Motivation comes from strange origins. Sitting here on the stern of Poseidon, on a great vacation all by ourselves (for now) enjoying my daily indulgence of a cocktail “on the rocks” at five o’clock, at anchor in the sunshine waiting for a very special tradition to occur at White’s Anchorage on beautiful Catalina Island.

Every evening at exactly five, it is the duty of the groundsman at the Newport Yacht Club facility on the island to fire a cannon verifying that it is indeed cocktail time and all boats in the harbor sound their air horns for several blasts. It is a marvelous tradition and great fun, however, especially on Friday and Saturday, most of the skippers have already opened the bar, some much earlier, and the exact timing is somewhat compromised. Some are early with the horns, some are late, others are persistent, etc. and the cacophony is magical.

Tonight being a Sunday, the groundsman must have a day off so no cannon, no horns. Actually it doesn’t matter because we are the only boat in the anchorage, a great blessing.

But, I digress. The rocks in my cocktail remind me of the great dinghy ride that Linda and I love to do anywhere on all these beautiful Islands. We love to go up and down the island coast as close to shore as we can safely go and study the formations of rocks, cliffs, caves, fauna and flora, the variegated  colors of it all , the sands, rocks, boulders and pebbles which have existed here for millions of years.

I have always been interested in geology as an amateur and I have several friends who are geologists. I frequently ask them about some particular formation and its’ possible origin, but they quickly lose me in their most complicated explanations of volcanic action, mineral and metallic content that causes the colors, the seabed rising, the separation of the islands from the mainland, endless knowledge which drives me to another cocktail “on the rocks”.

For this forum it must suffice to say that there is certainly some great power in the creation of these wonders.

In a future post we will invite the geologists for a weekend trip circumnavigating one of the islands, taking pictures and recording their comments and sharing with you. Meanwhile, attached are a few pic’s taken amateurishly on my cell phone.

Of course, this is Poseidon, my friends are eaters and drinkers and Linda will wow them with her skill and knowledge in the galley of Poseidon Cooks! And, yes, a few bottles of wine will also be scientifically debated.