The Alameda Main Library present a talk on the show “Impressionists on the Water” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. this Wednesday May 29. The speaker is Marsha Holm, a docent from the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

The presentation of the talk comes right before the start of an exhibition at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, which runs through October 13. The art show is meant to coincide with the America’s Cup races and will include boat models.

“Impressionists on the Water” focuses on the nautical life as revealed in more than 80 paintings and works on paper by the Impressionists, such as Claude Monet, Gustave Caillebotte, Pierre-August Renoir, and Camille Pissarro and Post-Impressionists such as Maurice Denis and Paul Signac.

Paintings included in the Bay Area show came from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; and private collections, as well as from the Fine Arts Museums’ own holdings.

After investing heavily in Alameda’s wind-turbine company Makani Power, Google has purchased the innovative clean-energy firm, which is based at Alameda Point.

The news was first reported in a Business Week story on Wednesday, May 22.

The Makani Power website announces the news, but gives no details on the deal.

Makani was founded by the late Corwin Hardham and colleagues Saul Griffith and Don Montague in 2006.

Google invested $10 million in Makani in 2006 and another $5 million in 2008, according to TechCrunch. Makani has also received substantial support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

(Photo courtesy of Makani Power.)

Forbidden Island, the tiki-themed bar and lounge on Lincoln Avenue, is hosting its sixth-annual luau from 2 to 10 p.m. this Sunday, May 26.

The event is, surprise, co-sponsored by Mount Gay Rum of Barbados.

Guests 21 and older are asked to pay $5 to attend, which does not include food or drink.

“It’s time for that tropical vacation again-without leaving the Bay Area! Don’t miss this annual tradition at the Bay Area’s premiere destination for all things exotic and… conveniently located island of Alameda!” organizers shared.

There will be live music outdoors provided by Hot Steel & Cool Ukulele during the afternoon. The group’s musicians play classic hapa-haole songs from 1920 to 1940 on a steel guitar and other instruments.

Later in the day, guests can enjoy a pig roast with Hawaiian-inspired side dishes cooked by Family Affair Catering of Alameda. Also, there will be hula dancing by Aloha Polynesia.

Hawaiian and “exotica” music will be played indoors by DJ Fitz. Staff from Chick-a-Boom Vintage will bring vintage Aloha shirts and dresses for purchase at Forbidden Island.

At dusk, live fire-dancing will be performed by Fire Pixie, and Alameda’s own Aloha Screwdriver surf-rock band.

The bar will feature cocktail specials and rum tastings.

Sailor Gary Jobson, the tactician who helped Ted Turned win the America’s Cup in 1976 and now serves as a commentator on the sport, spoke to about 130 members of the Alameda-based Oakland Yacht Club and guests on May 18. In addition to sharing his love of the sailboat racing and some history, Jobson also gave his opinions on the upcoming 34th America’s Cup races.

Despite the death of Team Artemis crew member Andrew Simpson during a training exercise in mid-May, he predicts the races will be held with great fanfare this summer. “Many people are coming from all over the world to San Francisco Bay for the events, though the unfortunate event with Team Artemis has raised eyebrows,” he said.

While he can’t predict what Alameda Point-based Team Artemis’ plans for the races will be ultimately, Simpson says the teams from New Zealand and Italy (Luna Rossa, operating out of Alameda Point) haven’t had problems are should “be at the starting line this summer” in their AC72 catamarans. The New Zealand catamaran, for instance, has hit speeds of 50 miles per hour.

Still, the veteran sailor thinks the Team USA, aka Oracle Racing, has “an edge.” The group is led by Australian-born skipper and helmsman James Spithall, who’s knows how to “come from behind” to win.

“This is the most exciting part about the America’s Cup, because you simply don’t know who will win,” explained Jobson. “Each of the 72s has an advantage in different winds and conditions. I don’t know who’ll win, and they don’t know either… and the weather really affects the races, too.”

The America’s Cup commentator, who will be working with ESPN and NBC during the races, says he loves being out on the water to watch the action. But Jobson believes the TV cameras will do an excellent job recording the sounds and sensational activity of the Bay Area sporting event, set to run from July 4 through Sept. 21.

“Sonia Flew,” a play directed by Alameda-based Virago Theatre’s artistic director Laura Lundy-Paine, is being performed on stage at the Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco through June 1.

Final shows are set for 8 p.m. tonight (May 24) and Saturday (May 25), as well as at 2 p.m. Sunday (May 26). The play will also be onstage next weekend at 8 p.m. Friday (May 31) and Saturday (June 1).

“Sonia Flew,” written by Melinda Lopez, tells the story of a woman who learns of her son’s decision to leave college, enlist in the military and fight against terror in Afghanistan. She struggles to come to terms with being forced to leave Cuba as a young girl with her own responsibilities as a mother facing uncertainty.

To buy tickets, go to Virago Theatre’s website.

Photo courtesy of L’Hydroptere (Copyright).

The Hydroptere team has left the Island. According the group’s website, the vessel and its crew moved from Alameda to Richmond on Tuesday, May 21.

The sailing team had been working on improvements at Nelson’s yard, which was closed earlier in May due to unpaid fees, according to the Alameda City Manager’s Office. The crew members shared that Carl Nelson had not charged them for their stay in the dry dock area, which they appreciated.

The group’s objective is to set a world speed record on the journey between Los Angeles and Honolulu. It did some practice exercises on the Bay today (Thursday, May 23), staff at Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond said.

L’Hydroptere thanked many local supporters and organizations that helped with the trimaran’s launch into the water off Alameda Point: Hadal Submarines, Kai Concepts, Germain Belz, Marina Bay, Gaël Simon and GravlaX, and others.

The French trimaran, which came to Bay in 2012, was “the first to fly in the bay at over 45 knots,” according to its website.

Team leaders Alain Thébault, Jean Le Cam, Jacques Vincent and Paul Besserea arrived from France to the Bay Area yesterday (Wednesday, May 22).

“In fact, we will perform a complete check-up of the boat which has just been launched in her offshore configuration. After this first trial, we will leave San Francisco to convey the Hydroptère to Los Angeles, which is the starting point of the Transpacific record. We will stay in standby for the record from [the] 1st [of] June waiting for a good weather window,” said Thébault on the group’s website.

Photo courtesy of L’Hydroptere (Copyright).

At 11 a.m. on Monday, May 27, the American Legion Leland J. Thompson Post 647 is hosting a Memorial Day Ceremony at Alameda Veterans Memorial Park off Island Drive on Bay Farm.

The service is being held to remember members of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines, Navy, EMTS, Firefighters and Police Officers.

The event will include music provided by the Alameda All City Band, welcoming remarks by Alameda Mayor Marie Gilmore, an address by Rear Admiral Karl L/ Schultz, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard 11th District, and a presentation of commemorative wreaths.

Those supporting the event include the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, along with the Harbor Bay Homeowners Association, Gold Coast Grill, Safeway, and many other local merchants and organizations–such as the Encinal High School Jr. ROTC, Sea Scouts Navy League and Vietnam Veterans of America-Chapter 400, as well as the Disabled American Veterans of Alameda-Chapter 8.

A preview of short films set to be featured at the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival in June is taking place today (Wednesday, May 22) at the Main Library at 5:30 p.m.

Films being shown this afternoon were made in 2012 and earlier this year. Plus, there will be some “surprises,” event organizers say.

Local film-maker and curator Jeff Giordano will lead a discussion after the films are shown; the shorts last about 90 minutes in total.

The event is free and open to those 18 years old and up.

The Teen Book Club will meet tomorrow (Thursday, May 23) at 4 p.m. to discuss the book “Where Things Come Back” by John Whaley.

Please contact Jill Russell via jrussell@alamedaca.gov or 510-747-7713 for more information or to RSVP.

Snacks will be provided,and the event is sponsored by the Friends of the Alameda Free Library.

Whaley’s novel tells the story about a 17-year-old living in a small town in Arkansas who meets a birdwatcher interested in finding a special woodpecker. The plot shifts abruptly when the main character’s son goes missing.

A parallel story is told in the book about a young missionary in Africa, who has lost his faith.

Alameda South Shore Center, 523 South Shore Center West, will host a life-jacket inspection from 4 to 6 p.m. this Friday, May 23, in Neptune Court.

Parents and children are invited to stop by Neptune’s Court in the middle of the mall area to have kids’ life jackets inspected by water professionals.

If their life jacket is worn out, kids will get to trade in the old jacket for a new one! The offer of one new life jacket per family is good while supplies last, organizers say.

The California law states that all children under 13 must wear a life jacket when in or near the waterways.

This event is sponsored by the California Department of Boating and Waterways, the United States Power Squadrons and Radio Disney.

It’s that time of year: Preservation Awards Night, put on by the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society.

The event will start at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, May 23, at Auctions by the Bay Theater, 2700 Saratoga Ave., at Alameda Point. It should end by 9 p.m., organizers say.

The 16th-annual celebration of historic preservation projects on the Island, will include the winners of the second-annual AAPS Kids Preservation Contest.

Every year, members of AAPS recognize the owners, managers, designers and workers who have restored properties in Alameda with historic or architectural significance. Nominated buildings may range in age from the 19th Century through the 1940s, according to AAPS, and their use may vary.

The winners usually include commercial properties, churches, governmental structures, single-family homes and apartment houses. And during the awards gala, community members get to hear how these showcase projects enhance the architectural character of Alameda.

The event is free. For more information, call 510-479-6489 or go to the AAPS website.