This little skiff is a wondeful example of one of my favorite kinds of boat- a flat bottom skiff with a pointy bow and straight sides running back to a full width stern. The bottom is slightly rockered for planing over a chop, and the sharp bow cuts the solid water of a small wave. […]
Tag Archives: Bodega Bay
Havens
Salt marshes flanking Bodega Harbor at dawn Since my mom passed away last spring I’ve been thinking about havens, having lost one so abruptly. The word ‘haven’ stems from the Old English ‘hafen’, a harbor, with deeper roots in the Germanic ‘haftjam’, to have or to hold, which also yields the words handle, hawk and […]
Bodega Break
distant foam line of the giant wave crashing off of Bodega Head Every so often the storms conjure a giant wave off of Bodega Head, breaking right and left on either side of Bodega Rock, sometimes cresting all the way to the buoy, halfway to Tomales Bluff. This makes for an occasionally treacherous passage for […]
The Week in Bloom
Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria) brightens roadside culverts Clusters of California poppy, red hot poker and wild pea brightened roadside culverts and hay barns as we cycled the Bodega Highway to the coast through a light morning fog. The lupin grow yellow around the contours of Bodega Head, a rocky bluff that juts out into […]
Fools Parade and The Blessing of the Fleet
Occidental Fools Parade, Occidental, CA Two contrasting annual traditions merge seamlessly with the season in West Sonoma County. The Occidental Fools Parade continues to grow exponentially since its inception six years ago. Everyone is invited to participate, and people of all ages bring instruments and march in elaborate costume around Occidental’s tiny square. The event […]