Shawn Alladio: Personal Watercraft Posts -
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Published on: 3/25/2002
Last Visited: 4/22/2002
Big Wednesday: Giant waves test man and machine By PEGGY TOWNSEND Sentinel staff writer April 14, 2002 Santa Cruz Sentinel April 14, 2002 The Santa Cruz City Marine Rescue Team: Troy Emhoff, Nick Llewellyn, John Alexiou, Danny Cortazzo, Haven Livingston, Ned Hearn and Mike Park.
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One of them, Danny Cortazzo, a dark-haired surfer who was on the U.S. professional lifeguard team, was already in the water, surfing waves that freight-trained through Steamer Lane at 18-20 feet.It was a day so gnarly, Cortazzo said, he was pretty sure he'd end up with a broken board before it was done.
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By then, Cortazzo was already making his first rescue at Steamer Lane.The waves were so big, he and a small group of hard-core locals were riding them from Steamer Lane to the Cowell Beach stairs 400 yards down the coast.Then, they'd jog back on West Cliff Drive for the next ride.Cortazzo had just kicked out of an 18-foot wave when he saw a young surfer in a bad spot near the cliff at Steamer Lane.The leash that connected the surfer to his board had broken, and whitewater was shoving the man into the dark, jagged rocks.His surfboard was already shattered."When you've been in the lifeguard business for a long time, you can tell a lot about a person by their eyes," said Cortazzo, who also works as a firefighter for the City of Santa Clara."His were very, very panicked."I ended up throwing him up on my board and paddling him all the way to Cowell's."Cortazzo got the man out of the water, but knew there would be trouble ahead if he didn't stop the line of novice surfers heading down the Cowell stairs into the water."I told them, ‘Look, it's extremely dangerous, and the waves aren't worth it.' I told them the current would just take them right through the wharf."Most of them listened to Cortazzo.A few didn't.By afternoon, Cortazzo had rescued two more surfers, pulling them out through the waves at Cowell Beach."Every time I came up the stairs, I would be amazed at the people going into the water," Cortazzo said."It was like watching lemmings."‘ This is really significant' It was a cloudy day, and the jet stream was pumping right over Central California.Rain was forecast for that night.Alex Peabody knew that with the big swell, the busiest time for rescues would probably be around 2 p.m. when the tide was at its highest.He'd been a lifeguard for 20 years, and now he headed the state lifeguard program.He knew the ocean like his own back yard.The first call came in right at 2 when Central Fire Department reported two surfers waving for help off the Capitola jetty.
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