Vol. MMVIII Editor: Lloyd Johnson Issue: January / February
The solstice is past. Days are getting longer and sunsets are moving north. It's the beginning of winter, which means sometimes rain and sometimes sun.
The Beach in General:
There were many warm and sunny days in November and December, but there has also been some heavy rain. Often there are only dozens of people on the beach, but there have been hundreds of people on warm weekends. Some sand has been removed by waves and storms. Mud has been deposited on the beach and is now mostly covered in sand. Spring tides leave us with little dry sand and later give us islands and pools in the surf. Water temperatures have recently dropped to 55.
Parking Lots:
The Buick Invitational will be early this year, January 21-27. This always impacts our parking and traffic. On these dates you may have trouble reaching the parking lot, finding a space and leaving in a timely manner.
In the past, street parking has been marked a no parking zone. Attendants have also been posted at the parking lot entrance. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t park there. Tell the attendant that you’re going to the beach, and they must let you through. That doesn’t mean you’ll find a space though. If you leave late in the day, you will encounter lots of traffic.
Trail and Cliffs:
Recent storms have done significant damage to the bottom portion of the trail, and there’s sure to be more rain. Black's Beach Diggers have already begun to repair the damage.
Calendars:
We are again offering two Black's Beach Calendars, each filled with photos taken at Black's Beach. National holidays are listed as well as our picnic dates and Catalina sunset dates. One features Sunsets and the other is a wildlife theme, all from free dives. It includes crustaceans, fish, jellyfish and other invertebrates. Low-resolution samples are available on our "merchandise" page. The price is $20, shipping already included.
Spring Tide:
Spring tide is a condition of very high and very low tides in the same 24 hours. The highest tides typically occur at about 9am in the winter. As a result, we get mostly wet sand those days, with only a narrow ban of dry sand near the cliff. You may want to bring a chair, or tarp, just to keep dry and away from the cliff.
moon / low / highJan / 8 / new / -1.1 / 6.2 8:20am
Jan / 22 / full / -1.4 / 6.6 8:20am
Feb / 6 / new / -1.0 / 6.2 8:09am
Feb / 20 / full / -0.8 / 6.0 8:17am
Mar / 7 / new / -0.3 / 5.7 8:38am
While the highest tides are closely bound to the new and full moon, these two months they are actually a little higher a few days before.
Flies:
We are entering the time of year when the flies can become a bother. When there is a lot of seaweed and no wind, they don’t leave us alone. On those days you will find seaweed covered with flies that swarm every time anybody comes near. One remedy is to move the seaweed far from yourself, and out of the path of by passers. There is also repellent.
Boundaries:
I'm including a map of the beach with nude use boundaries. Nudity is legal only on portions of the state beach. It is not legal on the trail or city beach. The state beach extends south of the Burro Trail, about 100 yards. Currently there is a mound of sand marking that location. Lifeguards use that mound as a lookout.
The nude area of the state beach extends from there, a little more than a mile, north to Mussel Rocks. That's about 100 yards north of a rusted, often painted, steel buoy. Mussel Rocks can be recognized as the place where rocks stick out of the sand, with mussels and crabs inhabiting them.
Lunar Eclipse:
There will be a total eclipse of the moon the night of February 20. The penumbral phase begins before moonrise, 4:39pm, but hardly anybody notices that anyway. The penumbra is the fuzzy edge that all shadows have. In this case it will be the penumbra of Earth's shadow. By the time the moon rises at 5:34pm, there will be only a sliver exposed to direct sunlight. The umbral phase begins at 5:45pm, when an obvious shadow, of the Earth, will begin to envelop the moon. Totality will begin at 7:02pm, with the moon taking on a copper-red color, and end at 7:50pm. Beginning 9:06pm the eclipse will be reduced to just penumbral again, and last until 10:14pm.
Clothing Optional Oases:
I’m providing a list of some of the other clothing optional opportunities in and around San Diego, for the benefit of readers who don’t yet know. Consider them a backup plan for cooler days, or options to fighting Buick Invitational traffic. There are links to all these clubs through the Black's Beach Bares website, on the "clubs" page.
Camping Bares is a travel club that meets for potlucks, day hikes and camping. The nudist resorts in the area include De Anza Springs and Sun Island. A little farther away are Glen Eden and Olive Dell. There's a new club called San Diego Naturist Club.
Membership and Subscriptions:
There is no official list of members. Subscriptions by US mail are $10/year, $2/year for email subscriptions. Free copies from the bulletin board and the website will continue, because keeping people informed is the point.
Please consider making a donation anyway. There are monthly expenses for operating the website. Donations can also be directed to Black's Beach Diggers. You decide if the newsletter, the website or the trail have made your visit better, and donate accordingly.
http://blacksbeach.org