Two Notables: Morro Rock and the Power Plant

The two most recognized landmarks in our town--and in the Bay--are the Morro Rock and the Dynergy Power Plant.  These sisters have quite the history. 

The Morro Rock is 581 foot tall volcanic "plug" located at the mouth of the bay.  Climbing on the rock or disturbing its wildlife is strictly forbidden.  The Chumash tribe considers it sacred ground.  Birders love the rock for the peregrine falcon reserve.  Winds change direction erratically when travelling around the rock, creating difficult sailing conditions immediately around the rock.  This means that sailboats must motor in and out of the bay.  Sailing out of the bay, beside the rock, is difficult. 

The Power Plant was built back in the 1950's by Dynergy.  It was previously owned and operated by PG&E.  Currently, it creates reliable power for the central coast by natural gas.  The future of its tall stacks are unknown.  New plans to modernize the plant include removal of these "eye sores".

TGIF Sunset Cruise

TGIF!  We went on an open ocean sail after work today!  Captain's take: wind was 1-3 mph, 2-4 ft swell, 7 second intervals.  Basically, bobbing in the duldrums...

So, we headed back into the bay for some pictures in the "magic hour"!

Wondered about this boat from Las Vegas....???  Port of Call?  The Venetian?  Treasure Island?

Stopped in for Fish and Chips at the Local Hut!

I ordered a "Sex on the Beach".  Just so you know, this is out of my usual form--too much Red #5.  But, we are thinking that we have to come up with a drink called "Sex on the Boat".  The Captain says that it must stave off scurvy in order to be authentic. "Sex on the Beach" is Vodka based, but I wanted to come up with a Rum alternative.  But, isn't that a "Shipwreck"?  We don't want that!  Any suggestions?

TGIF Sunset BBQ

Thanks to the good Captain, we had planned to take the boat on the Bay for BBQ Filet Mignon, photography, and local Sauvignon Blanc!  I was so grateful to have this evening cruise on the schedule, because it has been a super long busy crazy week!  And, I've been reading The Motion of the Ocean!  This is Janna Cawrse Esarey's book fully entitled: The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife.

So, I had planned to present the B-HAG concept to my Captain: Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  This is Janna and Graeme's grand concept, a'la stimulus package!  Basically, come up with a goal that is bigger than life, create a stategy for accomplishing it, and then throw caution to the wind and take a deep, cleansing breath, and go for it!!!!!!

If you have a big Goal . . . . would you dare even say it out loud? Would you share it with anyone? Would you keep it silent, secret and let it build momentum inside like a 2 Liter bottle of Pop shaken up? What do you think?

TGIF!  We had a wonderful sunset BBQ cruise!

The Beautiful Spinnaker Sail!

Ode to the Spinnaker Sail that I do not have enough money to buy . . .

I wish you were Matthew Modine and I was Baby
And I owned a sewing machine in the floor….
Oh, how I would make a spinnaker.
Oh, how colorful she would be.

If anyone can get this slanted reference to a Disney movie called Wind, staring Matthew Modine and the girl called Baby in Dirty Dancing....it was basically a 13 year old girl's trashy romance about saucing sailors and a killer magnifico spinnaker.
 
At any rate, I love the Spinnaker Sail!  It is always bright and cheery and wonderful.  It fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat.  Can I just say it again: I love spinnaker sails!!! 
 
We saw several spinnakers this weekend.  I realized today that we will probably never have one on Training Wheels.  Flying a spinnaker is for the Big League-er.  We are just not on the level.  It is best flung with the help of a crew; extra hands are needed to fly it and reel it in.

Again, I apologize for not keeping the horizon horizontal.  I need a tripod or level attached to my camera!  I took these with the 55-200 mm lens on RAW setting.

The picture quality broke down even on the RAW setting when I zoomed in to get a close up of the blue spinnaker.  I am still not sure how to best capture these distant events!

The Magic Hours

Heather Angel, author of the book "How to Photograph Water", encourages me to photograph in the magic hour. This is the hour that light plays at sunset. The color is just right, and it is magic.

I drive to work during dawn and dusk.  These are the magic hours!  I used to drive to work in the dark and come home in the dark, but I'm enjoying the good life now! 

Daylight savings time might change all that!  Save the date: Spring Forward March 14th!

Photographs from the Magic Hour:

ps: yes, Timoteo, the last one is yours from July 2008!  Great pictures don't die!

How to Photograph Water

Instead of learning why Haiti's earthquake is worse than Chile's, we drove up the coast yesterday, during the tsunami warning, to take pictures.  Basically, I am a total hack with a great camera and an amazing landscape. I feel like I’ve cheated somehow. I don’t even know what an f-stop is, but I will now proceed to give you advice on how to photograph water.

The first rule of thumb is to take lots of pictures. In this digital age, who cares? What does it cost to take 400 pictures? Essentially nothing! So, I took about 400 pictures and then deleted all the ones I didn’t like . . . which was, oh, about 300 of them!  I used my 55-200mm lens the entire day.  And, I probably should buy a tripod . . . you will soon see why!

The second lesson I learned is to keep the horizon horizontal. It seems basic, I know. Bear with me.

Clearly I have demonstrated that a crooked water-sky line ruins the picture! 

These turned out a little better . .

The third lesson I learned is that it is really hard to photograph a rainbow.  I was using auto-focus and the camera didn't know what to focus on.  Even on manual focus, I didn't know what to focus on!  Trying to decide which particle of water was the focal point was . . . a little schizophrenic!

Anyhow, it ended up being a wonderful afternoon excursion.  We doubled back on this beautiful scenery today for Truman's long run.  He did 18 miles!  I did 6.

Is this El Nino?

So, basically, it has rained 8 out of the last 10 days.  But, we have a spot of sun today!  Hallelujah! I am off to the library to get a few books.  I've got a request queue, but only one book has come in. 

Here is my queue:
How to Photograph Water by Heather Angel
The Sweet Life by Mia King
Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway
It takes Two by Patricia Chen
The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife by Janna Cawrse Esarey

The only one that I expect to pick up today is "How to Photograph Water".  But, hopefully, with all the rain, waves, puddles, etc....I will be able to post some great water shots by the end of the weekend!
 
I will take this opportunity to also explain why we haven't posted many actual sailing pictures.  The reason is because the Captain usually goes out on the ocean by himself or with another mate.  He takes a couple one-handed shots with his iphone...and, waalaa.....

Yes, we will definitely be working on this! 

Flowers for Ellen! Taken with the New Camera!

I love you, Sis! Hang in there!

hugs,

Lauren

I got my New Camera!!!! Let the REAL Blogging Begin!

The Nikon D3000!!!! To Jill and Karla: You've been an inspiration!

~Lauren