Its arrival in Avalon would be heralded by circling speedboats. Children would dive into the water f

Cruise History: The SS Catalina is seaworthy no more. The once-proud steamship, which ferried millions of passengers to the island town of Avalon, is being cut for scrap after sitting for years in Ensenada harbor.
Cruise History: The SS Catalina is seaworthy no more. The once-proud steamship, which ferried millions of passengers to the island town of Avalon, is being cut for scrap after sitting for years in Ensenada harbor.
The CATALINA and the AVALON were day tourist steamships operated together from 1920 into the early 1950s — except for WW 2. The SS CATALINA continued running into the mid-1970s. They provided daily service throughout the summer from Los Angeles to Catalina Island.  The SS AVALON lies at the bottom of the Pacific off the coast of Southern California. The SS CATALINA has just been scrapped. Both ships are now gone.
The SS CATALINA, after a valiant attempt to rescue it, was taken to Mexico where she is rotting in Ensenada Harbor. There was a big deal about making the SS CATALINA a National Historical Monument. But like most historical endeavors car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 in California it got lost in financial problems and endless legal action. Cheers to the memory of these ships and the great people car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 who tried to save the SS CATALINA.  The ship has been scrapped.
The island town of Avalon didn t want the SS Catalina, which for 50 glorious years ferried about 25 million people to its shores. Neither did the Port of Los Angeles, or harbors in San Diego, Vancouver car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 and Honolulu. And, finally, neither car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 did the Port of Ensenada.
It s just horrible, they re demolishing her as we speak, said David Engholm, who was a fan of the Catalina as a boy, met his wife because of the ship and finally was married on its deck nearly 20 years ago.
Along with a 26-mile ocean voyage, a $2.25 round-trip ticket offered 2,200 passengers big-band orchestra music for dancing, children s entertainment by clowns and magicians, and adult amenities such as a leather settees and drinks from a shipboard bar.
Smaller, faster ferries connecting the mainland and the island eventually spelled doom for the huge steamship, known for its crisp white paint job and deep, melodious horn that announced its departure.
Its arrival in Avalon car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 would be heralded by circling speedboats. Children car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 would dive into the water for coins tossed over the rail by passengers as island townspeople sang to passengers walking down the 25-foot gangplanks.
They were probably poor kids trying to make a buck, former passenger Dorothy Weil of Bel-Air recalled Monday. Although she was too young to drink at the ship s bar, there was dancing to its orchestra an unforgettable experience for a teenager in the 1940s.
During World War II, the 1,766-ton vessel car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 with its twin 2,000-horsepower engines and football-field-size steel decks was used as a military transport. It carried 820,199 car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 troops around San Francisco Bay before being returned to Los Angeles.
As it continued its island runs, the ocean cruise-like ship was designated a Los Angeles historical cultural car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 landmark and a state historical car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 landmark and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
But after its retirement following its 9,807th Catalina Channel crossing, the ship passed through several hands and sat unused for two years before a Beverly Hills developer purchased it as a Valentine s Day gift for his wife at an auction. Hymie Singer s $70,000, spur-of the-moment purchase came after the couple s 32-foot cabin cruiser sank.
A 1983 plan to rehabilitate the ship and return it to island service failed. The unmanned ship twice broke loose from its moorings off Long Beach. On the first unauthorized car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 jaunt, it ran aground. On the second, in 1985, it nearly collided with the tanker Exxon Washington before taken into tow by a tugboat that just happened to be in the area.
It was later towed into the Ensenada car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 harbor, where developers announced plans to convert the Catalina into a floating car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 tourist attraction car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 with shops, a restaurant and a disco after authorities released it.
That plan foundered and the ship fell into further disrepair. After its solid bronze propellers were removed as part of a governmental requirement that stripped active registration from vessels unable to move under their own power, car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 the Catalina began to sink.
Many of those who have watched the steamship s sad decline and rusty descent into the mud of Ensenada s harbor suggest that it sank because of water that leaked in through seals used to plug the propeller openings. Others blame damage by thieves who have looted other equipment from the ship s engine room.
Engholm is a 44-year-old property manager who lives in Coos Bay, Ore. He met his wife-to-be while visiting Ensenada to see his favorite steamship s renovation into a tourist attraction. They married aboard the moored vessel in 1989.
The Engholms car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 have salvaged some of the Catalina s original lighting fixtures, benches car rental in orlando fl for under age 25 and cushioned seats for their home as well as one of its 2 1/2 -ton gangplanks. They also have a huge collection of photos and other memorabilia from its ferry days.
THE GATEWAY TO THE SUNSET STRIP: From the infamous GARDEN OF ALLAH to the mid-century iconic architectural gem LYTTON CENTER to a proposed 20-STORY APARTMENT PROJECT to be built on a major earthquake fault according to experts at CAL TECH