04-12-2007, 09:05 PM
I know it's every persons responsibility to keep themselves informed. Especially in an area that has the reputation for big swells but the authorities should close off the jetties when it gets hairy like that. They will never be able to keep the surfers out of the water but the fisherman on the jetties can be controlled and everyone knew the swells were coming.
It's sad that folks died while doing what they love and fishing is not known to be a death defying experience :(
A couple of dudes died last year off of Palos Verdes also doing the same thing. Now my wife is freaked again and told me to stick to the beach :shock:

Oz
04-13-2007, 02:00 AM
it sad that it happened to them but i think if u are gonna go on a jetty when the conditions are the way they are u are going @ ya own risk.

Oz
04-13-2007, 02:21 AM
Three Young Children Swimming Near The Redondo Pier In Gale Force Winds


It was 7 PM on Wednesday in the Santa Monica Bay as a significant Pacific storm battered the coast. Two days previous, a couple was washed off the rocks at Corona del Mar by a rouge wave. Their bodies have yet to be recovered as they were presumed dead.

Gale force winds battered the old Redondo Pier and pushed huge waves over the Redondo break wall. A photographer shot photos of a sailboat trying desperately to makes it way back to King Harbor taking back and forth in a mixed up miserable ocean.

Gusts to over 40 knots were pushing 10 to 12 foot seas up on the beach as crowds of people gathered to watch the spectacle. 200 yards south of the Redondo pier, there was a scene that was hard to fathom; in fact at first glance, it seemed unreal. But there it was. Three children were in the water, playing and laughing with no adult anywhere in sight. The small girl and two boys looked to be from 6 to 8 years old and they continued to wade further out to sea.

People were watching including a man in a green windbreaker who was upstairs and several hundred yards away from the children. A huge wave crashed upon the beach and sent the three children sprawling. The waves started to carry them out to sea but they got to their feet and laughed and continued to play. Of the onlookers, and there were many, nobody said anything, nobody went down to where the children were, nobody stopped to help.

One person had seen enough after a few minutes and called the Redondo Beach police. "There are three children in the water," he said. "You need to get someone out here right away." The man in the green wind breaker had now made his way down to where the children were and waved them out of the water. They came out for a brief moment but then returned in to the water to play some more. The man, turned his back to the children and walked back to the bike path.

Within minutes of the phone call came a Redondo Beach life guard racing down the beach in his yellow truck. As he approached the children, the man in the green windbreaker returned to where the kids were. The life guard ordered the kids to get the out of the water. The man then yelled at the children to comply.The kids walked up to the bike path with the man as two Redondo Beach police officers approached. The officers spoke with the man and seemingly berated him for several minutes for allowing the children to go in to the sea. The man then walked with the children up the stairs and got into their mini van and drove away.

And as the sun set on the Redondo pier, the winds picked up even more, the waves grew even larger, as three kids drove home safe to wake up to another day on Thursday.

mii
04-13-2007, 03:01 AM
i dont mean to sound insensitive but the jettyis the last place those guys should have been. the wedge has been peaking at around 20 ft the past two days and b4 that there were breakers in the mouth of nph at low tide. also, the way the waves bounce off the jetty at wedge can lead to a lot of problems if ur on it. i cant tell you how many times ive been to wedge to feel the ground and jetty shake when the waves break. it wasnt very bright for them to have gone out fishing the jetty the past cpl days so to me, its no surprise this happened. they should have used better judgement.

mii
04-13-2007, 03:05 AM
Aww man that is really sad. I heard that the waves were getting to 15 feet over there thats crazy
for the wedge and that area of newport its not surprising. it just has to be the right swell to get that big. ive seen wedge break at over 20 ft but have never been willing to ride it. my buddy nearly died at the wedge a while back. a lot of the ppl that ride wedge usually know what they are doing. its the few that think they can take anything that get really hurt there.

gwjones00
04-13-2007, 06:06 AM
I went over there to watch the kooks body surfing on Tuesday and Wendesday. Tuesday and Wednesday were big - wave faces were 15 to 20 foot on the Newport Beach side. Tuesday was consistently over 10 feet, Wednesday had bigger sets (15 to 18 foot faces), but much more time between them.

The two that drowned though were on the Corona del Mar jetty. Surfers on the CdM side of the jetty were surfing head high waves on Tuesday. The waves on the CdM jetty *inside the harbor* were breaking over the top of the jetty on Wednesday.

I have some pics if you want to see the Wedge in action - http://gwjones2006.fotki.com. Two folders there have Wedge photos from Tuesday and Wednesday.

hbstriker
04-13-2007, 09:14 AM
I went over there to watch the kooks body surfing on Tuesday and Wendesday.

I really don't see how they are kooks. They are participating in a sport that they love, just like fishing, baseball, football etc. I surf wedge once in a while, it can be fun when conditions are right. And unlike the fisherman, these guys know what they are doing, and UNDERSTAND and RESPECT the ocean, and noone died surfing wedge either this swell. Not trying troll this thread or piss anyone off. Maybe my definition of "kook" is different

mii
04-13-2007, 11:45 AM
I cant agree with hbstriker more. I never bodyboarded wedge but I had no problem taking on waves around 10ft. If you know how to ride wedge you will be fine. Body surfing it is probably the safest way one can ride it. its the people that arent from socal that dont understand wedge that get hurt the worst. as long as you know whats going on you will be fine. really, cylinders is probably more dangerous than wedge.

Sea Murda
04-13-2007, 12:06 PM
I never understood why those guys ride the wedge anyway, the waves break so close to the shore! Doesnt look fun at all...........

IslandBoi
04-13-2007, 01:42 PM
adrenaline junkies

Just how they surf in hawaii with only like 4" off water between the top and coral below ....

gwjones00
04-13-2007, 02:38 PM
I did not mean the term as an insult. When I was in High School and College I too would be out on 10 to 15 foot days. Now, in my "wiser" age (50), I look back and need to ask myself "What was I thinking...."

It was a blast though - nothing like the adrenaline rush looking down something and realizing I was higher than a 2 story building.

BTW - on Wednesday, the lifeguards did have to pull two surfers out of the water. They weren;t hurt - just got in and then I think decided it was too much to handle. The lifeguard boat (viewable in some of the pics) was outside and pulled the two in.

Also - breaking news - one of the bodies has been found over by Inspiration Point in CdM http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/04/13/publicsafety/doc461fdf5b0cc3f995137136.txt

vincentek9
04-13-2007, 08:35 PM
Aww man that is really sad. I heard that the waves were getting to 15 feet over there thats crazy

it wasnt UP TO 15... it was AT LEAST 15. here are pictures from the wedge on tuesday... *note this isnt hawaii pictures.. its actually the wedge on tuesday 4/10/07

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p159/vincentek9/waves/normal_Wedge3.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p159/vincentek9/waves/normal_Wedge4.jpg
you can see the jetty in this picture down here.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p159/vincentek9/waves/normal_769889010.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p159/vincentek9/waves/wedge4.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p159/vincentek9/waves/4.jpg

gwjones00
04-13-2007, 08:42 PM
Wow - those are some great pics man - especially the last two guys taking those *huge* drops!

vincentek9
04-13-2007, 08:46 PM
its sad to hear about their death.. and yes they should not have been on the jetty but they were and they were washed off. one of the bodies has been recovered but the other is missing.

i personally bodyboard the wedge during the right swells and conditions but i'm never in there when its past 15ft or when its breaking in one big solid wall. i've personally helped several guys out there who get slammed by a wave and cant paddle back in. the adrenaline rush is great but just know that the lifeguard normally positioned on the W tower wont really be able to save you on big days.

Greg Madrigal
04-14-2007, 09:58 AM
:shock: :shock: :shock: HOLY S%@T!

GM