The old ship backed out of Avalon's cozy harbor for one of the last times and swung southeast to begin prowling the night waters along the eastern coast of Santa Catalina Island.
The 35 passengers aboard the Blanche W sat on gleaming mahogany benches on this cruise to see flying fish. Deckhand Maui Hernandez scanned the waves with a 40-million candlepower carbon-arc searchlight that came from a World War I battleship.
"There's some!" she shouted.
The passengers whipped around to see dozens of wriggling black-and-silver missiles soaring over the water. One rose about 7 feet, hovered like a butterfly and landed with a splash.