Balboa Island

Re “Long Boat, Short Tempers on Balboa,” June 16: In 1936 my father and mother built a cabin on Balboa Island, a place where the family could spend happy days lazing on the beaches and swimming in the clean, clear water. I lived there until 1989 and, with sorrow, watched the beautiful bay deteriorate. The beaches grew smaller and smaller as piers clogged the areas with larger and larger boats, along with boats moored at the shore. And the once clear water grew murky with pollution from the boats’ oil, gasoline and human waste. Where once fishermen caught fish, there were no more fish. My friends and I no longer wished to swim in the dirty water.

I mourn the death of my lovely bay and feel a deep anger toward wealthy homeowners who cut off the people’s beaches with their “toys,” and especially toward those in power who allowed it to happen.

Joan M. Ross

Laguna Woods