San Diego Waterfront - and the Sea Shepard

Marty joined Fran and me as we headed down to the San Diego Waterfront to check out the Sand Sculpting Challenge.  Unlike the Imperial Beach Sand Castles, these international sculptors do not have a time limit for their creations.  And with $60,000 in first place prize money at stake they take their time.

Despite FREE street parking for the Labor Day holiday, the paid lots on the waterfront were nearly full.  Maybe there are still a lot of tourists in town.



There were a lot more vendors than there have been in past years.  Altho their workmanship is good, even unique, I didn’t think a hummingbird shaped wind chime was worth the $115 asking price.


Using old spoons for the blossoms on the saguaro sculpture was a a new-to-me idea.


But we did not spend much time with the vendors, we are here for the artwork of the 12 invited participants.


The competition was held inside the pavilion on the Broadway Pier.  Upon entry the first sculpture was a tribute to Sudan the last male white rhino that died earlier this year.  Each of the displays also includes a brief bio on the artist, but lacks a description of the art itself.




I like the dove being held in the palm of the hands, indicating that peace is within our grasp … or something like that.



This year's winner was an angel.  Not a bad week's work for Tom Koet, raised in the Netherlands, who now calls Malborne, FL home.  He also won here last year and was the world champion in 2010.


There is a nice large sandbox for the kids to create their own works. The sand used is not typical soft beach sand, but a more coarse and sticky construction sand.


The USS Midway is adjacent to Broadway Pier,  Altho we’ve all been here before, we decided to take advantage of the Bay Access Pass which is FREE, but you have to ask for them at the ticket window.  The pass provides access to the fore-deck not the exhibits.


Brothers on the fore-deck.


The Sea Shepherd was back in town.  The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society mission is to protect the habitat and wildlife of the world's oceans.  This specific boat patrols the Gillnet Exclusion Zone in the northern Sea of Cortez.  They look for and destroy illegal nets in an effort to protect the vaquita, the worlds smallest porpoise, most endangered, that call this area home.


We took a tour of the Sea Shepherd.  It can support a crew of 18, with seating for 12 in the small galley, where we had an overview of their mission.  They serve only vegan dishes, which was a surprise.



Captain Bob is the only paid member of the crew,  all others are volunteers including our tour guides Tracy (from England) and Volcy (from France) both on their first sea mission.


On the way home we stopped for a late lunch at Point Loma Seafoods.  Fran and I usually split the fish sandwich and today added a side of their tasty crab cakes.


While sitting upstairs enjoying lunch at Point Loma Sea Foods, we note a Biergarten has taken over the old harbor repair facility.

As if we have not already eaten enough we decide to wander over to check out Eppig Brewing.


Even on this overcast day it was nice to enjoy their outdoor seating.



We opted for a tasting, all of them were ok, but as you can see the Fest (German Festival) was the favorite


We were entertained by a little aquatic aviation while tasting on the deck at Eppig.


Certainly enjoying my younger brother’s visit, there have been No Bad Days!

Sun and Sea Festival - Imperial Beach

Each year Imperial Beach hosts the Sun and Sea Festival with the main attraction being the sandcastles.  These are indeed world-class, award-winning sandcastle builders.  What makes the IB festival unique is there is only a 6 hour window to create an award winning sand sculpture.


Although the contestants are allowed to stage their equipment and shelters before hand, build of the sandcastles begins promptly at 10 AM with final judging after the tools are set down at 2 PM.  Not much time for the detail some of the design will hold.

Lots of water is used to liquify the sand as it is placed in the forms.  More water will be used to smooth the shapes.


The water is staged in the big blue 30 gallon tubs provided or hauled up from the ocean as needed.


Better yet this team has a clever idea that is working for them.  Under the rear wheel of the bike is a water pump and a hose that stretches to the ocean.  The rider says he can pump about 5 gallons a minute.  Much faster and easier than lugging water up by the bucket.


The Marvel Comics Superheroes are very evident as the theme of this years competition.


But not all heroes are found in the pages of a comic book



Or as unassuming as Make a Wish. 


Besides the sun and the sand there are activities, food music and mermaids! even a few mermen!


There were two stages, this was a very good group playing Cuban music.  Guess that takes an electric harp!  Haven’t seen one of those before!  But it sure kept this gal dancing.


No surprise there are a lot of food trucks to pick from.  Most unique was an old fire truck sporting a wood fired pizza oven built into its water tank..  Gotta like the dog wearing his favorite sun shades and sharing a shaved ice with his human.


Imperial Beach hosts a variety of fun family events.  This last picture is so SoCal and fitting of a morning visit to IB.  There’s dad on his skateboard taking the 5 kids down to do some surfing.


The 65th OTL World Championship also began this weekend.  Strictly limited to 1200 teams from around the word.  Nephew, Joey, moves on as one of the 150 undefeated teams into next week.  So that may be the blog for next week.

Until then No Bad Days!