A few days shy of the spring of 1961, a Greek freighter got lost in the fog and ran aground on the rocks of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Originally a WWII American Liberty ship, the SS Dominator was built in 1944 and lacked radar and the ability to navigate as well as newer ships–one theory is that it came close to shore because the crew thought they’d arrived at the Port of Los Angeles. After a couple days trying to pull 14,000 tons of ship off the rocks, rescuers gave up and the crew abandoned her to the waves. Now the ship is in pieces. The cargo included grain, and the rumor is that the Palos Verdes lobster thrive (and are delicious) because they are shipwreck-grain-fed.
The day actually started a few miles away at the trail around the Terranea Resort.
After hiking around the resort, it was time for some recovery food. These are the Hen of the Woods Tacos (maitake mushrooms, hoja santa, black garlic, sweet corn emulsion, pickled ramps) from Solviva. The almond coco smoothie was to-go (and I failed to photograph it) because it was shipwreck-hunting time.
It’s a steep descent to the beach followed by a walk across the rocks.
This feels like the Pacific Northwest.
Ship pieces!
These cliffs are serious.
The view from on top of the cliff. It looks like it’d be easy to run aground (this is low tide).
A side-view of the rocks.