Built for efficiency, not for the comfort of those who spend hot, daylong shifts perched atop them, the towers elevate guards above the crowds for a better view.
Lifeguard stands may soon get a makeover. Beach patrol members here and in Cape May are testing a prototype made of aluminum instead of the traditional wood.
The idea is to devise a lighter and more portable model that is resistant to vandalism and weather damage, said Mike Seaverns, owner of Heritage Towers, a Cape May company that builds aluminum towers for sportfishing boats.
Unlike Florida and California, where the surf line remains relatively unchanged during the day, enabling guards to man permanent stations, high and low tide can vary dramatically in New Jersey. Lifeguard stands must be moved often, Steele said.
"Guards have ended up with hamstring injuries and back problems from lifting the chairs. As more and more women have joined the beach patrol, we've seen a growing need to make these chairs lighter," said Steele, noting that about a quarter of his squad's 88 members are female.
The wood chairs, left out overnight on beaches up and down the coast, are targets of vandalism by Sea Isle's rowdy partyers, Steele said. One of his lieutenants repairs or rebuilds as many as four a week in a makeshift workshop at patrol headquarters at 44th Street.
"The wood rots quickly because of the salt air . . . and vandalism at night is rampant," Steele said. "We need something out here that's virtually indestructible."
Enter Heritage Towers and its design. Cape May and Sea Isle City each received an aluminum prototype, which Seaverns plans to refine over at least one more season. The goal is a chair that is lighter and more comfortable than the current stands, but sturdy enough to stay put in heavy winds or a freak high tide.
