Sunday, April 9, 1972 - Page 100
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California
8:00 PM
I got up today about 11:00. Mom did a lot of work on the vacant room today, so she can sleep in it tonight. At one o'clock I went out in the kayak, and the bay was beset with the most traffic I've seen, today being Sunday with a fair sky. There was one gull still pecking at the fish I offered Friday, and a couple were standing by. I checked a map and found out that the bay ("Newport Bay," technically) is about 3 and a half miles long.
Today the tide was down as low as I've ever seen it, giving "Upper Newport Bay" an odd topography. The Shoal sign seen on page 80 [March 20] was on dry land, and only one main trench carried water past the ski area. I followed it and a narrow branch for a few hundred yards, occasionally sinking thigh deep in quick sand, pulling myself out with the kayak, and finally coming upon firm water-covered sand where I put the boat on a bank and sunned & read "I Sing the Body Eccentric" until I discovered a form of wild life I'd been overlooking. Tiny coelenterates (I think) about 2 centimeters long embedded in the mud, feeding on organisms in the water. I experimented with the tubular little plant-animals for a while, then the tide rose and covered the mud with water, and I paddled home. Returned at 5:30 and took a bath. I am now quite red and itchy from sun burn. At least I'm some color. Tis now 8:10:35 P.M. FINIS
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California
8:00 PM
I got up today about 11:00. Mom did a lot of work on the vacant room today, so she can sleep in it tonight. At one o'clock I went out in the kayak, and the bay was beset with the most traffic I've seen, today being Sunday with a fair sky. There was one gull still pecking at the fish I offered Friday, and a couple were standing by. I checked a map and found out that the bay ("Newport Bay," technically) is about 3 and a half miles long.
Today the tide was down as low as I've ever seen it, giving "Upper Newport Bay" an odd topography. The Shoal sign seen on page 80 [March 20] was on dry land, and only one main trench carried water past the ski area. I followed it and a narrow branch for a few hundred yards, occasionally sinking thigh deep in quick sand, pulling myself out with the kayak, and finally coming upon firm water-covered sand where I put the boat on a bank and sunned & read "I Sing the Body Eccentric" until I discovered a form of wild life I'd been overlooking. Tiny coelenterates (I think) about 2 centimeters long embedded in the mud, feeding on organisms in the water. I experimented with the tubular little plant-animals for a while, then the tide rose and covered the mud with water, and I paddled home. Returned at 5:30 and took a bath. I am now quite red and itchy from sun burn. At least I'm some color. Tis now 8:10:35 P.M. FINIS
[BELOW: These pictures are attached to the back of the map on this page]
Photos of a couple of the more interesting portions of Newport Bay.
Photos of a couple of the more interesting portions of Newport Bay.
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| These pics are actually from exhibits at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, which Grady will visit later in 1972 |
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