rochester gets surf

[nibot]

You know that story by Ray Bradbury, "All Summer In a Day"?

Rochester is kind of like that, except it's One Wave A Day.

An unexpected bonus of the Fast Ferry is that on its daily cruise into the shiny new Port Of Rochester, the Rochester beaches experience surf of, literally, feet in height.

Klaxons ring out. "Danger, danger!" Children scream.

And three waves come riding in, the wake of the $30-million catameran building up in the four-feet depth of the beaches of this freshwater sea.

"Those waves were huge!" A ten-year old explains to me, eyes wide. "I jumped into every one!"

Now I understand the fear, the awe, the wonder in my cousins' eyes when they came to visit San Onofre.

We can look forward to 2007. Tourism hasn't lived up to Business Plan levels. The Ferry cruises to Canada only weekly now. The rest of the time, it cruises parallel to the beach in two-hour tours. Passengers board at the Port still, for the Mall-like atmosphere of the boat, to catch the latest summer blockbuster playing in its several theatres. Meanwhile, Rochester beachgoers enjoy Actual Surf. Who would have thought, the boat's principal benefit would be the wake it generates?

Stranger things have happened. I hear that in Chicago they pile up their garbage, so they can ski off of the snow-covered piles in the winter months.

Comments

[emidala.livejournal.com]

you're a ray bradbury fan? this makes me very happy to hear. :)

[nibot.livejournal.com]

one of my favorites is the one with the sea monster and the lighthouse

[emidala.livejournal.com]

I am hopelessly and desperately in love with something wicked this way comes.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

I'm off to fetch a copy of Something Wicked from the library just now!

The sea monster story I was thinking of is The Foghorn (http://lavender.fortunecity.com/judidench/584/beastfro9.html), and I just found the text online.

[suomifrikki.livejournal.com]

i haven't read bradbury in so long... i miss him.

[roxymartini.livejournal.com]

they think the surf in cali is scarey. they should see the pipeline. it's murderous on people who don't know what they're doing. i mean, literally.

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

That's really disappointing that the ferry isn't living up to expectations. And if they run it only once a week, then of course people will never start using it. I was just wondering about the ferry today, because I was riding the ferry down the Brisbane river back from the university, and thinking about other ferry boats built in Australia (though on the opposite side of the continent).

[(Anonymous)]

Well, for now it is daily—I can't say whether or not it's living up to expectations, or whose expectations. I did see literally a half dozen passengers board, though!