Hello, I am impressed that folks across the USA/Canada had the same idea of having fun in the water with a motor powered vehicle. Not, just sailboats or powerboats. We were fortunate to have lived near water, the ocean and bays, nearby in So Cal. The ocean provided us with the usual fun things, surf fishing, hours of sand/water play and then eventually, surfing to our heart’s content. But, one of my high school friends that was a good surfer also had access to the Alamitos Bay calm waters with his dad’s unusual vehicle. Because his dad knew of our hot rod/custom car knowledge and mechanical skills, he allowed us to cruise around in his latest purchase. A street legal/water born and able to be driven in any water area, lake, ocean or bay, vehicle. An Amphicar introduced to the general public in 1961. We were still juniors in high school and his dad thought it would be a fun thing if he had some different kind of transportation for himself. But, little did he know that we teenagers were also looking for something different and something to make a splash (pun intended) with our friends. So, after our early mornings at the local surf spots, we headed to Alamitos Bay in Belmont Shore to see if we could take the Amphicar out for a spin on the calm waters of the large Bay. Jnaki We tried to do this after our surf trips and it was a natural to do this in the warm summer months. We knew our friends would be laying around on the calm waters and warm sand of the bay, nearby. If we saw them, this was the perfect way to say hello, and toss a few water balloons at them. Ha! Note: We went all over the whole calm bay waters and it was extremely fun. But, one thing we noticed was that when we went faster, the water tended to get closer to the top of the door. So, we made sure we were ok with medium cruising around, just to be safe. Even if the water area was calm, there was the tendency to want to go faster. but, safety first. We tried to go out of the breakwater channel to the open ocean, just beyond the long breakwater. But the normal ocean swells and surges made life not as dry as we would like. So, we kept to the calm waters of the inner bay to have our enjoyment. We did go outside of the long breakwater later in the summer months on an 18 foot Malibu Outrigger sailing craft. But, even that was a shaky proposition with the ocean swells hitting us at such an angle that it made sailing not as much fun as a pontoon up in the air on the calm waters of the inner Alamitos Bay. That bay was made for normal Amphicar cruising… and fast Malibu Catamaran sailing speed… yes! Note 2: In local So Cal news, some guy left Long Beach Harbor in an Amphicar to motor over to Catalina in the later years. It took him as long as we all were in school. 7:30am to 3:30pm. The channel is one of the roughest places for any kind of boat, let alone one that is a car with about 6-8 inches of waterline clearance. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
