LOCAL
LIFEGUARDS
Wise to the ways of the ocean, these
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A big draw for locals and
tourists during the warm
months in Cannon Beach,
Seaside and Gearhart are the
miles and miles of pristine
sand and, depending on the
day or the hour, the moody Pa-
ci¿ c 2cean¶s gently lapping or
churning white-capped waves.
In Cannon Beach and Seaside
(and not too many years ago in
Gearhart), lifeguards scan the
horizon, making beaches safer
places to recreate. Mostly men
but a smattering of women,
athletically able and safety
savvy, these lifeguards make
summer beach visits feel like,
well, more like summer.
2n the Mob from Memori-
al Day through Labor Day, a
lifeguard¶s employment re-
quirements are impressive. To
qualify for the Mob, ¿ rst and
foremost, guards must be able
to swim well and swim far. In
Cannon Beach, lifeguards op-
erate under the auspices of the
district¶s police department.
Applicants must swim through
the surf, out and around Hay-
stack Rock and thread through
“The Needles,” a nearby out-
cropping of tall, spiraling
rocks. Then using surfboards,
they must maneuver north
to Chapman Point. For those
who make the
cut, training
takes place
the ¿ rst two
weekends in
June.
Meeting
the
mini-
mum age to
lifeguard,
18-year-old
Seaside High
School gradu-
ate Calvin Pollard is spending
most of his summer working as
a ¿ rst-year Cannon Beach life-
guard. His name may sound
familiar he¶s one of the area¶s
1 2regon (ast-:est Shri-
ner All-Star football standouts.
Pollard lifeguards 10 hours a
day, four days a week, rotating
with ¿ ve other guards four
men and one woman, who,
this season, range in age from
18 to almost 50. There are also
two guards on call.
A lifeguard tower rises on
the beach in front of Haystack
Rock. In additional to the
perch, the team has an SUV
equipped with a rescue board
and a kayak, and there are two
ATVs.
“It can get pretty windy up
in the tower. Being on duty is
kind of like being a ¿ re¿ ghter
on call. <ou¶re up there, scan-
ning the beach with binoculars
and a scope, best for cutting
through fog,” Pollard says.
“The ocean¶s water tempera-
ture usually varies between 51
and 55 degrees — though one
day it reached . :e wade
out each day to a knee-deep
depth and drop a thermometer
into the ocean to take the read-
ing. It¶s chilly. If we¶re in the
ocean, we wear wet suits.”
Lifeguarding in Cannon
Beach isn¶t new. Gail McCor-
mick was a full-time Cannon
Beach lifeguard for ¿ ve sea-
sons in the 1970s. It ran in the
family; her brother, Mark, was
a Seaside life-
guard. Mc-
Cormick was
the ¿ rst wom-
en hired as a
guard on Can-
non Beach¶s
¿ ve miles of
sandy beach.
“(arly in
the
season
we
would
swim
and
train at Fort Steven¶s Cof¿ n-
berry Lake — the ocean was
too cold,” she recalls. “To
stay in shape, as the weather
grew warmer, we would swim
around Haystack Rock and
‘The ocean’s water
temperature
usually varies
between 51 and
55 degrees.’
4 | August 20, 2015 | coastweekend.com
Surf’s Up:
Wisdom from
lifeguards
Coastal Life
Story by MARILYN GILBAUGH
• Go into the surf
with a pal – never alone
• Beware of sneaker
waves and tidal changes
• Stay off of logs
Submitted photo
• Find a vantage point on the
shore, it provides a
bearing when you drift
Left: 21-year-
old Bill Palmer
spent a sum-
mer lifeguard-
ing on Seaside’s
beach in 1932.
His daughter,
Pat McDonald,
now lives in
Gearhart.
• If caught in a crab
hole, exit laterally.
• If you see someone
in distress, fi rst call
for professional help
• If you are knocked under
by waves and become
disoriented, follow your air
bubbles to the surface.
do long runs from Haystack
Rock north to Chapman Point
Creek. :e hung out together
because we worked six days
a week. Getting two days off
in a row was a big deal. ” A
strong swimmer, after her life-
guarding years McCormick
went on to swim the (nglish
Channel.
For over 100 years, Seaside
lifeguards have scanned the
beaches using binoculars and
telescopes. They sit high in
the tall white lifeguard stand
located Must down from Sea-
side¶s landmark Turnaround,
and they drive two vehicles up
and down the beach.
In the 1930s, one such
lifeguard was Bill Palmer, a
21-year-old Baker City resi-
dent who took a break from
attending the University of
2regon law school to be a
summer lifeguard in Seaside.
His daughter, current Gearhart
Photo by Joshua Bessex
A lifeguard tower stands tall on the beach
at Seaside.
Photo by Joshua Bessex
Ralph Davis, 94, worked as a lifeguard in Seaside in the 1950s with his wife, Betty Davis,
before moving to Gearhart and lifeguarding there for 10 years.
resident Pat McDonald, and
her four siblings continued to
summer in Seaside, and their
father passed along his knowl-
edge of the ocean.
“:e were raised with a
very, very strong respect for
the ocean,” recalls McDonald.
The Seaside lifeguards are
employed by the Seaside Fire
Department.
“2ur lifeguards respond
to everything from the ocean
up to the Prom,” says David
Rankin, who was a lifeguard
in Seaside for two years before
becoming division chief of
operations and training of the
lifeguarding program in 2012.
“Shifts vary; some are 10
hours, and some are six hours.
:e overlap to bring in more
coverage in the afternoon.
“:e try as best we can to
have two guards always on
and three on weekends,” he
says. “:e¶ll also cover Gear-
hart if we get a call that we¶re
needed.”
Gearhart used to have life-
guards of its own the legend-
ary Ralph and Betty Davis.
Lifeguards in the Seaside for
¿ ve years in the 1950s, the
couple moved on to guard the
Gearhart beaches for 10 years.
“2ur whole family — Bet-
ty, me, along with our assis-
tants who Must happened to be
our two sons — scanned the
beaches in Gearhart,” Ralph
Davis recalls. “From the time
they were 10 and 11 the boys
were out there with us.
“Gearhart didn¶t have a
lifeguard tower,” he says. “:e
sat high up on the dunes where
we could also keep warm in
the tall grass when a cold wind
was blowing.”