Avast ye!

On a walk the other day, I discovered this pirate ship. I don't know if it's there just for the Halloween season, or if it's a permanent addition to the neighborhood. But in any case, I can't stop thinking of pirates—and Johnny Depp.

Old boat

I'm not sure why this scene struck me as funny. Is it that a boat is parked outside a bike shop? Or is it the thought of this old boat being dismantled piece by piece, week by week, to fit it into this trash bin?

A Balboa valentine part 2

Yesterday I talked about our Valentine holiday on Balboa Island. Today, I want to continue telling you about that great day. We walked for over 6 miles during the day and had a great view the whole way. There are water sports galore. For these guys, the calmness of the bay is ideal for exercising while enjoying the view.

For others, it's a time for laying around. Even if it is on someone else boat. I don't think the owner of this $30,000 boat is going to be happy to find it has been appropriated by these seals in his absence.

A Balboa valentine

Last Friday, which was Valentine's day this year, my wife and I went to Balboa Island, Newport Beach, for the day. Balboa Island is 33 miles south of Downey. It was created in 1909 by William Collins by dredging up sand from the harbor and piling it onto the local tideland. Lots that sold originally for $600 are now selling for several million on average. This ferry, which carries cars and passengers between Balboa Peninsula and the Island, first began operation in 1920 with a single two-car boat.

It now operates 3 three-car boats. I estimated it has transported over 19.5 million cars in its 93 years.

More of Balboa Island tomorrow.

The coastal fog

Downey is about 15 miles inland from the beach—just far enough that most days we are unaware of the layer of coastal fog just a few miles away.

Such was the case last Sunday morning. The sun was out and bright in Downey. Just a few miles south, at Shoreline Village in Long Beach, the sun was still bright overhead, but the low-lying fog was so dense that it was almost impossible to see shapes just 100 feet distant. A telescope is useless. The only safety lies in sound, and the warning sounds of the foghorns were constant.

Did you know that, to be called "fog,"  the resulting visibility must be less than 1 km? More than 1 km, and it's just misty out.

Punta Cana beauty

A mere 3,200 miles away from Downey is Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Although Downey and Punta Cana share some similarities (a strong historical Spanish influence and a similar population of around 100,000), the similarity pretty much stops there.

This tropical island is a beautiful vacation destination. The turquoise waters and the white sand beaches draw visitors from all around. It drew us. My daughter and I just got home from a week at a resort on the Bavaro shore and had a great time.

On one of our daily beach walks, we ran into this fisherman cleaning his daily catch. It was fun to watch the activity going on, but I love the sound of the surf, the constant blowing of the wind, and the water as it rushes over my feet.

"My life is like a stroll on the beach....as near to the edge as I can go."
~ Thoreau

Some pictures are worth less than a thousand words

Since the weather has been so off lately, I was worried I wouldn't get a good picture of the ocean. I was right. You could barely tell the difference between the steel-gray sky and the icy gray ocean. The horizon was no help either. It was just a gray blur in between. So I went to the harbor and took a picture of a boat instead.

The changing light of Honfleur

There's something about the light. Painters, especially in the 19th century, have flocked to Honfleur because of the irresistible quality of the light reflected from the Seine estuary. This light has inspired painters such as Courbet, Monet, and Boudin. So in honor of Monet, here is the Honfleur port, Monet-style.

However, I think these artists had an advantage. Unlike us, they could wait for the light. Judging by the postcards in town, I'd guess that the weather in this area is often rainy and overcast (and cold!) like today. This postcard says "Normandy seen by Google Earth."

In addition to its artistic appeal, Honfleur is the home of the Sainte-Catherine church, which is the largest church made out of wood in France. We walked by this beautiful old church just as mass was ending. As the priest greeted his parishioners, it felt like Sunday-after-church anywhere.

Beach town

We spent today exploring the north coast of Brittany, called the Côtes-d'Armor. The picture above is the beach resort town of Saint-Cast-le-Guildo. You can walk from its long stretch of beach (in the distance), along the winding patch under the cliffs, to its fishing and leisure port at this end.

The tide in this area varies from high to low tide by nearly 30 feet, so it is important to work your way through translating this sign, which warns: "The path might be covered at high tide."

Flying high

Last year for my birthday, my son and daughter-in-law gave me a Groupon good for two hours of flying over the Los Angeles area. I waited until winter to get a good visibility day, but the flight was cancelled twice due to bad weather. Finally today, my wife and I got to experience Los Angeles at 3000 feet.

One highlight of the flight was flying over the Queen Mary luxury liner. It is permanently docked in the Long Beach Harbor just 17 miles south of Downey, and it is where another son recently purposed to his girlfriend, who said, "yes."

Ryan was our pilot for the day. This is a picture after our landing.

The lure of the sea

As Joan showed in yesterday's post (The lights of Christmas), Naples, a nearby neighborhood of upscale homes located on canals, is beautiful at Christmas. But for landlocked Downey, Naples has an appeal that lasts year-round, with its vision of a different lifestyle—one of sailing out whenever you choose, with the wind in your hair and the sun (or moon) at your back...

"Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit."
- Brooks Atkinson

The Bay

I'm up visiting my daughter for the week in Northern California. On Monday, we went into "the city"  for the day. (In northern California, San Francisco is "the city.") The weather was perfect!

I found a fun view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio. As I waited to see a huge cruise ship pass under the bridge, I noticed this Oracle catamaran, which looked absolutely gigantic in the bay.



I never realized until I watched the news today that this "Oracle" was a multi-million dollar 72-foot contender for the next America's cup—two years from now. (Oracle, the sponsor, is also the current America's cup holder.) Unfortunately, while on a test run today, in choppy seas, the catamaran capsized on the Bay! No one was injured, but the 131-foot-tall rigid wind sail was damaged pretty badly. It took hours before they got the craft back to the pier.