Is it safe to go back into the water? Another San Diego surfer is suspected to have been eaten… We’ll find out more from the autopsy, but this occurred up near Ventura. 

Dead surfer found off Santa Cruz Island identified

The Associated Press | Article Launched: 05/04/2008 11:07:16 AM PDT

SAN DIEGO—Authorities have found the body of a 43-year-old San Diego man who disappeared while surfing with friends off Santa Cruz Island.

John M. Wagner was found dead in the water about 20 miles south of Ventura Harbor on Friday, the Ventura County coroner’s office said.

While surfing a break on the island with friends, Wagner went underwater for unknown reasons about 5 p.m., according to a Coast Guard official. The island is part of the Channel Islands National Park, and it was park rangers who found his body.

The autopsy will be conducted in Santa Barbara County where the death occurred.

Wagner’s death comes six days after a shark killed triathelete David Martin off Solana Beach.

Monday’s Update: According to the LA Times today, more details show this is not a shark… however there was another shark attack down in Mexico this weekend.

Wagner’s death comes just four days after a shark killed a 24-year-old San Francisco surfer in Mexico and a week after a triathlete was killed by a shark in San Diego County. Adrian Ruiz bled to death after being bitten on the thigh April 28 while surfing off Troncones beach west of Alcapulco.

It’s not clear what species was involved in the attack but Mexico’s Navy and maritime authorities had spotted two great white sharks nearby during helicopter overflights.

Beachgoers were being warned about the sharks’ presence near the largely undeveloped oceanfront.

And then there’s this account regarding the Ruiz attack…

Shark kills American: A shark killed San Francisco surfer Adrian Ruiz, 24, at Troncones beach north of Ixtapa on Monday. Mexicans then began slaughtering sharks.

“It is outrageous that the Mexican government is hunting sharks to protect tourists, when the biggest threat to tourists in Mexico is the crime wave that has engulfed the country,” said Serge Dedina of Wildcoast/ Costasalvaje, based in Imperial Beach and Tijuana.

Cousin Derek doesn’t blog?!? Say it ain’t so…

…Jeter updated his [mlb.com] journal four times in 2007, and Rodriguez once.

Jeter smiled when asked if he had thought about maintaining a true blog. “That’s too much for me to worry about,” said Jeter, who was in sixth grade when Hughes was born. Maybe, he [Phil Hughes] mused, there was a generation gap.

It would be hard to picture most players holding a contest for fans to guess a favorite quote from “The Office.” Hughes did, and more than 300 people replied before a reader named giambino0522 guessed correctly.

For the contest winner, Hughes sent a game-used, autographed ball from his victory in Game 3 of the division series. Hughes had two other balls from the game, so he apparently did not mind giving up a memento worth hundreds of dollars.

“The fans are very important to me,” Hughes said. “Without them, I wouldn’t have a job, basically. I try to give back as much as I can. It’s almost a no-brainer.”

Derek, you need to step up and get with the technology! Hook up with Twitter or something, do it from your cell phone… ’cause you’re just as old as my brother, and that’s not young in baseball! Those fans are fickle as well.

As for generation gap - meh!

Just two weeks after I helped one of my buddies buy and load two tandem kayaks onto his SUV… Newsblog | Helicopter sent to look for shark

A Coast Guard helicopter is being sent to assist Solana Beach officials after a fatal shark attack was reported there this morning. A man was killed in the apparent attack, officials said.

The HH-60 helicopter crew has been dispatched and is going up in support of lifeguards and other emergency crews.

“It is not an active search-and-rescue,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Clinton Dotson. “We will help clear the area … and see if we can spot the culprit.”

Solana Beach is just a few miles up the coast from where I go snorkeling in La Jolla. I’m bummed because we’re the mainland capital of training triathletes. I just texted my buddy who is a Search and Rescue swimmer with the Navy and he says he’ll tell me later this afternoon what happened. 

Why it happened?

My opinion as a native Californian, a San Diegan since 1989, and a former Navy DWEST student is…

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sip,structural insulated panel,construction,energy efficiency,solano county

I was recently asked by a friend how the construction project was going. Another blogreader asked how much I was involved.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

(jump beneath the fold for more)

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