Across the dock from the USS Hornet in Nelson’s Marine boatyard rests Cheyenne — another historic sea vessel.

The catamaran  doesn’t have the colorful paint job she had when she broke world records in 2001 and 2004 (shown above), but you can still recognize her.

Her two hulls are enormous. In fact, they are actually longer than the hulls on BMW-Oracle’s trimaran, which measures 113 feet and won the America’s Cup a few weeks ago in Barcelona.

Cheyenne’s two hulls measure 125 feet each, though they started out at 105 feet when the vessel was initially built in 1996-1998.  A re-build took place in 2000.

The catamaran’s mast, though, is 148 feet tall, quite a bit smaller than BMW Oracle’s wing tower, which measures 195 feet.

Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin designed Cheyenne, known earlier as PlayStation (and sponsored in part by Sony), back in the ’90s in Newport Beach, Ca. When the catamaran’s hulls were lengthened, along with the mast and boom, in 2000, the work took place in the United Kingdom under the supervision of a New Zealand naval architect.

The boat’s specifications are still posted online, as part of a website that celebrates the accomplishments of the late Steve Fossett.  

The adventurer, who died in a 2007 when his aircraft crashed in the Sierras, had her built to earn world records, and she did – for a time. In 2001, Cheyenne crossed the Atlantic in four days and 17 hours with an average speed of 27.8 knots. And in 2004, she circumnavigated the globe in 58 days and 9 hours at an average speed of 15-18 knots. (The website gives two different figures.)

If the next America’s Cup (the 34th such contest) does come to the Bay Area, Cheyenne could become part of a tribute to Bay Area boats and sailors…

Stay tuned for word on how Cheyenne got to Nelson’s and what the Alameda Point boatyard has planned for her. And feel free to share any knowledge on how Cheyenne got to the Bay Area and how she got her current name.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, March 13, the band Ocean Empire will be playing at High Street Station coffeehouse.

The event is family friendly, and the band will be playing tunes like those done by the Beatles, Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones.

The music is free — and guests can buy a BBQ dinner for $8.50.

Ten percent of the proceeds from tonight’s event will go to Meals on Wheels.

The organizers of the High Street Station event hope lots of residents will turn out.

 The coffeehouse is located at 1303 High Street at Encinal Avenue.

At last weekend’s birdwalk around Crab Cove, members of the Bay Farm Nature Connection saw a great array of bird species and sub-species. And they were kind enough to pass on some photos and notes.

Ralf Stinson, who captured the nice images with his camera, says the poor duck shown above is suffering from “angel wing,” also known as “slipped wing,” “crooked wing” or “drooped wing.”

“This is a disease that affects waterfowl (geese & ducks) in which the last joint of the wing is twisted with the wing feathers point out,” Stinson explains.  “It is an incurable anatomical condition which is acquired in young birds due to a high-calorie diet and low in vitamin D/E and manganese.”

The best evidence for the cause of the disease points to human feeding waterfowl white bread, according to Stinson. ”It is very rare in birds that are away from humans,” he adds.

Also last weekend, members of the birdwatching group saw many birds in “breeding plumage,” aka sporting special layers and/or arrangements of feathers for spring mating time — like this Eared Grebe.

And for those arm-chair birdwatchers eager to know about the wildlife at Crab Cove, the group did put together a tally of what they saw:  Bird List_3-06-10[1]

Many thanks to Ralf and all the other birders!

More details are emerging on Alameda’s Backyard Growers, a new community gardening group that’s holding its kick-off event this Thursday from 6-7 p.m. at High Street Station coffeehouse.

Amanda Maclean and Janice Edwards are the organizers. And they have a blog up with more details about the green-focused organization.

“There are a lot of people and neighbors with gardens, who are interested in supporting newbies and experienced gardeners,” said Amanda.

The aim of the grassroots network, she says, is to help residents grow plants, fruits and vegetables. Once the produce is ripe, hopefully, it can be shared with others —  including those who turn to the Alameda Food Bank for help.

“We want it to be fun, so we are asking neighbors to plant produce, too. This way, we can grow food as a community, eat some, and then give some away to create an even greater community,” Amanda said.

The group already includes about 20 members. It’s in contact with the food bank’s Executive Director Paul Russell, so such plans can be realized.

Flyers about the March 11 kick-off event are up at hardware shops, gardening stores and book shops around town, so maybe this grassroots effort can blossom as planned.

“It’s really about building a growing community,” said Amanda, no pun intended.

According to flyers up around town, including one posted at Pagano’s Hardware, Alameda has a new gardening group — which is meeting this Thursday, March 11, from 6-7 p.m.

The group calls itself Alameda Backyard Growers. It plans to build on the “planting the seed theme” at its first meeting, set to take place at High Street Station coffeehouse at 1303 High Street.

For more details, call 510 282 5249 or 510 402 8834.

Seems like it’s a great time to get planting. Spring is upon us, and for those of us in need of help with our green thumbs (or brown thumbs), this group could be just what the planting doctor ordered.

More details to come.

There will be more than drinks, sports and relaxation going on this Saturday, March 6, at the Churchward Pub — formerly the Pop Inn — on Park Street.

From 9 p.m. until closing, the bar will ask patrons for $5 that will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And a DJ will be there playing music for those who want to dance or listen — and to encourage lots of Alamedans to drop in and contribute.

Bar owner Joe Churchward says that his mom Diane was asked by some East Bay resident to host the fund-raiser, and that’s how it got organized.

Try to turn out for the cause if you can.

The Churchward Pub has been very supportive of local causes, like Dance for a Cure, a breast-cancer fund-raiser event held last year.

The bar is located at 1515 Park Street, near Lincoln Avenue.

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Note: On March 8, event organizer Teresa Fimby-Christensen, an East Bay chiropractor, said that $1,300 was raised. Congratulations to Teresa and the Churchwards for staging such a successful event.

Here’s a look at the Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry through the eyes of artist John Kammer, whose work is now on display at the Alameda Free Library on Oak Street (at Lincoln Ave.).

An opening reception was held at the library for Kammer on March 3.

Kammer is a native of Atlantic City, N.J., and he moved to California in 1988.

His style, he says on his website, is a blend of realism and impressionism.  And he aims to capture the “glowing transparency of the California coastal light.”

Kammer’s work has received awards on both coasts, and his art can be found in collections and galleries of the East and West, as well.

Kammer says he is very partial to Alameda’s Victorian homes and coastal vistas, which are some of his most common themes.

And the community is certainly privileged to have the fruits of Kammer’s work to help us better appreciate such themes.

As the painting below shows, Kammer loves to work outdoors and has practiced the “plein air” style for decades.

A group of 48 adults and 24 teens gathered at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts (at Lincoln Ave and Paru Street) on Friday, February 26, for the start of “Alameda on Camera 2010″.

They each got a small slice of Alameda, or rather a piece of a map of Alameda, to photograph over the weekend — including this blogger.

Many got to photograph the waterfront, while others did commercial and residential areas.

And now, these amateur and professional photographers/artists are in the process of looking over their weekend shots of the Island.

The group members have until the end of the month to turn photos they took last weekend into “art.”

This art will be shown during a public exhibit at the center from April 2 to May 2.

For any painters out there, the Frank Bette Center is hosting a new event on April 17:  ”Images of Alameda,” which needs submissions.

Paintings made outdoors in Alameda may be selected to be shown (and sold) as part of the April 17 fundraiser at Rock Wall Wine Company (on the former Alameda Naval Station), which will raise money for the center and for the Alameda Hospital Foundation.  

The deadline for entries is March 19.

Alameda’s newsstand at Park Street and Santa Clara Avenue has some new faces. And judging from the nice-size crowd picking up their Sunday papers from the pair on February 28, this is a welcome development.

Carlos Casteneda is now working there each day, and his wife Veronica drops by, too. They see lots of people stopping by to pay their respects to the former newsstand staffer Larry Trippy, who died February 9 of a heart attack at 60.

“I knew Larry for years,” said Carlos, who has worked for the “San Francisco Chronicle” as a deliveryman.

While Carlos knows that he can never replace Larry, he is eager to meet and great Alamedans with a warm smile and a kind spirit. And he plans to be at the newsstand seven days a week.

He and his wife live in Oakland.  

Meanwhile, the outpouring of sentiment at the newsstand for Larry continues.

The Encinal High School Orchestra and Jazz Band was set to perform at the Bridgeside Center from 11: 30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on  Saturday, February 27. But the concert got postponed due to poor weather, according to some school supporters.

The Bridgeside Center is the shopping area on Blanding Avenue, between Broadway and Versailles, that includes a public park on the estuary.

Merchants  that do business at center, such as Nob Hill Foods, plan to contribute to Encinal’s music department as part of the event. 

When the event is rescheduled, we will post the news here.