Glenelg SLSC

First the weather report... the 100+ degree temperatures are gone!!!  That cold front produced rain overnight and it's a comfortable 72 at 2 pm.  

Can't run the scooter in the rain, so we hung around the apt.  After lunch it was off to the Marina and the beach.  

Marina Pier complex 

The Marina Pier complex was built for the tourist trade.  On the bottom floor are a series of restaurants (see the white tents in the center of the pic). The marina has one catamaran that does a dolphin watching cruise and charters out for other cruises.

marina

Part of the complex sits on what was a long-time seaside amusement park, complete with a large roller coaster.  The wooden coaster was destroyed in a storm, and the area is now a hotel.

Walking  south down the beach from behnd the hotel, there was a lot of activity.  Saturday, it seems, is training day for the GSLSC.  

restaurant on top floor; boats and training on ground floor

paddleboards lined up for a test

These guys did a three-part race.  First leg on paddleboards - they had to launch into the surf, paddle out around two buoys, then return to a marker about 100ft down the beach.  Once there, they switched to a kayak and paddled the same course (in reverse).  When they got back to the starting marker, they dropped their kayak and paddles and returned to the water and swam the same course (against some good swells).  I thought it was all teenagers, but the guy who came in second, had to have been in his 40s.  Showed those young lads a thing or two.

All this was supervised by multiple water safety officers and their portable life saving truck.

Just as the race was done, all the training classes showed up.

nine- & eleven-year-olds gather
 for paddleboard training

eight-year-olds ready for a race

seven-year-olds picking up their gear to head for the beach

It was impressive to watch.  Something for all ages.