Salmon Creek Art Walk 2012

Salmon Creek Art Walk open 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6th. 

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

 

Salmon Creek Art Walk directions: From San Francisco, take Hwy 101 North to Petaluma. At Petaluma take the Washington St Exit. Turn left on Washington St. and continue all the way to Bodega Bay (The street name will change several times but will eventually turn into Hwy 1.) Hwy 1 will take you all the way to Bodega Bay! Don't turn off of Hwy 1. They are one mile North of Bodega Bay. Look for their signs.

Sand Castles and Kites event at Doran Beach ~ May 5th 11:00 until 4:00 at Doran Beach, 201 Doran Beach Road, Bodega Bay. 

Tom Reynolds 2012, photographer

  

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

Darris Nelson 2012, photographer

It's a beautiful, calm day . . . come out enjoy the beach!

Our Beautiful Bodega Bay . . .

Kick butt kite-boarder . . .

This guy was so much fun to watch! He went all-out - flying down the beach faster than I could shoot! He was obviously having a blast as evidenced by his hootin' and hollerin' . . . I should've shot a video but I got so caught-up in watching him I was just enjoying the moment and not thinking about much else. . .
 

Great informational messages about alternatives to plastic and rethinking plastic waste . . .

 

 

No More Plastic!

 

 

Beach trash ~

Beach trash ~ cheap plastic toy & bait container . . .

The Nurdle hurdle . . .

Plastic 'Nurdles' ~ photo credit: onemoregeneration.org

What's a Nurdle?

by Charles Moore, Founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, onboard the Esperanza

Plastic is now everywhere. When locating plastics anywhere in the environment, scientists have little difficulty fulfilling the age-old saying, "Seek, and ye shall find."

But where do plastics come from? Most plastics are made from the natural gas portion of our petroleum resources. The gasses, like ethylene, are purified and turned into plastic by the use of polymer catalysts, which link ethylene molecules together to make polyethylene. Polyethylene plastics make water bottles, clothing fabric, and Tupperware as well as thousands of other products. So how does the polymer get to the processor who makes the goods for the consumer. The answer is “nurdles.” Over 250 billion pounds of nurdles are shipped around the world to plastic processing factories every year. Nurdles are plastic resin pellets that represent the most economical way to ship large quantities of a solid material, that is, in a pelletized form.

The pellets come in rail tank cars, and at 20-25,000 per pound, there are about a billion of them in each tanker. So many have escaped over the last half century during the transfer from rail car to factory by vacuum hoses, washing during rainstorms from rail sidings to the sea, that nurdles now represent about 10% of the litter counted on beaches worldwide.

In surface trawls for plastic particles aboard the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza, nurdles have been found in every trawl. The plastic industry itself is the biggest single source of plastic particles in the environment.

 More beach trash ~

Kite boarder at sunset . . .

Castles and Kites Celebration . . .

 
My photographer friend Tom, AKA 'Birdman', sent an email letting me know that he will be photographing the Castles and Kites Celebration at Doran Beach Regional Park.  This event is from 11:00 until 5:00 this Saturday, April 23rd. The event is free but unless you have a Regional Parks Pass, it will cost you $6.00 to enter the park.

It's breezy Spring weather here on the coast so remember to dress in layers. Bring a picnic or grab a sandwich and snacks at Diekmann's Bay Store or Pelican Plaza Grocery and Deli.

Doran is located south of Bodega Bay at 201 Doran Beach Road. This is an opportunity to watch expert sand castle builders or to participate. Park staff will be at the beach and will have tools and molds for children to use. 

Try your kite flying skills. Bodega Bay kite vendors, Candy & Kites and Second Wind will both be at the event with kites for you to try.  Stunt kite demonstrations will take place all day, along with kite making workshops for the kids and a free kite repair clinic. 

This fun filled day is sponsored by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation, Candy & Kites, and Second Wind. For more information, contact the Regional Parks office (707) 565-2041 or visit www.sonoma-county.org/parks.

Before the Storm . . .

racing

Got out on the beach before the rains and there was so much to photograph I spent nearly three hours hiking and shooting pictures.

 

 

 

sand toy . . .

About a dozen kite boarders took advantage of the gusty afternoon winds. They were moving so fast I wasn't able to capture any pictures of them in the air.

the dog followed this guy up and down the beach

So this is how the big boys play at the beach . . . looks like fun to me!