For locals growing up in the water along the Santa Cruz coast, it’s the little things that can flash big warning signs.
Dustin Marty, a Central Fire Protection District firefighter for the past decade with experience as a State Parks lifeguard and local junior guard before that, was off duty, cruising East Cliff Drive in search of the perfect swell to surf on a Saturday afternoon in September. The tide was high and the swell moderate, so Marty, 32, decided he would run some errands for his wife instead.
However, something he can barely explain — call it gut instinct, those tiny tell-tale signs that the surfers were not local, wearing their wet suits improperly, using swimming goggles — urged Marty to circle back around, park and get into his wetsuit anyway.