The Catalina Express ferry departed from Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey, one of my
childhood haunts within biking distance from my Playa del Rey home (translated as Beach of the King). We floated out the channel as memories floated into mind.... where our afternoon Hobie sail ended with a surprise dump in the chilly waters only to get our mast stuck in the mucky bottom, views of my old neighborhood, my street up on the hill, my shortcut walk to the beach behind houses, the park lagoon where I spent summer camps making daisy chains, local "Toes" aka "10 Toes Over" Beach where I learned to surf in the days girls didn't surf, volleyball courts where I was recruited to play NCAA college ball, bike path to meander to adjacent beaches, vb courts, vb tournaments and piers, bonfires on the beach, grunion hunting.....Catalina holds memories as well, and here I am making the adventure with the same grammar school friends whom we used to camp, volleyball and swim away summer vacation days on the island. Next years were the sailing adventures to Catalina making the channel crossing at night in the shipping lane dwarfed by the massive barges, and our boat loosing it's mooring at night to drift away as we slept on board. What a great childhood Southern California life provided. Thus, this slide show with vintage surf music apropos of the times.
It is very refreshing to see Catalina literally unspoiled, still like the days of old and quaint as can be! There remains much open land on the hillsides with houses renovated instead of spreading. Golf carts are still preferred mode of transportation, although our feet gets us where we prefer to go.The ocean water is healthy, clear and warm with an abundance of fish and kelp. The orange Garibaldi fish are a proud display of the CA state fish.
