“The sharks are now getting bigger. They may be able to tolerate slightly cooler conditions. The bigger they get, the less likely they are to migrate…”
“24th annual Civil War reenactment goes forward in Huntington Beach. Despite increased tensions around the country surrounding Confederate monuments.”
1. Big Sur – Central Coast: Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties.
“Every day, the isolated stretch of Big Sur loses $300,000 in revenues, according to Kirk Gafill, manager of the world-famous restaurant Nepenthe. San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties could face a $554 million loss in revenue due to closures, according to a recent study by Visit California, which promotes tourism. The economic impact could ripple out further, if visitors cancel summer plans to the Golden State. “Santa Cruz Sentinel
2. Sharks – South Coast Region: Capistrano, Dana Point. Oceanside. Central Coast Region: Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara. Peninsula Region: Half Moon Bay.
“Sharks are thriving in Southern California but dying in San Francisco Bay. In Southern California, great white sharks have begun to arrive after spending the winter off Baja California. Recently, one of the sharks bit a chunk out of a mother’s leg as she swam off San Onofre State Beach.
Shark bite victim. “A doctor said the victim was “remarkably calm” through the ordeal, adding her strong physical condition was a major factor in her survival. Korcsmaros is an aerobics and fitness trainer in Corona del Mar and a mother of three — aged 16, 22, and 24. Korcsmaros had multiple tooth marks on her right side, extending from her shoulder in a semicircular pattern to her lower pelvis. She also had lacerations on her right arm, an open chest wound and multiple rib fractures and had lost about a liter of blood, doctors said.” Los Angeles Times
“Lifeguard crews who had been searching by boat and helicopter for shark activity in the water off Newport Beach reopened the state beach. Lifeguards had reopened the beach between the Balboa Pier and the Wedge.”Los Angeles Times
Dana Point. San Cemente.““The best evidence I have is that the last two winters none of those animals have migrated south to Baja but one — a 2-year-old, 8-foot shark,” Lowe told patch.com. “That, we attribute to El Nino because the water [temperature] never got below 60 degrees. “The sharks are now getting bigger. They may be able to tolerate slightly cooler conditions. The bigger they get, the less likely they are to migrate… ” patch.com
“Surfers are back at it again off Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz, just one day after a shark attack near Steamer Lane. Over on Santa Cruz Main Beach, locals and tourists sat on blankets and chairs enjoying Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk free movies on the beach.” KSBW
Santa Barbara County. We were in waist-deep, blue-green surf at Padaro Beach, the sweet little stretch of paradise you can see from Highway 101 at Santa Claus Lane. It was late morning on Sunday, a gray, cool day, with surprisingly warm water. Los Angeles Times.
Half Moon Bay. A tape measure shows the spread of teeth marks in Pat Conroy’s kayak. HM Review.
3. Best and Worst Beaches. South Coast Region. Central Coast Region. San Diego, San Clemente and Santa Cruz.
“Coronado Beach dropped from No. 7 last year to No. 9 this year. The website describes the beach fronting the Hotel del Coronado as the “toast of Southern California; it is a veritable oasis by the sea …” Dr. Beach.
“The San Clemente Pier came in No. 2 on Heal the Bay’s annual top 10 Beach Bummer List. Shark sightings have closed stretches of the beach recently, but swimmers should also worry about bacteria levels.” (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Santa Cruz. In 2017, only the third most contaminated. In October, the city-created Cowell Beach Working Group released data that recent steps to address the issue, believed to be caused by animal waste, had reduced bacteria counts by about 50 percent.
4. Mavericks. Peninsula Region. Usually a winter story. In May contest crashes.
“Mavericks Invitational board member Brian Overfelt itemized that claim. He said it includes $1.25 million left unpaid per an intellectual property agreement with Cartel, $450,000 in remuneration for his work and that of contest founder Jeff Clark and his wife Cassandra, $360,000 in sponsorships lined up before Cartel allegedly scuttled them, and $85,000 or 10 percent of the gross revenues made by Cartel on the Mavericks name.” HMB Review.
“In August a 95-page “motion to sell” submitted to the court on Wednesday, the former surf contest organizers detailed their wishes to turn over the reins to the World Surf League. HMB” Revew.
5. Martins Beach. Peninsula Region. Vinod Khosla. Surfrider Foundation.
“The ruling, filed Wednesday, doesn’t settle the tangle of litigation over public entry to the sweeping crescent south of Half Moon Bay. But it does affirm a lower court decision that billionaire Vinod Khosla has to unlock the gate to Martins Beach Road while the legal fight continues.” LA Times.
“The controversy over Martins Beach began in 2010, when Khosla closed a gate at the top of a private road that provides the only access to the cove from Highway 1. The previous owners, the Deeney family, had allowed the public to visit the beach for decades — advertising the spot with a billboard and operating a store and restrooms — in exchange for a modest parking fee.” Mercury News.
“The family that sold Martin’s Beach had, for almost a century, allowed surfers, fishing enthusiasts and others to reach the sand on foot or by car via an access road. Eventually the family provided public restrooms, a parking lot and a general store. Khosla posted “do not enter” signs, hired security and shut the gate.” LA Times.
6. US Open in Huntington Beach – South Coast Region
“Thousands will crowd the shoreline Saturday through Aug. 6 for the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, as they did here in 2015.” (File photo | Daily Pilot)
“Huntington Beach´s Brett Simpson surfs the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, site of the U.S. Open of Surfing on July 29-Aug. 6. Simpson, who won the contest in 2009 and 2010, will try to become the first three-time winner since Rob Machado won it in 1995, 2001 and 2006.” (Courtesy of Brian Bott) LA Times
7. Jack O’Neal – Central Coast: Santa Cruz, Pleasure Point
“Jack O’Neill windsurfs off Santa Cruz August 5, 1982. Inventor of the wetsuit and surfing world icon, O’Neill died at his Pleasure Point home Friday.” (Dan Coyro — Santa Cruz Sentinel file)
“On Sunday, thousands gathered at Pleasure Point, both in the water and on the cliffs, to remember surfing legend Jack O’Neill.” (William Scherer — Contributed) Santa Cruz Sentinel
8. 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love
“50th anniversary of the Summer of Love this year, it’s time to chill, man. Here are places in San Francisco and the Bay Area to celebrate the Summer of Love:” LA Times
“1960s art is all over Haight-Ashbury, ground zero for the Summer of Love. This mural, of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, is seen on a Wild SF Walking Tour.” LA Times
“Perhaps no art form more exemplifies San Francisco’s Summer of Love than the music of the era. It led an explosion of culture and expression in the balmy summer months of 1967, and a counterculture revolution swept through the city by the bay. Tens of thousands of young folks swarmed to the Haight-Ashbury and Golden Gate Park, and they brought with them the sounds of change.” SFTravel.
9. Monterey Pop 50th Anniversary. Central Coast. Monterey. Debut of Jimi Hendrix
At the 1967 festival, the lineup spanned the sweet folk-rock of Simon & Garfunkel and the Mamas & the Papas, the scorching R&B of Redding, the fiery blues-rock of Joplin and her San Francisco-based band Big Brother & the Holding Company, the blue-eyed soul of Johnny Rivers and the exotic ragas of Shankar. LA Times.
10. Confederate Celebrations Where the North and South Compete. North Coast Region: Duncans Mills. South Coast Region: Huntington Beach
24th annual Civil War reenactment goes forward in Huntington Beach. Despite increased tensions around the country surrounding Confederate monuments.
Duncans Mills Northern California’s largest civil war reenactment and one of the largest reenactments west of the Mississippi!