Happy Birthday to MdR Patch, Sunny Skies and Kayaking to Catalina

Today is Nov. 29. It is the 33rd day of the year. We are under a waxing crescent moon. Sunset will occur about 4:45 p.m. Here are five things to know:

1. Happy Birthday to Marina del Rey Patch! We launched this site exactly one year ago today. I just want to offer a heartfelt thanks to all of our readers, contributors, photographers, bloggers and tipsters for helping the site grow. It's been a lot of work covering Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey and Del Rey, but also a lot of fun. My duties here at Patch have recently expanded and I'm now also the editor of Venice Patch. As always, if you have any ideas, tips or feedback for either Marina del Rey Patch or Venice Patch, feel free to shoot me an email at paul.chavez@patch.com.

2. The National Weather Service forecast for this afternoon calls for mostly sunny skies with a high near 76 degrees with mostly clear skies tonight and an overnight low around 52 degrees. Forecasters expect sunny skies and a high near 69 degrees Wednesday and sunny with highs in the lower 60s for the rest of the week. Weather watchers also have issued a high wind watch and fire weather watch due to strong Santa Ana winds that are expected to develop Wednesday night and last into Friday afternoon. There could be sustained winds of more than 40 mph and gusts exceeding 60 mph.

3. Patch blogger J.W. Nelson offers up his penultimate article on 10 kayakers from the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center who trained all summer in order to attempt the 26-mile trek from Cabrillo Beach to Catalina Island. The first part of their crossing can be found right here.

4. State Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, whose 28th District includes Marina del Rey, is holding a public hearing Wednesday night on the health risks from air pollution at Santa Monica Airport. Details right here.

5. Patch is looking for bloggers. We recently rolled out a new blogging platform and are looking for local bloggers to write about whatever they want, whenever they want. If you're interested or want to learn more, send me an email: Paul.Chavez@patch.com.