We relaxed in chairs on the sand first and had an informal potluck. Bob and Meri brought tons of delicious food, including barbecued chicken wings and a greek pastry thing filled with spinach that I can't pronounce, much less spell. Others brought KFC barbecue nuggets, homemade artichoke dip (still warm!) with crackers, spinach dip, chips, and to top it all off, chocolate covered strawberries. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. And we hadn't even gone near the water yet!
We launched just before sunset, with the almost-full moon already high in the sky. Dave's family stayed on the beach to wait for our return. The breeze began dying down and the temperature stayed comfortable, without the chill I had feared. We set off first to tour the canals around Naples Island, at a leisurely pace, enjoying conversation. The sun disappeared and the almost-full moon shone brightly. The water was calm, and a peacefulness settled around us as we glided serenely down the waterways. It was a beautiful night and an absolutely fabulous paddle. On the way back we noticed luminescence in the water from the photoplankton; as my paddle moved the water the ripples glowed a soft bluish-white. As we passed through darkness under the bridges, I even saw it where the bow of my boat moved the water.
After about an hour and a half of paddling, around 9:40, we returned to the beach, cleaned gear and headed home, relaxed and happy.
Beth Powis
Directions:
From the San Diego Freeway ( I-405) northbound, or the Garden Grove Freeway
(CA-22) westbound, or the San Gabriel Freeway (I-605) southbound take the 7th
Street exit and immediately exit onto Studebaker Road south.
From the San Diego Freeway (I-405) southbound take the Studebaker exit turning right south onto Studebaker. Then drive south on Studebaker until it tees into 2nd Street / Westminster Avenue. Turn right and travel west on 2nd Street approximately 1.5 miles and turn left, just past the second 2nd Street bridge, onto Bay Shore Avenue.
Drive south on Bay Shore and turn to the left where it y's onto 54th Place. Turn left at the stop sign on to Ocean Boulevard and park on the left just past the light blue Sailing Center building at 5437 E. Ocean Blvd.
Parking on the street is free, in the service road parking is metered. During the summer Bay Shore Drive is barricaded during daytime, so the first left turn past Bay Shore off 2nd St. will lead you to Ocean Blvd. westbound necessitating a u-turn on Ocean.
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picture of Alamitos Bay
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overhead picture of Alamitos Bay
After a crummy overcast few days and evenings, Saturday dawned clear and breezy---perfect for a moonlight paddle. It's nice to see the moon, after all. First to arrive at the Alamitos Bay launch was Beth, followed by the lovely Bob and his wife Meri, then seemingly all at once came Dave (Hauser---with three generations of family!), OC Connie and Madoka. Along with the three generations Dave brought three different wood boats, including a canoe and his "yare". The latter could be dubbed the Tippy Canoe (sic), which Dave thrillingly demonstrated. But first introductions were made and appetizers were produced: chips and dips, two sets of BBQ wings, spanakopita and---chocolate dipped strawberries. Many thanks to Dave's mother-in-law for those.
Finally we rolled our sated selves down to the water and took off. The Naples canals looked their best with the high tide; otherwise it's like being at the bottom of a concrete ditch. We floated on til Beth set up for a group photo. For some reason that made Dave decide to take a dive, but he rolled back up and the photo was shot. We meandered some more under the moonlight. Bob and Mer pulled out some fine stemware and their Platypus of Two Buck Chuck (which they didn't share!) Beth found what must have been a great shot of the moon and some palms. Connie mentioned she almost always paddles alone, as her husband and son just aren't interested. You go girl!
Just after exiting the canals, Dave went back to the beach, presumably to check on the folks, then caught up with the rest of us after we'd crossed under the Second Street bridge and passed Mothers Beach. We headed toward the Cerritos Channel, then turned off to the right and ogled The World's Ugliest Shopping Center (Marina Pacifica). It's a dog from the front and even worse from the side they think no one sees. Adding insult to insult we ran into some foul smelling petrochemical product near the dead end and got the #&%* out.
Not much happened on the last leg, back to the beach, but it was nice to chat and find out more about all these new people. Mer got so caught up hearing about Madoka's art she blithely cut off a departing gondola from the Getaways. Oops. Profuse appologies; they were very nice. Then the rinsing/loading ritual and departure after all agreed it was a great way to spend an evening!