USS Bonhomme Richard

On a beautiful sunny day, Earl, Leanna, Turk and I went out to Point Loma to see the monument of Cabrillo and the view of the Pacific from the most southern point of California.

At one time the lighthouse was set at the top of the point. However it was not long before it was discovered that the light shining from this small white building could not be seen at sea below the marine layer*. Another lighthouse was built close to the water's edge that successfully warned seafarers of the land ahead.







The Point is now under the care of the National Park Service even though it appears to be part of a military compound. From the visitors' center we could see the harbor of San Diego and the beach in front of the famous Hotel del Coronado. As we were watching, we saw a submarine leave the harbor on its way out to sea. We watched it until it disappeared beyond our view. Shortly after that, another US Navy ship sailed out to the Pacific. It was not until later that we discovered that the ship was the USS Bonhomme Richard.

From above the ship looked a lot like an aircraft carrier. It has a flight deck but it also has the capability of carrying smaller assault vessels.

That evening as we were trying to find out which ship in the San Diego fleet carried the number 6 on the tower, Earl discovered that it is the fifth carnation of a ship that he toured as a teenager in San Francisco.

The original ship was a gift from King Louis XVI of France to the struggling new nation of the United States. It was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin who was the author of Poor Richard's Almanac. He served as the ambassador to France and published a French version of his almanac. Under John Paul Jones' command, the Bonhomme Richard lived a short but glorious life sinking off the west coast of British Isles the same year as it was bequeathed. The famous quote, "I have not yet begun to fight," is from its final battle.

Five ships have been named the Bonhomme Richard. The one that Earl saw as a teenager would have been the "USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), an Essex-class aircraft carrier that saw action at the end of World War II, throughout the Korean War, and through the Vietnam War."

We had no idea when we set out for our adventure that morning that we would encounter a reminder of Earl's own personal history.

*The story of California's coastal fog begins with the chilly Pacific Ocean. Even in summer Southern California ocean temperatures stay in the 60s, which is much cooler than summer temperatures along the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

But, if you sail a couple of hundred miles west or southwest over the Pacific you'll find the water growing warmer and warmer. When warm, humid winds from over this warmer water blow across the cold water closer to the shore, the air cools enough to cause its humidity to condense into fog.

This is sometimes referred to as the "marine layer," but the marine layer is the air that the fog's in, not the fog itself. Thus you hear people talking about "marine layer fog" or "marine layer clouds."

26 Rescued

SAN DIEGO -- An unusually powerful rip current pulled about 100 swimmers from the surf off La Jolla Shores Thursday afternoon and into deeper ocean swells, where more than two dozen of them wound up treading water and stranded, until a contingent of lifeguards came to their rescue.

The large-scale beach emergency occurred about 2:45 p.m., when three typical-sized outward-flowing channels of water merged into a single big one, creating a hazardous and "pretty unusual dynamic," said San Diego lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma.

The combined current took hold of everyone in the water off a roughly 100-yard stretch of shoreline, though all but 26 of them eventually were able to make their way back to land on their own, Lerma said.

Those unable to swim free were aided by about a dozen lifeguards -- several of whom had to come in from other city beaches -- equipped with paddle boards, floatation buoys and personal watercraft towing "rescue sleds."

Though no serious injuries or medical crises resulted from the mega-rip, "it was an intense situation for about 10 or 15 minutes," Lerma said.

Lifeguards closed the affected section of shoreline until further notice as a safety precaution.

Important family visitor

Although we have been renting a house or apartment in the San Diego area for about 18 years, we have not always had visitors. Each year we extend an invitation to various family members without them accepting. Last year we were surprised when Earl's older sister told us that she would come to visit us.

Much to our delight, she had such a good time with us that she came to visit again this summer. Last year we had some babies and their mothers visiting us too and she enjoyed meeting them. This year it was just the three of us. When it came time for Bette to return to Santa Cruz, we weren't quite ready for her to go. She arrived on Monday and left on Thursday. Those days sped by very quickly.

Bette is not very strong and secure on her legs any more, so the sightseeing that we did had to have limited walking. We stopped by the LDS temple and went to the lighthouse on Point Loma. Mostly we talked and laughed together. We went swimming in the pool or sat by the pool and talked.

Bette is Earl's half sister. She is about 20 years older than he is. She has some interesting stories to tell about Earl's family. Some day I will need to try to remember all of her stories and try to write them down.

Always something interesting

The girls have arrived

This has been a busy week. On Thursday our daughter Leanna's husband arrived from Istanbul. He got here safely after having to spend the night sleeping in the Dulles airport. Thankfully no one gave him any problems about sleeping while he waited for a 6:30 am flight to Chicago and from there to San Diego.

Both Leanna and Turk were elated to see him. Turk, who only smiles at a chosen few, lit up with a big smile when he saw his father.

Late Friday night or early Saturday morning our daughter Lisa arrived with her three little girls, Madeleine, Elodie and Camille. They too had problems traveling. This time it was not the TSA who were unhelpful, it was the car rental agency. Finally they drove up to the house and pretty soon found places to sleep.

Since then life has been pretty busy, but I have done a terrible job of taking photographs. And the ones that I have taken do not have very many people looking at the camera. Of course, the girls have loved the pool and the beach. And unfortunately they have also got sunburned.

Last night they drove to the Los Angeles area so that they could go to Disneyland for two days. It is very quiet at our house with only Earl and myself. I am taking the quiet time to wash a pile of beach towels.

Of course, we took all of them to the glider port one afternoon. Earl and I never get tired of it. For several years in a row, we rented an apartment on the campus of UCSD. We could look out of the window and see the gliders gracefully sailing across the sky.

As you can see from the picture of Eser and Turk, they are the ones who really enjoyed the day.

Eser is a quiet and gentle man. He is thoughtful and courteous. His three nieces have fallen in love with him. One night all three of them sat on the sofa as close as they could to him to watch a movie. No room for his wife or baby. One of the girls, Madeleine, does not seem to be able to get the pronunciation of his name right. She is really an ordinary intelligent child. However, she has a mental block. I explained that her new uncle's name was pronounced "S - air." She is still calling him Esa. At the moment it sounds as if he might be Jacob's twin from the Old Testament.

What is the Pool Capacity?

Our elder son, Chris, and his wife and children arrived here late yesterday afternoon. They had been in the car driving all day long. Before they even thought about food, the children all wanted to go look at the pool. Once they saw the pool, all of them wanted to get into their swimming suits and test the water.

The water has been very warm this year. Perfect for little people. When the little boys got out of the pool to eat, it was not long before they wanted to get back into the water. I have more than three cheers for their dad who contentedly stayed in the pool with his two little boys. The girls are like fish. They spent more time underwater retrieving objects than on the surface.

Being a grandmother is really super. I love my children and their children with all my heart.

Death on the beach

Life on the Beach

Although I am fascinated by the marine life that we see on the beach, I know very little about it. I wish I knew more, but I have a tendency to forget the information when I read. When the tide goes out, a whole new world emerges. The rocks close to the shore line are covered with shells of all sorts and small crabs which scurry for cover when they detect any movement.

If you look carefully between the two rocks below you will see a crab clinging to the left hand rock. The crab is holding very still hoping that I will not see it or disturb it.

These shells below are not actually snails. They are hermit crabs which move into empty shells. They too are usually beneath the water except at low tide.

In the picture below, Earl is trying to point out the small crabs that are hiding among the shells.

Happy July 4th

We were not sure if we would be able to find a place to park close to the beach on the 4th of July. Fortunately we found a spot not too many blocks from the beach at La Jolla Shores. We arrived before 8 this morning to find almost every dry spot on the beach and the park lawn close by filled with tents and umbrellas. A few representatives of each celebrating group, got up very early to stake out a place for the day.

Earl and I enjoyed the our walk along the beach but were not sorry to leave hundreds of beach goers to spend the day waiting in line at the restrooms and making sure that the children got covered with sunscreen for the fourth time during the day.

I forgot to mention

Yesterday that it was Canada Day. Happy Canada to all of my friends and family who are from or live in Canada. I was born in Cardston, Alberta almost 62 years ago. Although I became a naturalized American citizen when I was 22 years old, I have fond and even patriotic feelings about the country of my birth. I am grateful that I was born in Canada and lived my formative years as a Canadian.

Turk at the beach

Whale Watching

This morning we drove to the marina at Mission Bay and set sale on the Privateer. Going out on a short cruise in the Pacific was a first time experience for the two of us. We could not have had a more gorgeous day or been luckier at seeing "sea mammals."

Not far out from the bay we came across a pod of "common" dolphins. Our guide and naturalist on board told us that for every dolphin that we could see on the surface there were 6 or 7 below the surface. She estimated that the pod we encountered had from 800 to 1000 dolphins in it. The dolphins were moving rather than feeding. They were leaping above the water. There was no way that our slow camera could capture the fast action of the dolphins. By the time the camera snapped the dolphins were below the surface of the ocean again.

With our small amount of newly acquired knowledge, we think that the dolphins that we saw off the beach in Del Mar and Solana Beach several years ago were bottlenose dolphins.

Further out we were lucky enough to see a blue whale with her calf. The first sighting of a whale is the spray that shoots up into the air when they surface. We did not get very close to the whales so we did not get any spectacular photographs, but it was very exciting to see them and to hear them. Not far away from the mother and calf was a third whale.

This has been one of the most memorable days we have had during our years of coming to stay close to the ocean.

The boat/ship that we were on was recently acquired by the fishing tour company in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The boat was sailed to Florida and from there was loaded onto a transport ship and carried through the Panama Canal to San Diego. We hope that the company does well in its new venture.

San Diego Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Pictures taken on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011