Category Archives: Beach and Ocean Recreation

‘Heroes of the Coast’ Documentary Screening and Fundraising Event to Benefit Coastal Cleanup Day

SurfLine.com WHO: Surfrider Foundation's South Orange County Chapter and the California Coastal Commission with narrative from Jim Moriarty, CEO Surfrider Foundation, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi whose AB 754 bill created the Protect Our Coast and Oceans donation check-off box for Coastal Commission grant programs such as Adopt-A-Beach. WHAT: Premiere screening of the "Heroes of the Coast" documentary that tells the story of how a grassroots group of Californians organized to save the coast, Proposition 20, and the voter-led monumental approval of the California Coastal Act. Continue Reading... ...
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George Van Zant: It’s all about the lobster

PressTelegram.com Lobster season is probably the most important season of them all to California fishermen as shown by the number of Report Card Sales. Beginning Saturday Sept. 28, hundreds of hoop nets were launched on the rocky terrains of the near Pacific California coast by anxious fishermen. Divers replaced their last year’s underwater lights with brand new batteries. Finally everybody made ready to capture the tasty crustaceans. The following rules and regulations are those that had to be followed. Lobsters may be taken only by hand or hoop nets. According to the Fish And Game captured lobster should not have puncture holes in them, which indicates the use of spears or gaffs. Continue Reading... ...
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Strictly Sail Long Beach Set for Oct. 24-27

TheLog.com LONG BEACH -- Sailboats will take center stage when Progressive Insurance Strictly Sail Long Beach returns to Shoreline Village and Rainbow Harbor, Oct. 24-27. The show, produced by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, will show new and brokerage sailboats in a wide variety of size and price ranges -- along with the latest boating gear and accessories. Last year, the show attracted more than 5,000 attendees. Continue Reading... ...
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U.S. Team Racing Championship – Twelve teams to compete

SailWorld.com A fleet of 12 of the top teams from the U.S. will compete for the esteemed George R. Hinman Trophy at the U.S. Team Racing Championship, hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Calif.), this Friday through Sunday, October 4-6. Once again, this year’s roster boasts former U.S. Team Racing Champions, college All-Americans, and an impressive pool of sailors who have had success in various disciplines and racing backgrounds. For the first time in many years, this will be an all American event. Team racing is one of the fastest growing disciplines in sailing. Over 100 races are sailed in just a few days. Each race or flight lasts under 30 minutes and normally, three flights are racing simultaneously with teams swapping out after each race. The intended format is a double round-robin followed by a knock-out series sailed between the eight teams who have recorded the highest number of wins during the round-robin series. Continue Reading......
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Local Color

Capt. John, Afishinados Charters AVALON, CATALINA ISLAND - One of the great things about living on Catalina Island is that you meet some very interesting people who have decided to make this rock their home. You can’t spot them by the cars they drive or the shoes they wear, or even by their choice of tie. Since we all tend to run around in our flip-flops and shorts with our Catalina shirts, it is sometimes difficult to get a read on the people you meet, which means you have to talk with them to get to know them. That is kind of novel in today’s world. Sometimes we meet these folks because our friends just know that we would get along, sometimes we meet them at mixers, or meetings, and sometimes it is just by chance. In a town this small, it is always amazing to me how many new people I come across in the course of a season....
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Good Cruise Ship, Bad Cruise Ship

Capt. John, Afishinados Charters - Afishinados.com AVALON, CATALINA ISLAND - Avalon is a port of call for more than a few cruise ships.  Every Tuesday the Carnival Cruise Lines pulls into port and off loads a whole town full of visitors.  This month has been an unusually busy one for such visitors.  We have had our regulars and we have had a number of 'repositionings' resulting in new boats.  This increase in activity has intensified the buzz around town, and I have heard on more than a few occasions, "that's a good cruise ship", and in some cases, "that’s a bad cruise ship".  They look the same to me, so I started asking around to find out more. The more I asked the more clear it became; whether there really are good and bad cruise is a matter of impact.  And believe me, these ships do have an impact on our little town, from the mayor on down.  I...
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Star of India sets sail for 150th anniversary fundraising gala

ABC10 News SAN DIEGO - The oldest sailing ship in the world set sail on the San Diego harbor Saturday. They rolled out the red carpet, with the star attraction being the Star of India. "It's an icon of San Diego, it really is," said Ken Andersen, vice chair of the board of trustees for the San Diego Maritime Museum. Andersen gave 10News a tour of the historic ship. Continue Reading... ...
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Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival 2013

SmoothJazzBuzz The annual Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival, one of the west coast’s foremost fall music events and premier smooth jazz festival returns to Catalina Island every October. JazzTrax is a three-day, three-weekend showcase of contemporary jazz entertainment, featuring the newest and best in smooth jazz. The Festival, which starts the first weekend in October and continues until the 3rd weekend in October is held in the legendary Casino Ballroom on Catalina Island, with special Thursday performances held at the ocean-side setting of Descanso Beach. Continue Reading... ...
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Trips Worth Taking: 50 million visitors later: She’s still the Queen of the Seas

By WARREN RESEN – Member of NATJA - Tampabaycurrent.com Long Beach, CA — With much fanfare, the Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach Harbor in December 1967 to begin its well-deserved retirement after 30 years as the premiere luxury liner sailing the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The conversion to change Queen Mary from an ocean-going luxury liner to a floating hotel, tourist attraction and venue for special events began almost immediately upon its arrival. The retired “Queen of the Seas” opened to the public at her now permanent home in 1971 and more than 50 million visitors have since walked its decks. Continue Reading... ...
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ON FILM: SURFRIDER FOUNDATION’S BATTLE OVER MARTIN’S BEACH

By: MARY CATHERINE O'CONNOR - Outside Online On October 21, 2012, five surfers jumped a closed gate and walked to Martin's Beach, a storied stretch of Pacific in the Northern California's San Mateo County. Their aim was to perform an act of surfing disobedience that could get them arrested. It did. This week the surfer's website The Inertia and Surfrider Foundation released a short film, "Martin's 5: Battle for the Beach," that explains why these surfers – Jonathan Bremer, Kyle Foley, Tyler Schmidt, Austin Murison and David Pringle – risked misdemeanor convictions. They, along with surf access and ocean advocacy organization Surfrider Foundation, claim that access to Martin's Beach is granted to individuals through California's Coastal Commission, which formed 40 years ago and passed the California Coastal Act in 1976. The Act was designed both to conserve marine resources along the Pacific, from Oregon to Mexico, and to maximize opportunities for the public to access and recreate on California beaches. Continue Reading...