SD Maritime Museum Annual Festival of Sail

They're here, the tall ships are here!   They sailed into the bay this morning & I photographed a few of them.  The Festival of Sail officially begins Friday, so come on down to the waterfront and join in the fun!   Today the Californian led the parade (the smoke is coming from their guns they fired.)

Californian

The  Robert C. Seamans was one of the vessels sailing in.  Check out the link to see the read more about this vessel.  They run an undergraduate program abroad.
For more information about their SEA program, follow this link:   http://www.sea.edu/

 

Back in my garden again.

I was at my computer this morning, glanced outside and saw a raccoon in my garden (again)!   My camera wasn't on my desk, and as I slowly stood up to reach for it, the raccoon ran away through the agaves and down the slope to the neighbor's yard.  Since I had my camera and it was still overcast outside, I decided to photograph a few of the new succulents Laura Eubanks is planting here.    Check out her website:    www.designforserenity.com

She is an artist using succulents as her medium.

I'm referring to my garden now as the "jewel box" with pockets of gems here and there.  I'm loving the color & texture she has chosen.  I'm sure my mermaid is happy in her new spot too!

Sabot Family Scramble

Mission Bay Yacht Club (San Diego) holds an annual Sabot Family Scramble.  My son & his family sail Sabots (well the grandkids mainly sail the Sabots).  These are small boats, 8' x 3'9" -- hard for an adult to sail & be scrunched up in this space for any length of time!

The Family Scramble was fun, my daughter-in-law Barb shared a boat with Shane (7 year old) and my son, David, shared a boat with Cole (9 year old).   All the kids sailed the course first, then back at the dock passed the boat over to the parent.  The parents had a longer course to sail, then this was repeated 3 times, kids/adults.   I'm posting photos of Cole & Shane in their boats.

Cole 

Shane 

Congratulations boys, great racing.  It was Shane's very first regatta sailing on his own & he did well.   Cole won his division, he's the veteran of 3 or 4 regattas now.

I was in a kayak for part of the race with my 5-year-old granddaughter, Paige, paddling while I took some photos!   She did well & kept both of us (& my camera) dry!

My garden this morning

Early morning overcast day -- perfect for photographing a few succulents in the garden today.

Agave Americana 

Walk about at the Del Mar Race Track

A few photos from my day at the races ...

And he looked so innocent!

This boy said he is "helping his Dad."   And he did a great job, his Dad returned shortly and took the reins.  

The horseshoer was working hard on this beautiful horse.

Del Mar Race Track day -- I won!

I won because I didn't bet.  Ha!    I won because I came home with my SD card full of fun images!   Thanks to the Meet-up group Pacific Photographic Society, I was one of 12 photographers (including Pam, our leader/organizer of the day) who spent the day at the race track with amazing "behind-the-scenes" experiences.  

Here are just 2 of the photos from the day. The pano was taken from the Press Box (!)  What a view.  

Then, down on the track, as close as I ever want to be -- they run between 35-40 mph.   More to come ... this is just a start.   

2013 Jr. Sabot Nationals -- MBYC

This is a huge race (Monday, Tues,  & Wed.) with 140+ boats from all over Southern California, all juniors, competing in this 3-day regatta.   So much fun for these kids (& parents).  Thanks to the team at MBYC for their hard work putting on this regatta.

My grandson Cole (9 yrs old) sailed in it, his first Jr. Sabot Nationals!

The pano shows the main club house (on the left) all the way around to the Jr. Clubhouse on the right and all 140+ Sabots out on the bay!

And here's Cole in his boat "Cyclone", just finishing up his 3rd day on the water!

Photos taken Wednesday at MBYC.

Photographs from Crescent City CA area

Along the way home I spent some time in Crescent City area,  making  several stops while  heading south on Hwy 101.   I'll be posting more of those photos as I work my way through them.  

The first stop was to explore an area named Point St. George.   A path from the parking lot wound around and down through fields of grasses (1st photo) and then finally, a glimpse of the ocean.  

A  welcome reprieve from the road.    What a gorgeous area!  

View while walking down the path to the ocean.  

First glimpse of the ocean!  

American oystercatchers -- very skittish, this was as close as I could get with my 50 mm lens

Portland's Lan Su Chinese Garden

This garden is quite a wonderful, peaceful retreat from the city noise & traffic.  Here are a few photos from my visit.  Thanks Linda for suggesting we visit the Lan Su Gardens.

Beautiful reflections with the water lily.

Shadow on banana leaves. 

A different view of the buildings, from inside one of the rooms.

Another look at the Newport Harbor

I'm still sorting through photos from my 2013 Oregon Road Trip.  So many photos, so many great memories!  I've come to the realization that while some people are street photographers, I think I'm a dock photographer!   I could hang out indefinitely on the docks.  

Here are a few more from Newport Harbor and the docks.

Fisherman on the dock.

I liked the contrast in this photo, the shiny bright red boat and crusty well--used buoys.

2013 Oregon Road Trip: Newport OR

Of course we went to the Newport Harbor!  I have fond memories of a photo workshop in Waldport with Carol Leigh & Chris Smith many years ago.  One of my favorite parts was the Newport Harbor.  Carol & Chris & I went out exploring.   We had a few hours of overcast, cloudy & photographed crab pots, then when the sun broke through it was time to walk the docks for reflections.

This overview of the harbor is one of my favorites.

Earlier, this is what we were photographing:

More photos from Reedsport OR

The Welcome Bear!

No matter which direction we walked, I found plenty to photograph.  I'm still working through all my photos, but wanted to share these.

Swallowtail butterfly on butterfly bush. 

Reedsport OR photos

My first stop in Oregon was at Susan & Earl's place, east of Reedsport on the Umpqua River.  The photos are just a sampling of the area around their house.

Roots in the forested area 

Susan & I walked each morning to a different area of their property.  Over the years she has planted lots of flowers,  I was lucky to get the bumble bee on the California poppies.














No matter which way we went, Roxie (one of their two dogs)  came along with us.  I was glad to have her, hoping she'd protect us if we saw a bear!   We saw recent bear scat, but fortunately no bears.  I 'm sure Roxie kept them away.   ;)

Roxie loved exploring and I had a great time trying to get a photo of her emerging from the plants.

Roxie loved exploring