Expand<\/a><\/p>\nAt 6:45 a.m. Friday, April 17, Rocket Fish\u2019s Hank Wise conducted an informal celebration of life for the Tiny Tot Pool. He served cinnamon and peppermint tea out of thermoses into an eclectic array of cups to a group of water lovers \u2014 many still wrapped in towels from an early morning swim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something achingly bittersweet about all of it,\u201d Wise said in a speech. \u201cSomething that deserves to be felt fully \u2014 the grief and the gratitude both held together.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and others, including Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan, shared personal memories of time spent in and around the fenced in pool area.<\/p>\n
And his closing thought said it all:<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it appropriate to hold a funeral for a pool? A wake? Should bagpipers play a slow lament on the sand while the sun rises over the water? Maybe,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe it should be all of those things at once \u2014 the solemn and the joyful, the mourning and the celebrating. A celebration of life for a pool (that) lived well, served humbly and gave everything she had.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group of water lovers then joined in a tight circle for a group hug. After construction of the new pool, the small pool area will be returned to its natural habitat \u2014 with native plants.<\/p>\n
Remembering Marcus<\/p>\n
\u201cBe kinder, be better\u201d was the mantra frequently spoken by 19-year-old Marcus Muench Casanova, a sailing instructor \u2014 who died in December during a tragic hiking accident on Mt. Baldy.<\/p>\n
Now, about four months later, Casanova\u2019s friends and family want him to be remembered by how he lived and what he enjoyed doing most.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus was a sailing instructor and had a natural way with kids: patient, encouraging and generous with his time, says a GoFundMe that the Marquitos Adventure Club \u2014 Scholarship Fund established to fund outdoor experiences for local youth. \u201cHelping young people discover confidence, freedom and wonder through outdoor experiences mattered deeply to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alamitos Bay Sailing Foundation will be one of the organizations benefiting from that fund\u2019s donations. The foundation will hold its annual dinner Friday night, April 24. I\u2019m humbled to be the honorary chair of the event, and we are raising money for kids just like the ones Casanova enjoyed teaching \u2014 something that has been a long tradition at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.<\/p>\n
This year, the club\u2019s leadership plans to bring more soon-to-be sailors into the summer program<\/p>\n
Junior Staff Commodore Ed Feo is reaching our to the local community to find young people who want to learn to sail. He has been meeting with officials with Sea Scouts, Girl Scouts, Panthers at Sea and Leeway Sailing to get the word out.<\/p>\n
Just as the Aquatic Capital of America believes every Long Beach kid should be water safe \u2014 and know how to swim \u2014 Feo and the Alamitos Bay Foundation aim is to teach every interested child how to sail.<\/p>\n
Feo\u2019s attitude is that participating in water sports is a birthright for Long Beach children<\/p>\n
Casanova\u2019s father, Ken Muench, stressed that providing funds for beginning sailors will keep his son\u2019s vibe going.<\/p>\n
Casanova first learned to sail in Seal Beach Yacht Club\u2019s unstructured sailing program. He thrived there because it gave him a chance to experiment with sailing \u2014 to feel the wind, develop his passion for the sport and become one with the boat.<\/p>\n
His greatest love was sharing that feeling with the youngest of sailors and finding ways for them to sense how the boat and the wind came together.<\/p>\n
One \u201cLittle Leewayers\u201d \u2014 the youngest newest sailors \u2014 had a hard time comprehending how a tiller works. That\u2019s not surprising \u2014 since it is counterintuitive. Casanova coached her to pull the tiller, but she would push it instead, often sailing in circles. So Casanova ended up telling her to push when she needed to pull. Saying the opposite became second nature for him.<\/p>\n
It worked for a time.\u00a0 He had run the scenario so many times in his head, that when he got on his parents\u2019 boat \u2013 he almost followed his own backward advice.<\/p>\n
In addition to sailing in Alamitos Bay, Casanova also raced long-distance regattas like Newport to Ensenada and the Catalina series. He had a \u201csense for the wind,\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen things got hairy \u2014 when there were 28 knots of wind \u2014 I\u2019d have him take the helm,\u201d Muench said, adding that they were preparing to sail in the Pacific Cup, from San Francisco to Hawaii, in July.<\/p>\n
To donateto the Alamitos Bay Sailing Foundation, go to alamitosbaysailingfoundation.org\/take-action<\/a>.<\/p>\nNewport to Ensenada<\/p>\n
The 78th Annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race starts at 11 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n
The best viewing spot for the start is at the end of the Balboa Pier.<\/p>\n
Since 1948, sailors have taken on the iconic 125-mile offshore race from Newport Beach to Ensenada, Mexico.<\/p>\n
The Riviera Civic & Cultural Center will be the race headquarters and the location for all N2E celebrations, including trophy and awards presentations. Hutchison Ports Ensenada Cruiseport Village Marina will serve as the official reception site for the 131 boats registered to sail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The often-forgotten \u201cTiny Tot Pool\u201d that is adjacent to the temporary Belmont Plaza Pool has closed and will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,3929,3930,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":{"0":"post-282036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-grunion-on-the-water","10":"tag-grunion-sports","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-headlines","13":"tag-long-beach-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-the-grunion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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