• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Aptos Community News

Sharing and caring about what happens in Aptos

  • Calendar
  • News
  • Parks & Rec
    • Beaches
    • Parks
    • Sports/Fitness
  • Shopping
  • Real Estate
    • Aptos Home Values
    • Aptos Homes for Sale
  • Eats
    • Bars
    • Cafe
    • Restaurants
    • Deli
  • Gems
  • Lifestyle
  • RSS
You are here: Home / Archives for ss palo alto

ss palo alto

4K SS Palo Alto Drone Video

January 24, 2018 by Seb Frey

For my 47th birthday, my wife gave me her blessing to get the drone of my dreams – a DJI Phantom 4 Pro. There’s all kinds of drones out there (and drone makers, too) but DJI apparently has about 85% of the consumer drone market. And the Phantom 4 Pro is, from what I can tell, the top of the heap – a “prosumer” product which is used by all kinds of people for all kinds of purposes.

I got mine because I want to use more drone video in my real estate business. I’ve hired some drone guys before – and they aren’t cheap. Typically they’ll charge $300 or so for a few minutes of video and some still photographs. That’s a lot of cheddar, but there’s no denying that the drone videos lend a lot of pizzaz to just about any real estate video.

Of course, before I take my new toy out to do video any properties, I need to make sure that I know how to work it. While the Phantom 4 Pro has a lot of really great features that make it easy to fly (collision avoidance, “tap to fly”, automatic return to “home”, etc.) there still is a considerable learning curve.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

My two boys went bonkers over the thing – the morning after I got it, they came into our bedroom at 6:30 and said it was time to fly the drone! So we flew it around the back yard (and a couple hundred feet above!) for a half hour or so before school, and then later that day, around sunset, we headed down to the bluff over Seacliff Beach to let the Phantom fly.

It being only the second time I’d flown it, it felt a little freaky, sending it out hundreds of yards across the sand and surf. I could hardly see it in the sky, as it flew over the SS Palo Alto. It seemed as though it ran into some steady winds as it made its way off shore, and I was concerned that it might get blown off course or that some crazy wind would push it down into the surf below.

But the Phantom made it out to the end, and made it back just fine…just in time to meet the state park ranger who informed me that you’re not allowed to fly drones out over the beach. I didn’t see that listed in any FAA rule for drone flights, so it must be some California state park regulation. What a killjoy.

He did however direct us to the empty field there next to the parking lot and said we could fly it to our heart’s content there. So we did – the boys and I had a blast just flying it around in mad circles, tearing over the field like something out of a Star Wars movie.

I hope you enjoy this video of the SS Palo Alto! I would have liked to get closer to the deck of the ship, but the 4K video does a pretty good job of showing lots of fine details. Thanks for watching!

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: drone, ss palo alto, video

The Palo Alto by Diane Turner

December 20, 2015 by Seb Frey

SS Palo Alto
The SS Palo Alto at Sea Trial, September 10 1920

The Palo Alto, a ship made of concrete, was originally built as a tanker for the war effort, but when the war ended she was still under construction, so, in time, she was hauled here from Oakland, moored at Seacliff Beach Pier on Monterey Bay, and turned into a party ship, all dressed up in frills and finery, a boat in drag. A party boat made of cement? Ludicrous, you might exclaim, and who would disagree, but by 1930, her decks took on a carnival atmosphere. She sported a dance floor, a honkytonk piano, a 50-foot swimming pool, and a café. Twinkling lights hung from the masts and along the railings, and, with every sea breeze, music echoed off the cliffs behind the pier and into the sparse neighborhoods of the thirties.

Today she languishes at the end of the pier, tethered by a few remaining strips of rusted metal cabling. In places, lower parts of her have dipped beneath the bay surface, her midsection cracked open, exposing her soft insides to all forms of sea life and the elements. Every year she slips a little lower into the silt bottom of the bay. The Forest Service has cordoned her off to those who, up until a few years ago, walked out onto her decks and felt small pieces of history under their feet. Now posted signs warn: Danger! Keep Out.

Today the pier is relegated to weekend fishermen and visitors who push their noses through the steel mesh separating it from the ship. They grip the heavy wire with sandy fingers and ask each other, in wonder, how a ship made of cement could possibly float, and they stare at the teeming mass of seabirds that now call the relic home. Pushy gulls, quarrelsome pelicans, long-necked cormorants, and fat seals jockey and squabble for territory. The ragged hole in the hull allows the gulls and smaller birds to dip in and out at will, as they banter with gangly pelicans struggling to take flight on limited deck space. They huddle together on every surface at the bow of the ship, cheek to jowl, and argue. It is almost a performance for the gawkers behind the fence only a few feet away.

Visitors in the summer months and locals year round – yes, locals like me, are drawn here by some strange magnetic pull – flock to the area to look and perhaps to dream of a seaworthy vessel made of stone carrying them to exotic and distant ports.

Time, however, has not been kind to her. After the dancing feet stopped and the piano quieted, she has been battered and slapped by storms and left to withstand whatever the weather throws at her. The sea bombards her with logs the size of boulders and debris from shipwrecks in unknown places. She looks tired and beat up, the paint stripped from her hull by stinging waves and with each changing tide. She looks to be the epitome of obsolescence. And yet…

Yet, if you watch long enough and hard enough and squint into the setting sun, you will see she provides all measure of birds a haven from storms, pelting rain, and obnoxious beachgoers, who scream and chase them. So, you see, she is far from obsolete, serving a grand and noble purpose even today and even as she inexorably returns to the ocean depths.

Diane Turner
October, 2015

Filed Under: Lifestyle, News Tagged With: l literature, ss palo alto

Seacliff Mural Unveiling

September 15, 2015 by Seb Frey

New Mural in Seacliff to be Unveiled
New Mural in Seacliff to be Unveiled

Come to the Seacliff Mural Unveiling on Saturday, September 19th at 4 PM! The new mural graces the corner of Broadway and Center in Seacliff, and depicts the moment when the SS Palo Alto arrived at Seacliff Beach. It’s a beautiful mural and will be a focal point of Seacliff Village for many years to come!

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: mural, seacliff village, ss palo alto

Sandman Triathlon Returns for Its 30th Year

April 8, 2015 by Seb Frey

Sandman Triathalon
Sandman Triathalon

The Sandman Triathlon returns for its 30th year this summer! The Sandman Triathlon is a fundraiser for the Santa Cruz State Parks Lifeguard Association held at Seacliff State Beach.  This year, the race will be held on Sunday, August 2nd at 8:00 AM.

The Sandman Triathlon is a USAT sanctioned event.  It begins with a .75-kilometer ocean swim around the historic SS Palo Alto, followed by a spectacular 13-mile bike ride through redwood forests, Seascape and Rio Del Mar. To top it all off, the race finishes with an strenuous four mile run on the beach.

The Sandman is a sprint triathlon and designed to be a super fun and a family friendly event, it is the perfect triathlon experience for athletes that are new to the sport.

Registration for the 2015 Sandman is now open on Active.com. Athletes can sign up for the sprint triathlon, a duathlon or the one-mile kids’ fun run.

The Sandman Triathlon is one of Santa Cruz County’s oldest triathlons. Its inaugural race occurred way back in 1986 in the infancy of the sport. The Sandman was originally conceived by the Santa Cruz State Parks Lifeguard Association to be a positive Aptos community event that would raise funds for the association, who supports the junior lifeguard and lifeguard operations in Santa Cruz, including providing scholarships for kids from low-income families that otherwise could not afford the cost of the 4-week program. Over the past three decades, thousands of dollars have been raised for the Santa Cruz State Lifeguard Association to help provide high-quality water safety education to hundreds of Santa Cruz County youth.

See also:  http://www.sandman-triathlon.com 

Sandman Triathalon Swimmers
Sandman Triathalon Swimmers

Filed Under: Events, News, Sports/Fitness Tagged With: bicycling, junior guards, lifeguards, nisene marks, race, running, sandman, seacliff beach, ss palo alto, swimming, Triathlon

Walk Through Seacliff’s Amazing Past

July 28, 2014 by Seb Frey

The folks down at the Seacliff Visitor Center are putting on an event dubbed Walk Through Seacliff’s Amazing Past. It’s a 50 minute walk held on Sunday August 10th and 24th, and it starts at 11:30 AM down at the visitor’s center. Participants will learn about the history of the SS Palo Alto, and how efforts by big business to create Seacliff Park “a paradise of land and sea” were crushed in the 1920s and 30s.

You’ll learn about the beginnings of Seacliff State Beach, and how the local Native Americans, the Castro Family, and the Spreckel’s sugar cane empire all helped shape modern day Aptos. They’ll also talk about the notorious past of former Aptos resident, “The Madam of Seacliff.”

Who knew Seacliff ever had a madam? Sounds like a great way to get out and learn more about how Seacliff and Aptos came to be.

Teens on "China Beach"
Teens on “China Beach”

Filed Under: Events, News Tagged With: castro, madam of seacliff, seacliff, spreckels, ss palo alto

Memorial Day at Seacliff Beach

May 26, 2014 by Seb Frey

Aptos has a reputation for being a foggy place. Blame it on the Monterey Bay, which has the second deepest ocean canyon in the world, with lots of super cold water that generates when it’s hot inland. I personally think it’s somewhat blown out of proportion – yes, we have a lot of foggy mornings, and the fog can roll back in around 3 or 4 o’clock if you’re right down there by the beach. But it’s not usually foggy all day, and of course, the further from the beach you go, the less fog you’ll find.

And then there are days like Memorial Day 2014, when there’s not a wisp of fog to be seen, even at 9:00 AM, when my wife and I took a walk down Seacliff Beach. I’ve been trying to get in my 10,000 steps a day – it’s all the rage these days – and it seemed like the perfect morning for a walk along the sand. We started out at the parking lot at Rio del Mar beach – which was already full – and ended down at the Seacliff Memorial Wall, an Aptos Gem.

Seacliff Memory Wall
Seacliff Memory Wall
Seacliff Memory Wall
Seacliff Memory Wall
Seacliff State Beach
Seacliff State Beach
Seacliff State Beach Visitor's Center
Seacliff State Beach Visitor’s Center
Santa Cruz Lifeguards Weather and Ocean Report
Santa Cruz Lifeguards Weather and Ocean Report
Seacliff State Beach
Seacliff State Beach
Pier Fishing at Seacliff State Beach
Pier Fishing at Seacliff State Beach
Birds rest on the SS Palo Alto
Birds rest on the SS Palo Alto
The Beach Shack snack shop at Seacliff State Beach
The Beach Shack snack shop at Seacliff State Beach
BBQ and Picnic at Seacliff State Beach
BBQ and Picnic at Seacliff State Beach

It was a gorgeous, sun-drenched day. The picnic tables which line the beach were already full, and the BBQ grills were already going. The RV campground was full, too, and lots of folks were sitting out in front of their RVs, chatting with one another and watching the sunbeams play on the waves. The lifeguard tower on the pier declared the climate that day as being “sunny/nice” with air temperature between 60 and 75 degrees. The pier was loaded with fisherman, dozens of them angling to catch something, but probably not caring too much if they ended up empty-handed. The SS Palo Alto was loaded with seagulls and other birds, who have painted the deck white with their guano.

It seemed like everyone and everything was out at Seacliff Beach for Memorial Day. We’re so lucky that all of this is just a five minute drive from our doorstep. I love Aptos!

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: bbq, fishing, memorial day, picnic, seacliff, seacliff beach, seacliff state beach, ss palo alto

The SS Palo Alto (the Cement Boat)

December 15, 2013 by Seb Frey

The SS Palo Alto in Aptos at Sunset
The SS Palo Alto in Aptos at Sunset

If there is one image that identifies Aptos, California it would have to be that of The SS Palo Alto (the Cement Boat), the sunken concrete ship on the shore of Seacliff State Beach. A lot of people wonder how the ship got there – and it’s an interesting story.

The ship was one of many concrete vessels built for World War I. Construction was completed in 1919, but too late to enter service in the war. The ship sat docked for 10 years in Oakland, before being bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation, which had big plans for it. The ship was brought to its present site and intentionally sunk, and then retrofit as an amusement ship with swimming pool, dance hall, and restaurant. The enterprise didn’t last long, as two years later the company went bankrupt. The ship originally had a large wooden superstructure which was removed and shipped to Texas. Eventually, several powerful winter storms cracked the ship, and it became unsafe, and has been closed to the public ever since.

Read a good book lately?

The Sold Book
Get My Book Today!

If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! Now in its Second Edition! It's an easy read (just 145 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!

OK Send me a Copy!

The SS Palo Alto is connected to the shore via a 500 foot long wooden pier, and every day of the year you can find groups of people fishing. A range of fish can be caught here, including a variety of perch, flounder, rockfish, salmon, and striped bass.

In the State of California, anyone can fish off a pier without a license – so if you’re interested in giving fishing a try, this is one of the best spots to try it in Santa Cruz county.

Admission to the pier and boat themselves are free. However, you must pay to drive your car into the Seacliff State Beach park. Alternatively, you can park at the top of the bluff outside the park and walk down for free.

Home Seller Seminar

See also: Wikipedia, PierFishing.com, Sandy Lydon on the SS Palo Alto

Drone Video December 2016

YouTube Drone Video February 2016

YouTube Drone Video 4K – January 2018

YouTube Video of the SS Palo Alto

Instagram Photos Tagged #cementboat

SS Palo Alto
SS Palo Alto
The SS Palo Alto
The SS Palo Alto aka the Cement Boat
The SS Palo Alto in Aptos at Sunset
The SS Palo Alto in Aptos at Sunset

Looking for a Home in Aptos?


Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!

Filed Under: Beaches, Gems, Parks and Recreation Tagged With: cement boat, cement ship, fishing, seacliff, ss palo alto, video

Seacliff State Beach

December 8, 2013 by Seb Frey

Seacliff State Beach
Seacliff State Beach 4.0 star rating 259 reviews Yelp logo

Seacliff State Beach Park is one of the major draws to Aptos for out-of-town visitors. It is perhaps best known as the spot where “the cement boat,” aka the SS Palo Alto, lies sunken offshore. The beach can be crowded on summer days, particularly on any three-day weekend. Some of the biggest crowds, however, can be found on Thanksgiving Day, when many people come to the beach and use the extensive array of picnic tables and BBQ pits as they enjoy their Thanksgiving meals.

In addition to the picnic tables and BBQ pits, the park also features a number of restrooms and shower facilities. There is also a mile-long asphalt path along the length of the beach, which is a great way to take in the sunset and get some exercise at the same time. There is a long wooden pier leading out to the SS Palo Alto, and this is a popular spot for fishing. No permit is required for fishing off a pier in California.

The park is also very popular as a site to park your Recreational Vehicle (RV) as it boasts 26 RV sites, right along the edge of the beach, with complete and un-obstructed ocean views.

The park has a Visitor’s Center which is well worth a visit. It has a wide array of information regarding the SS Palo Alto, the beach history, etc. The center is run by the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.

There is also a snack shack is open during the summer months 7 days a week – you can visit their Beach Shack web site to get hours of operation and see the menu.

See also Seacliff State Beach

Instagram Photos Tagged #seacliff

Seacliff State Beach
Sunset at Seacliff State Beach Park

Filed Under: Beaches, Parks and Recreation Tagged With: bbq, beach, cement boat, concrete ship, fishing, picnic, pier, seacliff, seacliff beach, ss palo alto

Primary Sidebar

Brought to you by

Sebastian "Seb" Frey
Sebastian "Seb" Frey
This site is developed, maintained, and edited by Sebastian "Seb" Frey, Aptos Realtor® and author of Get It Sold!. If you'd like to have your business, event, or issue featured here, please contact me at (831) 704-6873.

Seen SebFrey.TV?

As Seen on SebFrey.TV

Aptos Home Search






Search Aptos Community News

Pages

  • Aptos on NextDoor
  • Aptos Points of Interest
  • Aptos Videos on YouTube
  • Neighborhoods of Aptos, California
    • Day Valley
    • Mar Vista Neighborhood of Aptos
    • Rio del Mar
    • Seacliff Neighborhood of Aptos
    • Seascape in Aptos
    • Seascape Uplands
    • Vienna Woods
  • Projects
    • Aptos Village Redevelopment
    • Aptos Water Supply Improvement
    • Highway 1 Widening
    • Mar Vista Bridge
    • Par 3 Golf Course in Aptos
    • Rancho del Mar Redevelopment
    • Santa Cruz Rail Trail in Aptos
    • Seacliff Village Redevelopment

Latest Places

January 2021 Aptos Real Estate Update

If you ask around, you’ll find very few people who are sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. In so many respects, it was an absolutely awful year, for our community and the country as a whole. At the time of this writing, the nation records its 400,000th death attributed to COVID – with […]

University of Hawaii Hilo Performing Arts Center

Copyright © 2022 Sebastian "Seb" Frey. Please see my Privacy Policy. and browse the HTML Site Map
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.