Two teenagers had to be rescued today by lifeguards using a crane. And the rescue was at the usual “jumping” site along Sunset Cliffs, near Froude Street.
The two were apparently from of group of 7, out to see the big surf, skipping school, who decided to try the jump. It’s a 40 to 50 foot drop into the water, that depending on the type of surf at the moment, can be fairly dangerous. And it was today. The guys were being pounded by the waves, and couldn’t make it back up the cliffs to safety. Somebody in their group called 911.
Quite a crowd had gathered to watch the rescue, which took about a half hour. News reports said the boys didn’t appear to be injured. This all came down right after 11 a.m. Four of the group were detained and returned to school.
Locals know this spot very well. Many have jumped off this site for decades, and today it’s one of THE sites to check out by visitors. If the surf is calm and the tides are high, conditions are good for the jump. But otherwise, it’s fairly dangerous.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
40-50 feet? More like 20….
I’m from out of town. Didn’t expect anyone to jump. The teens seemed to be observing the surf when the next thing it appeared that the two jumped together. I don’t think “their group” could see the trouble the two jumpers were in as the jumpers were tucked under from where their ‘friends’ stood. The thinner one eventually made it to the steep wall of rock (Oceanside) after 30 seconds but it would have been a miraculous feet to keep clinging on through the massive white wash that continued to pound them. The heavier one could not make it so the thinner one left the wall and reached out to him and kept trying to pull or push him to safety. But there was no safety or able rock to get to. At one point they attempted to swim through the tunnel of rock opening but the waves and whitewash pounded them so hard that sometimes they wouldn’t be visible for ten seconds. The heavier one was seeming to give up–anxiety of thinking he was not getting enough air.–but the coaching of on lookers seemed to give him new hope along with his more athletic friend. They got pushed and swished and thrown upon the rock pile a little closer to shore. But it still was necessary to pay attention to the tornado of water that threatened to unleash their grip. 911 was called; but I think that was by an educated man in a striped shirt watching with grief (as the rest of us ) from a different point of view than the teens. From an uneducated person I was a little dismayed by the pomp and circumstance that continued long after I left. The first rescue vehicle took about ten min to get dressed out to attempt the rescue. Apparently the higher ups said don’t go or the fact that the boys were relatively safe caused a need for display so the media could set up. I do guarantee six rescue vehicles were unnecessary. If the helicopter came for back up, total waste. Actually two surfers were already up on the wall of rock and could of probably surfed them to safety in five min. I am not discounting our rescue personnel. They are all Heroes to me. It’s the political shenanigans that I question.