Water Taxi 6/4/2014 . . .  

Did You Know? - A water taxi or water bus, also known as a commuter boat, is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar manner to a taxi. A boat service shuttling between two points would normally be described as a ferry rather than a water bus or taxi.

The term water taxi is usually confined to a boat operating on demand, and water bus to a boat operating on a schedule. In North American usage, the terms are roughly synonymous. The 75-passenger AquaLink water taxi, which travels between the Queen Mary, the Aquarium, and Alamitos Bay Landing next to the Long Beach Marina.

Did You Know? - The San Gabriel River flows 60.6 miles (97.5 km)[2] through southern Los Angeles County, California in the United States. Its main stem is about 43 miles (69 km) long, while its farthest tributaries extend almost 18 miles (29 km) altogether. It drains a long, narrow watershed basin extending from high in the San Gabriel Mountains above the eastern Los Angeles Basin, across the San Gabriel Valley, to the Pacific Ocean.

The river derives its name from the Spanish Mission San Gabriel Arcángel founded in 1771, now in the present day city of San Gabriel. It was free flowing with natural banks and a riparian zone habitat lined with riparian forests, marshes, and grasslands for much of its length and a large estuary at its mouth until the last century. Today most of the San Gabriel after leaving the foothills is restrained in a broad concrete flood control channel, and impounded in places by debris and stormwater management pond dams.

Did You Know? - Kitesurfing or kiteboarding is a surface water sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport.

A kitesurfer or kiteboarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water on a kiteboard similar to a wakeboard or a small surfboard, with or without foot-straps or bindings.

The terms kiteboarding and kitesurfing are interchangeable, although kiteboarding may also refer to kite landboarding or kite snowboarding.

There are different styles of kiteboarding, including freestyle, freeride, downwinders, speed, course racing, wakestyle, jumping and wave-riding.

Did You Know? - The THUMS Islands are a set of four artificial islands in San Pedro Bay off the coast of Long Beach, California. They were built in 1965 to tap into the East Wilmington Oil Field. The landscaping and sound walls were designed to camouflage the operation and reduce noise, and they are the only decorated oil islands in the United States.

After a 1964 court case that gave the state of California mineral rights to the area, the islands were built at an estimated cost of $22 million in 1965, the islands were operated by THUMS, a consortium named after the parent companies who bid for the island contract: Texaco, Humble Oil (now Exxon), Union Oil, Mobil Oil, and Shell Oil.

The rim of the islands are made of 640,000 tons of boulders from Catalina Island, and the islands were then filled with 3.2 million cubic yards of dredged material from the bay.

The islands contain significant landscaping, a waterfall, and tall structures concealing the drilling rigs, including one known as The Condo and mistaken for "a ritzy hotel" by those on land.

The structures are lit in colored lights at night. The aesthetic mitigation cost $10 million at time of construction, and was overseen by theme park architect Joseph Linesch. They were described by a Los Angeles Times writer as "part Disney, part Jetsons, part Swiss Family Robinson".

In 1975, the state of California and the city of Long Beach sued the THUMS oil companies for artificially depressing oil prices. A federal jury cleared Exxon of all charges, and the other four oil companies settled out of court for "hundreds of millions of dollars".

Did You Know? - B-427 was a Project 641 (Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric attack submarine of the Soviet Navy. The "B" (actually "Б") in her designation stands for большая (bolshaya, "large"). Commissioned in 1971, the submarine operated with the Russian Pacific Fleet until decommissioning in 1994.

The boat was sold to a group of Australian businessmen, who converted her into a museum vessel, which was placed on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum (under the name Foxtrot-540) from 1995 until 1998, then at Long Beach, California (under the name Podvodnaya Lodka B-427 Scorpion) in 1998. The submarine is still on display as of 2014.

In May 1998, the submarine was loaded onto a heavy lift ship and relocated to Long Beach, California, sailing from Sydney on 31 May and arriving on 25 June.[citation needed] On arrival, she was berthed next to RMS Queen Mary, and opened to the public on 14 July under the designation "Podvodnaya Lodka B-427 Scorpion".

On 19 April 2011, the company operating Queen Mary (Delaware North) announced that they had acquired Scorpion, and were planning to increase attendance at both attractions through combined ticketing and joint marketing campaigns.

The Scorpion Submarine is currently owned by NEWCO Pty Ltd LLC and is on a long term lease to the Queen Mary.

Did You Know? - In 1908 the citizens of Belmont Heights asked the city to build a pier. The pier has been called the Grand Avenue Pier, the Belmont Heights Pier and Devil's Gate Pier in its history.

When the pier was renamed "Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier" in 2005 an inscription was added at the entrance: "The people of Long Beach dedicate this pier to the men and women of our nation's armed forces, as a tribute to their love of country and a memorial to their sacrifice.

Did You Know? - The BBC is a unique restaurant located at the beach at the foot of the Belmont Pier in Belmont Shore, Long Beach.

The Belmont Brewing Company opened in 1990 and is Southern California's oldest operating brewpub. Come by for a taster set of award-winning ales crafted by Head Brewer Blackwell. We serve classic American fare with international flair and the warmest customer service around.