California Sunset
by Elizabeth Waitinas
Title
California Sunset
Artist
Elizabeth Waitinas
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
A magnificent sunset in Aptos, California , home of the cement ship. Palo Alto was mothballed in Oakland until 1929, when she was bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation and towed to Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California. A pier was built leading to the ship in 1930, and she was sunk in a few feet in the water so that her keel rested on the bottom. There she was refitted as an amusement ship, with amenities including a dance floor, a swimming pool and a café.
The company went bankrupt two years later during the Great Depression, and the ship cracked at the midsection during a winter storm. The State of California purchased the ship, and she was stripped of her fittings and left as a fishing pier. She was a popular site for recreational fishing, but eventually she deteriorated to the point where she was unsafe for this purpose, and she was closed to the public in 1950. Following an attempt at restoration in the 1980s, she reopened for fishing for a few years, then closed again. The fishing pier opened to foot traffic once again in the summer of 2016, but later closed for repairs.
Nicknamed the "Cement Ship", Palo Alto today remains at Seacliff Beach and serves as an artificial reef for marine life. Pelicans and other seabirds perch on the wreck, sea perch and other fish feed on algae that grow in the shelter of the wreck, and sea lions and other marine mammals visit the wreck to feed on the fish.
Uploaded
January 11th, 2019
Embed
Share
Comments (5)
Tatiana Travelways
Congratulations - Your beautiful picture has been featured in the "Travel Art" group! For further promotion, you can post it to the specific Travel Destinations galleries, our Facebook group and our Pinterest board - all the links are provided on our group's homepage: https://fineartamerica.com/groups/1-travel-art.html * You are also invited to post it to our group's blog: travelartpix.com for worldwide exposure!
Elizabeth Waitinas replied:
Thank you so very much for featuring my photo Tatiana :) I really appreciate it :)