The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach is one of the jewels of the Coastside. Last year, my son and I were wandering around the Reserve when a helpful person came up and showed us a couple of great places to see some amazing sea life and explained what we were seeing.

That person was a tidepool docent. The Reserve is now offering training for people who want to become docents.

Volunteer docents at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve interpret the intertidal environment for school groups and the general public.  Opportunities to volunteer are available on weekdays or weekends. As a docent, you are requested to volunteer a minimum of two times a month. Docents must be physically able to navigate the rocks and reef, and be over 17 years old.

Friends of Fitzgerald Marine Life Refuge will be offering 2 separate training classes in 2005.  The classes will either be 6 or 10 weeks long, depending on the class session you attend.  The place of the class will be determined at a later date, but it will be held near Half Moon Bay.

Click on the "Read more" link for the application.

A lot of surfers thought the waves at Maverick’s were perfect last Thursday. But the organizers didn’t begin the competition, despite the fact that half the invitees are in town and the Christmas holiday is looming.

"Some guys said they thought it was too big," [Maverick’s Surf Ventures founding partner and spokesman Keir] Beadling said. "That’s obviously a concern. There is a wave height that you can’t paddle into safely. Some guys will give you different answers (as to what that height is). But there is a wave height that is dangerous."

It turned out to be a fortunate choice for other reasons. The afternoon fog would have blinded surfers in the water. But everyone is on edge waiting for the event to begin.

The service for Rollie Wright, which I originally listed on Coastsider as being at 10am on Wednesday, is now planned for 11am at Our Lady of the Pillar church at Kelly & Church Streets in Half Moon Bay.

Production note: I posted this story and the one before it from La Di Da Jazz Cafe using Coastside.net’s CoastWave wireless Internet service.

One of the first community events I attended when I came to the Coastside was the boat lighting at Pillar Point Harbor. And the highlight of the boat lighting is Rod Schoenlank’s stuffed-animal giveaway, where he invites everyone to "Go aboard the boat and find the critter that talks to you". I didn’t know his name until I read this interview in the San Mateo County Times by Amelia Hansen.

Want to know how to get home care, home delivered meals, or medical equipment in San Mateo County and the Coastside? Look in the Help at Home Directory on the County’s Commission on Aging website.

The San Mateo County Commission on Aging annually publishes this mini-reference guide to assist San Mateo County adults of all incomes to remain in their own homes when they are ill, disabled or in crisis. The 2005-2006 version is in the planning stages now.

A printed copy of the 2004-2005 directory can be obtained by calling 650.573.2700. You can also pick up a copy at Senior Coastsiders at 535 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay.

Whale Carcass Attracts Great Whites to Maverick’s

Surfpulse reports that a whale carcass drifted through the lineup at Maverick’s and into the lagoon at Pillar Point on the 11th and 12th.  It has apparently been attracting great white sharks. 

Besides the strong, unpleasant odor on the beach, the dead whale is likely to be attracting more sharks than usual to the area. Surfers and other ocean enthusiasts are advised that surfing- or doing anything else in the water- anywhere near a known shark attractant could be hazardous or life threatening. As of this morning, local authorities did not know what action would be taken to address this different type of Maverick’s beast.

Every year we hold a holiday party.  This year, in addition to inviting our old friends and the new ones we’ve made this year, we’re inviting you. If you’re a Coastsider reader, you’re invited to the Parrs’ annual holiday party. There will be the usual wine, champagne, desserts and light food, and we hope you’ll all be able to stop by and say hello.

The party will be this Saturday evening, December 18, at our home in Montara. We’ll be dressing up (nothing formal, shoes optional), but feel free to wear whatever makes you comfortable.

If you want to bring something, feel free to bring a drink, or goodie to add to the buffet, but nothing is really necessary but yourself.

To get an invitation and directions, send an email to [email protected]

Blair King, former Half Moon Bay city manager, and currently Milpitas assistant city manager, was chosen Saturday as Lodi’s next city manager. King, the unanimous choice of the Lodi city council, is earning $166,000 a year at Milpitas.

One week into the eight-month Dungeness Crab season, most of the legally catchable crabs had already been taken. The result was a glut of crabs, low prices for fishermen, and the dumping of dead, unsold crabs into San Francisco Bay, according to the Chronicle. Crab fishermen have been distributing a video showing piles of crabs that died waiting to be offloaded during the glut.

Traditionally, the crab industry belonged to small, local boats with two to three hundred traps, but fishermen from as far north as Washington have arrived with boats carrying more than 1,000 traps.  Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill setting a 250-pot limit per vessel for two years. It was opposed by the owners of large vessels.

The Central California fishery extends from Morro Bay to Point Arena, but most crabs are caught in Bodega Bay, Half Moon Bay and outside San Francisco Bay, according to an AP report in the Mercury News.

Half Moon Bay’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Rollie Wright, has passed away following a protracted illness.  A service has been arranged for

11:00am Wednesday, December 15, at Our Lady of the Pillar church at Kelly & Church Streets in Half Moon Bay.