Surfers get around the ban at Trestles

On the morning of April 8, surfer and jujitsu instructor Don Abadie went live on Instagram.

“There’s a big swell right about now,” he said in part on the 1:15 minute video clip. “Does anybody want to join me with perfect 6-foot “lowers” with no one out? Now look, I got this boat, and space is limited, so anybody that wants to come with me …. just show up at Dana Point Harbor and we are gonna go out.”

James was the only surfer that met with Abadie at their nearby harbor, which is about 12 miles north of San Diego County’s San Onofre State Beach — an access point to the renowned Lower Trestles.

Abadie’s plan to boat in to Lower Trestles, was to dodge the statewide beach ban — but being from Orange County (Dana Point), he likely didn’t hear of our updated April 3 countywide ban of boating, swimming and surfing, or maybe he did.

“We’re only going to have like, I don’t know, a few law enforcements on the beach probably taking pictures of us,” he continued on his Instagram invite, “if something happens, they’ll come and save us … the boys on the beach might even give us a ride up the hill.”

At about 8:30 am on April 8, Abadie and James loaded their surfboards in Abadie’s 14-foot Caribe boat, then motor boated southbound towards our shared waters with San Clemente State Beach.

I chopped it up with with the jujitsu academy proprietor on April 10.

“It’s about a 15- to 20-minute boat ride,” he said.

When the pair arrived, they dropped anchor, then paddled out to the sets.

“We ended up catching one wave,” Abadie continued. “It was probably a seven-foot wave, it doesn’t really barrel out there, but I got to do a few turns and kind of lit it up, and then I kicked out so I can jam back to the boat and [instead] I got caught inside on the set wave …. before the rogue wave that came in and just swept everything away.”

“After the vessel came loose of its anchor and capsized in the shore break,” said Kevin Pearsall of California State Parks in a Surfer.com interview, “it was required they use vessel assist, which is a tow service.”

“It was totally my fault,” Abadie admitted, “and if I was out another 20 feet, the boat would’ve been fine. I didn’t want to be a jerk and I wanted to be respectful.”

“How much was your fine for?” I asked him; “I’m not sure how much it’s going to be,” he responded, “I got a citation for being a dumb boater.”

“[Abadie] was cited for harbor and navigation codes,” Pearsall reportedly said, “which is basically improper use of a vessel. But they weren’t arrested.”

Abadie’s Instagram posts went viral around the worldwide surf community.

“You are a bad influence for any young person that looks up for you,” said one Instagramer. “You are the kind of guy that gets your kids into trouble, in this case breaking the law! And putting other people, law enforcement and lifeguards, in life risk, you are far from a joke!”; “Thanks for your judgement,” responded a fellow-IGer, “you should focus on your skateboarding skills instead.”

Then a surfer from Mexico commented with expletives; Baja surfers can relate: photos of federales confiscating surfboards along Baja California Sur beaches are floating around the internet.

“That picture says a lot — kind of crazy,” Abadie said as we viewed an IG image of two federal-UTVs hauling away surfboards. “I used to go to Baja a lot and surf, but I don’t wanna cross the border and get stuck anywhere outside right now.”

Regarding the blowback from his surf excursion: “I would say about 30 percent are keyboard warriors,”Abadie continued, “but it’s been about 70 percent positive. I learned a valuable lesson: don’t act on impulse. I lost a boat, car keys, a bunch of electronics, and a little bit of my dignity. When the beaches are closed they’re closed and you can’t even enter the water from boat or ski. The lifeguards and park rangers were very helpful …. even though I was the one being a dumbass. I got to give props to them.”

While Abadie and I were communicating on April 10, KUSI News posted an Instagram video of Jack Silverwood, an Encinitas surfer. He was depicted on San Elijo Boulevard in Cardiff — protesting our countywide surfing ban with a sign that read: “Commies can’t surf.”

“I can’t go catch a wave, that’s illegal, I will get a $1000 fine or go to jail,” he said in part. “I can’t work; I can’t surf; I might as well bitch about it. I’m protesting our local government [that] aren’t allowing us to enjoy the things we do, but are allowing people — like look behind me — to walk the streets, jog, bike, and be in close proximity of each other.”

At about the 3:27 minute mark of the KUSI clip, Silverwood pulls out another spray-painted sign that reads: “Kim Prather is a kook.”

“….[she’s] a local to Scripps oceanic institute: she said that through water bubbles and sea breeze, COVID-19 can be spread with zero proof or anything. That’s an hypothesis and that is not a proven scientific statement, and the city is running with it as science; it’s not science.”