Monday, June 13, 2016

Keeper’s Log Battery Point Lighthouse Monday, June 13

Our tours did not begin until 11:00 AM today.  With the tide out, I had time to take a 2 mile morning walk into town to 5th Street and back down A Street.  When the 1964 tsunami hit Crescent City, it wiped out the first five blocks of Crescent City.  Eleven people lost their lives in the tsunami which was triggered by an earthquake off the Alaskan coast.

I walked past the SS Emidio memorial, a US oil tanker owned and operated by General Petroleum Corporation.  The Emidio was the first casualty of the Japanese Imperial Navy on California’s Pacific coast.  The Emido was sailing from Seattle, WA enroute to San Pedro, CA when on December 20, 1941, off Cape Mendicino, the Japanese submarine I-17 hit the tanker with 5 shells from its 14 CM deck gun. (Note the date - this was just two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor) A few minutes later the I-17 torpedoed the tanker.  Five crewman were killed and the remainder reached the Blunt Reef lightship in lifeboats.   The abandoned tanker drifted north and broke up on the rocks off Crescent City.  The bow drifted into the harbor, where it lay untll salvaged in 1950.   A section of the hall has been preserved as a monument  and the site declared a California Historic Landmark.   The memorial shows the names of the victums and displays a portion of the hull.  The jagged edges tell the story.

I completed my walk and prepared for the tour day.  We conducted tours from 11:00 AM until nearly 4:00 PM.  We had 90 visitors and collected $295.25 in cash admissions and gift shop sales.  ….after the tours, Teare and I enjoyed………sitting down……!

Afterwards, I walked the garbage to a dumpster over in the parking lot on the mainland.  I could have taken the gator, but did not see the need for three bags.  I walked to the beach then returned to play sheep dog for tourists unaware that high tide was coming.  

We had dinner while watching game 5 of the NBA FInals.  The Cavs were able to pull it off with both LeBron and Kyrie scoring 41 points.  This will force game 6 back in Cleveland.  Sweet, because I was surrounded by Warrior fans who promised me it was going to end tonight…

I fed Ginger and Fred at different times tonight, so my gulls are happy.  Fred hung out with me after I fed him and it appeared as if he was thanking me for the food.  He also was grabbing grass and walking it over to me and dropping it on the ground…almost like a dog would drop a bone after he’s fetched it.  Most unusual, and once again, these little suprises continue to endear me to this gull and this unique experience.


The sun is down now and another great day is winding to a close. 

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