Vol. Mmiieditor: Lloyd Johnsonissue: March

Vol. MMIIEditor: Lloyd JohnsonIssue: March

The Beach in General:

January and February has been mostly sunny and warm, only windy and cool sometimes. In this last month I’ve found that the weather has sometimes been warm enough to be nude on the beach from about 9am to 5pm, if I use a reflector or windbreak.

Tides are still occasionally so high that all the sand is wet. The fact that there is less sand on our beach in the winter makes this even worse. The city removed sand from one part of our beach to use it to reinforce emergency access. Although they took it from an area just north of the Burro Trail, it has left an area south of the trail so short of sand that it’s mostly rocks.

It’s still a good idea to have some way to keep yourself off the wet sand. Chairs, tarps and mats are used by many beach regulars.

Lifeguards are present, but in lesser numbers. They seem to have filled some vacancies with new lifeguards. Those new lifeguards once posted the cones and nudity prohibited sign in the wrong place. The dividing line between the city and state beach is where Salk Road would meet the surf. That is a point about a hundred meters south of the Burro Trail.

Burro Trail:

The Burro Trail remains in mostly good condition despite a few steps being ripped out for firewood by vandals.

Buick Invitational:

The Buick Invitational golf tournament dominated our parking lot for the week of February 4-10. There was no street parking during much of that time. Traffic was often backed up getting into, or out of the parking lot. Signs were posted on Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, indicating that there was no public parking. This was not true. People simply drove up to the driveway, stated that they were going to the beach, and were directed to the west lot. Our parking was still impacted by golf fans who parked in our lot. Sometimes it was necessary to wait for someone to leave, or be creative about what was a space, but everyone found parking

Other Nude Recreation News:

Naturally California has chartered a clothing optional whale watch cruise for March 10th. It’s $20 for members and $25 for non-members. If interested, contact

Naturally California
P.O. Box 502632
San Diego, CA 92150
858-484-7121

I’m still spreading the word about a Caribbean cruise through Internaturally. They have chartered a cruise for the week of July 27 – August 3, 2002. There will even be scuba opportunities. If interested, contact

Internaturally Travel Inc.

PO Box 317

Newfoundland, NJ 07435-0317

Sherry Stafford

973-607-8099fax 973-697-8313

Venus Spectacle:

Our evening sky will soon be graced with Venus in the coming months. Start watching for a bright star above the sun at sunset. Don’t wish on that first star you see tonight. It’s a planet. Venus will be challenging to see Through February and March. But, it will get higher and brighter, and easier to spot through spring and summer.

Venus will reach greatest elongation about August 20th. That means it is the highest in the evening sky and up the latest at night. If you look with a telescope, you will see that it has a half circle shape. After that Venus will exhibit a crescent shape.

Venus is bright enough to see in broad daylight. The glare from the sun often makes this difficult though. The trick is to know where to look. When Venus passes near the moon, the moon is a useful aid. Unfortunately, there will be no such opportunity this spring or summer. Instead, I’ll be looking for a day when I can set up a pointer to Venus and invite all to see.

April 30, 2002

Venus will pass through Taurus in April and May, and between Pleiades and Aldebaran April 28th. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus.

Venus will be in conjunction with other planets. It will make a small triangle with Mars and Saturn May 5th and 6th, then pass very close to Mars, less than 1/3°, May 10th. A conjunction of love and war has strong implications in mythology. Finally, Venus will pass near Jupiter June 3rd.

The performance with other planets ends before summer begins, but the show with stars continues through the summer. The most noteworthy are July 10th, and August 31st. Venus passes very near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. That will be July 10th. Then it will be near Spica August 31st.

Other planets are currently showing themselves in our evening sky, specifically Jupiter and Saturn. Get used to spotting them and it will be easier to find Venus. Jupiter and Saturn move very little from one night to the next.

March 1, 2002