Two Surfers Just Tried To Boat Into A Locked-Down Lowers, Ended Up Capsized And Arrested!

The cops were twitchy this morning in San Clemente. They knew they were in for a long day.

“All of the beaches are closed from North Beach through San Onofre,” an Orange County Sherif explained to me at T Street.

He politely explained that the beaches would be patrolled and citations given for anybody breaking the law. Not unlike when President Richard Nixon was president, today surfing in San Clemente was considered an illegal activity. 

At 5:00pm on Tuesday, April 7, barriers and fences were put in place at all beach access points in San Clemente. With San Diego and L.A. already locking down their beaches, for the last couple of weeks Lowers has been packed. Today marked the first dawn under the new beach closure orders.

Surfers being surfers, the boundaries were immediately tested. Creedlers with boards under arm crept out of the arroyos and private access points, looking to find a hole in the lockdown. 

With four- to five-foot surf and clean conditions, one hard-paddling soul played a game of cat-and-mouse with the lifeguards at Uppers. After days of heavy rains, the San Mateo creek is running wide open and the lifeguard jeep was stuck on one side, while the surfer got back to the beach on the other side and disappeared into the bushes. 

By 11:00am, a boat with a pair of surfers had anchored out the back at Lowers. The lifeguards were not amused. But for over 30 minutes the two had the joint to themselves.

The show aired live via the Surfline cam—who says there aren’t any live sports on? Around 11:30, it appears that their boat, which was anchored off-screen, was either swamped by a large set or broke free of its anchorage. 

With any hopes of clean getaway dashed, the gig was up for the two surfers. Over half a dozen lifeguard and State Park Ranger units descended on the point. By noon the boat was in the shorebreak washing down the coast towards Middles and Church and the two surfers were reportedly taken into custody.

Those twitchy cops this morning knew something like this was going to happen, and my guess is these two will be made examples of. It remains unclear who the surfers are and what charges they will face, but they’re definitely in some kind of trouble. 

2:50 pm UPDATE: Via an anonymous DM we’ve identified the likely perpetrator!

A Dana Point man by the handle of don.abadie posted a video to his IG stories of him heading toward Lower Trestles with a surfboard in tow, before proclaiming to his 1,000+ followers (which include WSL Commissioner Pat O’Connell): “Let’s see how this goes.” 

Below is a screenshot, but you can also watch the video on Don’s or Stab’s Instagram stories. 

To be clear, we wouldn’t share this info if 1. Don hadn’t already been apprehended by the authorities (we ain’t narcs) and 2. if it wasn’t posted on a public account.