Geoff Fox: My Permanent Record
Back when I was in school teachers would always scare me with stories of how my exploits would end up in my permanent record. I believe this is it! – Geoff Fox
I visited The Wedge in Newport Beach this afternoon. It’s a famous surf break. Lowell, a not as famous Eastern Pacific tropical storm, has blessed The Wedge with heavy surf.
I visited The Wedge in Newport Beach this afternoon. It’s a famous surf break. Lowell, a not as famous Eastern Pacific tropical storm, has blessed The Wedge with heavy surf. Not great surf, just big.
This is the story of my trip to photograph it and some of my shots. Please click the button and watch my short video.
There’s a hundred plus year old tradition at Newport Beach. Every year around Christmastime, dozens of brightly decorated boats cruise through Newport Harbor. Some are over-the-top!
Because Max is in the Sea Scouts, we joined our cousins at the Newport Beach Sea Base. They have a great location, on an inlet with Lido Island across the way.
There was lots of pre-parade traffic on the roads and inlet. PCH was jammed. On the water, lots of people were out for dinner and a cruise on huge multi-decked boats that could almost be called ships. Smaller boats darted back and forth.
Yes, we wore coats and gloves! Doppler came in her pink hooded sweater. My cousins supplied blankets. I had ear muffs, but they stayed pocketed.
I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There might not be anything quite like it! Dozens of boats, some very large, passing through the channel. All were lit up like (and decorated with) Christmas trees.
If you’re planning on being in SoCal, it runs Saturday and Sunday evening. It’s very cool.
“Wanna come for a ride,” I asked Helaine? “I want to go to Newport Beach for the sunset.”
Since we’ve been in SoCal I’ve taken very few photos. It’s not that Orange County isn’t photogenic. It’s just photogenic in a different way than my old neighborhood in Hamden. There’s more effort involved to get to the right spot.
Newport Beach is around a half hour away. It is Greenwich with palm trees, right on the Pacific.
Our destination was “Inspiration Point,” which sounds like cheesy dialog from a 1960s beach movie. It’s a bluff just above Corona Del Mar State Beach with an ocean view that includes Santa Catalina Island, over 30 miles away.
There were 15-20 people milling about when we arrived. Sunset viewing is good sport here.
They must have known I wasn’t a native Californian. I wore a long sleeved shirt. They wore coats.
Tonight’s sunset was nothing special. There were few clouds to accentuate the color. I’ll have to come back.
(Click the photos for a larger view, including a tiny sliver of the Moon and Venus in the first image)