Fwd: My Grandaughter and son-in-law at Chun's Monday

Hello everyone,

This is the first reply from today's letter.  This is the earliest start into the world of surfing I have ever seen.

Dale Ghere

guarded from 1960 to 1974

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mike Hartley <
Date: Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 4:16 PM
Subject: My Grandaughter and son-in-law at Chun's Monday
To: Dale and Marilyn Ghere <dmghere@gmail.com>

Fwd: La Ticla

Hello everyone,

I just received this picture from Charlie.  Jeff T. has been on a surfing trip, in Mexico, with his 14 year old son for the past few weeks.  If any of the other waves are like this one then they must be having a great time.  There is something special for the father who can enjoy spending time with his children and/or grand children.

Here are couple of stories I wrote about my family.  Do you have a story to share?

Yes, I Know

By Dale Ghere

2000

Since 1960, surfing Lowers has always been one of my favorite spots here in southern California.   At Trestles I have had many days of outstanding surf to enjoy and remember.  It was one of the first places Kiwi and I would go surfing before we had to report to our beaches to lifeguard in Laguna Beach.  In those days it was not unusual to be there alone in the early morning dawn hours.  We would surf nearly every morning the surf was up because the Chief, Art Fisette, would allow us to be late if we went surfing before work.  The options were: show up on time and do a "rock swim" for time or go on a "dawn patrol" and come to work late and miss the thousand yard swim.  Art considered surfing good for developing strong waterman skills.  He always said that it would make us better lifeguards.

It was not unusual for me to surf before work, lifeguard all day at Saint Ann's Beach and then surf Brooks Street until dark.  Surfing evenings in those days was usually done someplace close to home.  This allowed us to eat quickly, take a long shower and get to bed early so we could get up before dawn the next day and repeat the cycle again.  

As the years have gone by I've always enjoyed surfing the early morning hours, but for some reason the late evenings have become a very special time for me.  There is something unique that happens for me as it begins to get too dark to surf, a feeling of peace and contentment.  It occurs between the time I get out of the water because I can no longer see the set waves coming and the point of total darkness.  During that time I am usually walking north along the beach at Trestles while watching the color of the sky change from a deep red, to purple, to black.  I enjoy this time of being alone and quiet, thinking about how fortunate I am to be able to spend another evening in the water.

As my son Ryan got old enough to surf, the evening surf sessions developed into a special event for both of us; something to anticipate whenever the surf was up.  To this day it is a time that we share and enjoy together.

There was such a night last summer that I always want to remember.  Ryan and I had a good evening of surf together.  It was glassy and warm.  The waves were not large, but they were clean and had good shape. I got out of the water one set before Ryan.  When he did finally make it to the beach we dressed and started walking up the beach in silence, enjoying the quietness.  We had not walked very far when Ryan said, "I can hardly wait until Matthew is old enough to surf.  It will be great to come surfing with my son."  I replied with, "Yes, I know."  We walked on in silence.

                                              ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

seven years later

                                               ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the most awesome night of my life

By Dale Ghere

July 3, 2007

This is the summer of learning new water skills for all three of the boys. I wrote the

following e-mail to friends a couple of weeks ago.

The grandsons are ready to make this a beach summer. The two older boys just got

new skimboards. I gave Matthew (7) a pair of fins for Christmas and now he wants

to dive with goggles. He can already dive down and pick up shells from the bottom.

I will take him paddling on a surfboard this summer so he should be surfing small

waves by September. Ethan (almost 5) is willing to get his feet off the bottom now so

he will have to be watched more carefully this summer. He can spend hours diving

under waves. Carter (2) is still a sand lizard, but loves to explore the entire beach. He

is aware enough of what waves can do to stay out of trouble. He gets knocked down

once in a while, but he is not discouraged.

I believe that this statement is most true for Matthew. He is beginning to feel really

comfortable in the water, even when the surf is up.

The surf started building last Sunday afternoon so there has been some concern about any

of the boys getting in the water. Matthew is at the point where he could get in trouble real quick

if the wrong set of waves caught him in a bad position. Carter did get swept up by a wave on

Sunday and started getting pulled into the break. Fortunately the lifeguard just happened to be

walking by and quickly grabbed him by the arm and sat him down in the dry sand. That did not

make Tiffani or Ryan any too happy so there has been a restriction on the boys at the beach for

the past couple of days. With that comes an automatic restriction on Ryan because he can't go in

the water with the boys at the beach unless someone else who is trustworthy is there to watch the

kids. This has been hard on Ryan because the conditions have been almost perfect and getting

better by the hour. It is hard to be so close and not be able to go get a wave.

By Tuesday evening Ryan really wanted to get in the water. He asked me if I would go

and watch Matthew while he caught some waves. Tiffani was going to take the other two boys

with her to the market. Of course I said yes and we planned to run down after dinner, about 5:30.

The evening started out great and just got better as the tide continued to rise. The south

break at Oak Street was as good as it gets. Everyone had a good time. The surf was too big to

allow Matthew to go outside, but he found some friends his age to play within the shore break.

I am gladdened to see how confident he is in the water. Slowly he is building all the

skills that will allow him to enjoy the beach as much as his father has. Matthew's main limiting

factor now is his swimming skill. He still does not do freestyle. He does sort of a cross

between dog paddle and breaststroke. It allows him to explore the water and he is confident

going out quite far with me to go diving. As soon as he becomes a good swimmer his water

world is going to expand beyond anything he can imagine now.

After Ryan went surfing he took Matthew out on a boogie board. It was good to see how

well Matthew took diving under the large waves with Ryan. They managed to catch a few

waves. When they went in the water I decided to go body surfing myself. I had a grand time.

Warm water, good waves and a small crowd all made it just that much better. While I was in the

water Ryan went to the beach and put Matthew under the care of some other locals and told

Matthew to stay out of the water. Ryan and I had a great time catching waves together for much

too long. I should have quit earlier because I am sore all through my shoulders today. When we

went back in it was getting late and time to leave the beach. Matthew asked if he could jump

back in the water for a little bit. Ryan said okay and he was off in a heartbeat. After a while

Ryan called him to go so he came out of the water and got dried off. Then he dropped his towel

and said that he had to go back in the water one more time before we left. Ryan said to go ahead

and he ran away again. They played that game several more times before it really was time to

leave. By the time they quit the towel was so wet it did not do much to help dry him off.

Finally we headed for home as the sun was setting behind the horizon. As we crossed

Glenneyre Street Matthew reached over and took my hand and said, "This is the most awesome

night of my life grandpa. I had a great time in the surf with you and dad."

It doesn't get much better than that!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charlie Gilbert <
Date: Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 12:37 PM
Subject: Fwd: La Ticla
To: Ryan Ghere <

Check out Jeff T in Mainland MX (Just south of Manzanillo), got this yesterday, I think it was the morning sesh or just the day before! I saw him in Sayulita last week - what an area!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeff Tresselt
Date: Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 3:43 PM
Subject: La Ticla
To: 

Hi , wish you guys were here. Can you please send this one to Jack. I cant get his email up on the screen for some reason