THE CEMENT SHIP BEFORE THE STORM

THE CEMENT SHIP BEFORE THE STORM

$180

Seacliff Beach in California hosts an rare treat when you visit.  A WW I  ship originally designed to be manufactured out of poured concrete which would actually float (!) but luckily wasn’t needed and was sold to the highest bidders a Nevada company that remarkably got permission to float it in, sink it and secure it, and refit it with an arcade, dining room, dance hall, a swimming pool and a Casino! 

That’s the great thing about human beings, they always try to turn lead into gold. Give one a stick, and they invent a fishing pole and Major League Baseball.

The Palo Alto is a real landmark that won’t always be there. You used to be able to walk out on it and fish. Every big winter, a little more crumbles off. The last storm has tilted the back deck to what looks like a dangerous 18 degrees. Now when the waves come in, the underwater compartments build up pressure and blow seawater out of a decktop hatch in a plume like a passing whale.

This 4 x 12 inch French acrylic painting is by local Santa Cruz artguy Vern Scharf on 8 ounce cotton duck gallery wrap stretched canvas. Coated with several coats of varnish, so in a way, preserving a landmark.