As the winner of the Solutions to Coastal Disasters raffle contest, COPRI member Kevin Knuuti recently traveled to the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. He received a VIP pass to the festival and a two-night stay at the Argonaut Hotel. Kunuuti reported it was a great weekend and a great raffle prize.
"First, the Argonaut Hotel is a new hotel with a nautical theme in restored brick warehouse," he
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| COPRI member Kevin Knuuti (right) and his wife Erin meet other attendees during the festival's opening night party. |
said. "It's a very nice hotel in a fantastic location, between Fisherman's Wharf and Aquatic Park. Having previously lived in San Francisco, I actually don't like the Fisherman's Wharf area too much because it is so touristy, but Aquatic Park is great and the hotel location is close enough that we could walk along the waterfront, through Fort Mason, to the Film Festival."
Knuuti said the Film Festival itself was great. With 2-1/2 days of short and long independent films on a huge range of topics related to the ocean, he said that he saw too many films to list all those he enjoyed. But films he particularly enjoyed were In the Wake of the Belgica, Red Gold, Between the Tides, Attack of the Sea Slugs, Cuttlefish - The Brainy Bunch, and Pearl Islands: The Story of Bahrain's Natural Gems. Knuuti noted that it was also nice for him to see and be able to enjoy the films with a few friends who live in San Francisco (Lesley Ewing and Orville Magoon, in particular, both COPRI members).
"I think my favorite film may have been Musica Surfica and if you're interested in how someone combined classical violin with surfing, you should check this film out! You can find a description of all the films shown at the festival at http://www.oceanfilmfest.org/. The film festival experience was enhanced by the presence and participation of several of the film producers," Knuuti said.
Accompanied by his wife Erin, Knuuti met up with Ewing during the festival's gala auction. Ewing reported that the COPRI crew bid on a number of items but came away empty-handed. Ewing, however, won two raffle prizes -- a fishing rod and a night at a local lodge.
"I will definitely keep buying raffle tickets at COPRI conferences," Knuuti said.
COPRI is especially grateful to the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival organizers for the ticket donation. Their support of the Institute and its Student Participation Fund helped fund a student stipend for Juan Recio, author of the best student paper at the 2008 International Conference on Coastal Engineering. Proceeds from the raffle totaled nearly $1,000. With help from SFOFF and
similar organizations, COPRI will be able to continue efforts to encourage and support the engineers and scientists who will be the next generation of COPRI leaders.
For more information about the film festival visit wwww.oceanfilmfest.com or e-mail the organizers at info@oceanfilmfest.org. Look for information on the 2010 festival soon at oceanfilmfest.org.
