WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:32.820 I want to thank the park for including me in their lecture series it was 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:40.230 it's a real honor. I want to start off by saying in my opinion, my humble 00:00:40.230 --> 00:00:45.650 opinion I think kayaking the islands is probably the best way to see the islands. 00:00:45.650 --> 00:00:52.230 There's lots of places can't get to on foot or even in a boat you actually need 00:00:52.230 --> 00:00:57.690 a kayak to get into all those nooks and crannies all those nameless places that 00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:06.150 are on the map so I'm going to start by going through my images here from quite 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:14.010 a few trips. Started circumnavigating the islands in 1999 and haven't stopped 00:01:14.010 --> 00:01:22.140 since. Been to quite a few places around the world and I think the Channel 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:28.650 Islands are right up there as some of the best there is to see throughout the 00:01:28.650 --> 00:01:38.340 globe. This image this first one here this was a couple years ago this is 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:45.030 Willow Anchorage on the backside of Santa Cruz and see if I can look this 00:01:45.030 --> 00:01:55.409 here the laser. So I got dropped off right here at Yellow Banks and paddled 00:01:55.409 --> 00:02:00.899 all the way along the backside of Santa Cruz and hit Water Canyon in here at 00:02:00.899 --> 00:02:11.730 about dark so roughly a 30 mile day by myself but it was a good day there was 00:02:11.730 --> 00:02:17.790 no virtually no wind it was yeah sounds like a long ways but time goes quickly 00:02:17.790 --> 00:02:22.890 because it's so beautiful out there there's so much to see you just never 00:02:22.890 --> 00:02:27.090 know what you're going to see. But in my opinion this is one of the prettiest 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:33.150 Anchorages on the on the back side of the island, those two big rocky pinnacles 00:02:33.150 --> 00:02:37.650 there's nothing like that on the backside it's it stands out like nothing 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:40.760 out there. 00:02:44.790 --> 00:02:51.520 This one I call the Pyramid, that's a friend of mine that's Craig 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.990 Fernandez down there in the on the right right at the surface of the water and 00:02:55.990 --> 00:03:11.490 this is actually a big pinnacle between Diablo Canyon which oh shoot sorry it's 00:03:11.490 --> 00:03:18.490 right around here somewhere. It's a very volatile area there's a lot of current 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:21.820 in there and there's been lots of times where we haven't been able to paddle between 00:03:21.820 --> 00:03:27.490 the island and that pinnacle it's just a lot of water moving around in there so 00:03:27.490 --> 00:03:33.190 it was relatively calm that day and this was during a circumnavigation of Santa 00:03:33.190 --> 00:03:56.830 Cruz and Santa Rosa. (mumbling) Do we have a light? You can move the map over there in that 00:03:56.830 --> 00:04:29.050 corner where there's a light alright okay. Alright we'll figure this out sooner or 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:44.790 later. So Diablo is right around here so up towards the west end. (mumbling from audience) Painted Caves 00:04:44.790 --> 00:04:53.590 right here, oh what, it's right here, so Diablo is 00:04:53.590 --> 00:05:07.000 down here somewhere, Willow is over here, so whenever I do a circumnavigating it's pretty rough 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.900 right along here, there's a lot of water moving around, a lot of time it feels like you're paddling a 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:18.120 river and once you get past Diablo then it kind of settles down typically 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:25.360 it's just a lot of exposure up there on the west end. But this was a this 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:37.210 probably a week long trip and that's me going solo from Santa Rosa back to the 00:05:37.210 --> 00:05:42.280 mainland so that's Santa Cruz right there that's me approaching the west end 00:05:42.280 --> 00:05:49.140 of Santa Cruz so if you look at the map I took that shot right about here 00:05:49.140 --> 00:05:55.360 right out there in the Santa Cruz Channel and that's been listed as one of 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:00.730 the top ten most dangerous channels in the world and and the potato patch is 00:06:00.730 --> 00:06:05.710 right in here and that's probably the big reason why that is but on a day like 00:06:05.710 --> 00:06:11.770 that it was pretty much butter all the way across so it was actually one of the 00:06:11.770 --> 00:06:17.740 most boring paddles I've ever done it was about 30 plus miles from Water 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:25.390 Canyon, Water Canyon is right here and I bounced off the island there and then 00:06:25.390 --> 00:06:32.590 headed right there to home. So it was about a nine-hour day and like I said it 00:06:32.590 --> 00:06:35.230 was one of the most boring paddles I've ever done I didn't see anything other 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:49.180 than a rhinoceros Auklet. I'm using a sit- on-top it's an old dolphin made by Neki 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:56.940 and uh that's it right there that's been the boat of my choice for a long time. 00:06:58.620 --> 00:07:02.820 Yeah I got really good hatches. (question from audience) 00:07:04.830 --> 00:07:11.260 Easily yeah yeah that's me just getting some lunch on the back side of Santa 00:07:11.260 --> 00:07:18.130 Cruz there's some beautiful spots back there I don't remember the name of this 00:07:18.130 --> 00:07:26.910 beach but it was up above just west of Willow a couple couple anchorages up 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:37.780 now oh this is way past Cochise this is way west of Cochise might be Laguna. This 00:07:37.780 --> 00:07:41.680 actually this shot appeared on the cover of Canoe and Kayak Magazine in August 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:48.850 2014 and this is myself and the guy in the foreground there is Fraser Kersey 00:07:48.850 --> 00:07:57.430 and then there's another guy right there that's Gericke Babick those are two of my 00:07:57.430 --> 00:08:03.490 bosses at Channel Islands Outfitters and this was going to be a trip that they 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:09.670 were going to sell to people. The trip would begin at Prisoners Harbor on the 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:14.110 front side of Santa Cruz and then next stop would be down at Scorpion and you 00:08:14.110 --> 00:08:22.000 spend the night and then from there you would go over to Anacapa and spend the 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.760 night there and so when we did this trip we started out with 10 guides and 4 of 00:08:27.760 --> 00:08:35.320 us finished. So the reason being is because the wind came up and it got up 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:42.010 to about 40 knots and we were supposed to camp on the island on Anacapa but it 00:08:42.010 --> 00:08:46.600 was virtually impossible to set up a tent so we slept on the cobble at 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:52.750 Frenchy's Cove and we had to build like a little fort with all our kayaks 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:56.800 because of the wind and a couple of the kayaks blew off in the night into the 00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:02.830 water but we were able to get them and it was so bad, I knew it was really bad 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:07.720 because the pelicans there was a couple of them that landed inside the 4 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.110 kayaks. 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:19.920 This is about six years ago and two of the birds just walked right past us and 00:09:19.920 --> 00:09:25.440 stuffed their heads in the bushes and went to sleep and uh and then about 4 am it 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:30.000 was like somebody shut the window and the wind stopped and you never saw four 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.020 guys move so fast in your life they everybody just stuffed everything they 00:09:34.020 --> 00:09:37.500 could in their kayaks when we got the heck out of there and we got to the 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:41.750 mainland before it started to blow again. 00:09:46.010 --> 00:09:51.090 And this is on that same crossing this is on the way into Oxnard and it's 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:55.350 always nice to see common dolphins while you're paddling out there in the open 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:59.280 ocean it gives you a little bit of a warm fuzzy feeling even though you're 00:09:59.280 --> 00:10:09.510 all wet. And this is a last November and this was not a warm fuzzy feeling this 00:10:09.510 --> 00:10:17.160 is a solo trip and I was heading out the day before work last November and I got 00:10:17.160 --> 00:10:24.000 out to the oil derricks and I was riding on top of a swell and the swell coming 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:31.710 at me the next one there was a big dorsal fin cruising across but I wasn't 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:34.740 able to confirm if it was a great white or not because I never did see the tail 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:41.040 dorsal but it did move like a shark and made me wake up and put my camera away 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:48.000 and just concentrate on paddling, my head needless to say it was on a swivel but I 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.760 never did see it again and that you can see there's a ship right there so i'm 00:10:53.760 --> 00:10:59.850 just starting to move through the shipping lanes. My head I was just 00:10:59.850 --> 00:11:03.140 looking over my shoulder the whole time 00:11:03.380 --> 00:11:12.630 constantly. This is a long time ago this is about 1999 and I'm coming from Santa 00:11:12.630 --> 00:11:18.800 Rosa into Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:29.730 So right about here so I started out the morning over here somewhere and then I 00:11:29.730 --> 00:11:37.200 paddled up Santa Rosa and I was able to get up on the bluff on my binoculars and 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.830 look across because you really can't tell when you're that low in the water 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:44.220 what it's the crossing is going to be like so I got up on a bluff with my 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:51.930 binoculars and I looked across and it was brilliant conditions and and then by 00:11:51.930 --> 00:11:56.070 the time I got to the island it started to howl and it was a fight just to get in to 00:11:56.070 --> 00:12:01.650 Cuyler Harbor but then I had three days of bliss out there because weather was 00:12:01.650 --> 00:12:07.760 just phenomenal was beautiful and then on the return it got horrible again and I 00:12:07.760 --> 00:12:12.690 flipped the boat over out there in between the islands and a little bit of a yard 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:25.400 sale ensued. This is a photo I call knowing when to say when and this was 00:12:25.400 --> 00:12:33.030 probably two or three years ago by myself paddling I had already gone 00:12:33.030 --> 00:12:39.810 around the backside of Santa Cruz and Rosa and so this is day three and I was 00:12:39.810 --> 00:12:46.440 looking to go to San Miguel but this is only about three three-mile crossing but 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:50.220 it was pretty treacherous I'm about a quarter mile off the island there, off 00:12:50.220 --> 00:12:58.080 Santa Rosa, and the wind was starting to whip up something fierce. The next day it 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:08.580 was 47 miles an hour and gusting to 60 and so this is the same afternoon I took 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:14.850 that shot the previous shot this is Arlington Canyon on the front side of 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:24.360 Rosa so up here somewhere roundabouts actually it's right inside here because 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:29.510 that's Brockway Point so it's right inside here and 00:13:36.140 --> 00:13:46.830 you can see my kayak right here so that's it's a it's a great spot for a 00:13:46.830 --> 00:13:50.640 lot of reasons this is where they discovered Arlington Man, the oldest 00:13:50.640 --> 00:13:56.940 human remains in North America, so roughly 13,200 year old femurs that 00:13:56.940 --> 00:14:03.570 they found up the canyon here and I could see why whoever that was liked it 00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:07.410 there pulling a water running down into this freshwater estuary before it hits 00:14:07.410 --> 00:14:15.480 the beach and a great lookout but there are a lot of shoals out here and when 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:23.310 the wind the wind whips up and the swell kicks up waves break out here and that's 00:14:23.310 --> 00:14:32.880 what I experienced the next morning. Go ahead? Arlington Canyon? So it was okay 00:14:32.880 --> 00:14:41.839 right then but things started to get rough. This is another trip this is 00:14:41.839 --> 00:14:49.610 getting out of the wind so over here is the ocean to the right of the image I 00:14:49.610 --> 00:14:54.570 that's myself and Craig Fernandez and we were paddling up the backside of Rosa so 00:14:54.570 --> 00:15:03.540 just just before just after let's see west of Cluster Point right around here and 00:15:03.540 --> 00:15:10.170 then between B rock and Cluster Point so right around here we had stayed here 00:15:10.170 --> 00:15:15.149 and once you get around south point you can see whether it's going to be rough 00:15:15.149 --> 00:15:19.290 or not the water gets really dark, get a really good idea what the wind line 00:15:19.290 --> 00:15:27.589 looks like and that's what happened to us we didn't get very far that day so we 00:15:27.589 --> 00:15:33.360 hightailed it to this beach, landed, drug everything over the dune and just stayed 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.930 right there all day against that bluff out of the wind, we're both freezing, 00:15:36.930 --> 00:15:40.730 we're both hypothermic actually. 00:15:43.610 --> 00:15:53.610 Okay so this was a last, year ago last April, and uh my one of the guys I was 00:15:53.610 --> 00:16:03.209 with here this guy here, Will Miller and Patrick O'Hay, they were former they 00:16:03.209 --> 00:16:07.410 were on the national rowing team and Will was in the Olympics in 2012 in 00:16:07.410 --> 00:16:11.519 London and we've been doing some trips together out of the islands and other 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:17.999 places and I knew the day we were going that it was going to be a gale out there 00:16:17.999 --> 00:16:22.709 and they had aspirations of paddling around the islands and so I knew that 00:16:22.709 --> 00:16:29.069 wasn't going to happen as before we left the harbor and they weren't totally 00:16:29.069 --> 00:16:39.329 believing me but they did once we got there. Bechers is over here. And I told 00:16:39.329 --> 00:16:43.739 them when we paddled to the campground which is over here to the left to hug 00:16:43.739 --> 00:16:47.549 the island because once you get on your board you're going to take off like 00:16:47.549 --> 00:16:54.449 you're windsurfing and they almost nearly missed Bechers the beach there 00:16:54.449 --> 00:17:07.339 in here and so here's Will paddling back into the wind a stand-up paddleboard. So 00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:13.559 they're both big strong guys and they were able to pull it off and Island 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:26.909 Packers doesn't allow hardboards so those are both inflatables. (mumbling) sure. No. You can't 00:17:26.909 --> 00:17:31.500 start a fire in the islands anyway, just get in a sleeping bag, get in a tent 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:37.429 and sit in the sun, yeah. 00:17:38.650 --> 00:17:44.740 So this is Will and Patrick again, this is the next day, and this is Cowboy 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:54.760 Arch as it's known and it is right in here somewhere. This is this is 00:17:54.760 --> 00:18:00.910 Carrington right here and Cowboy Arch is in there and it's not an easy place to get 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:08.130 to, luckily it was flat but the wind was up but we were able to get in there and 00:18:08.130 --> 00:18:15.360 we were on our way up to Lobo Canyon and Lobo Canyon is around Carrington and 00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:21.310 it's the first anchorage west. It's not really an anchorage but it is a cove 00:18:21.310 --> 00:18:27.820 and you can get in there and hunker down but it was so cold we couldn't even stay 00:18:27.820 --> 00:18:31.420 there so we had to turn around and come back. Basically it was a gale force wind 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:39.340 with sideways rain and... (mumbling) well our gear is all at the campground at this point and 00:18:39.340 --> 00:18:42.160 we're just doing a day trip because they finally realized that we were not going 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:46.960 to go around the island so we were fortunate just to get as far as we could 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:53.800 at Lobo Canyon. I took a bunch of it on my kayak so they didn't have to because 00:18:53.800 --> 00:18:56.770 I'm it's a lot easier for me to paddle because I'm lower on the water and I 00:18:56.770 --> 00:19:01.990 have all the hatch space and so I took most of the gear, they had some on them 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:10.300 but I had most of it. This is on the way out to Lobo so a bunch of sea lions 00:19:10.300 --> 00:19:17.490 there and they're always curious, this is near a place called Coati Point and 00:19:17.490 --> 00:19:24.520 Coati Point is isn't really show up on this map it's this rocky finger inside 00:19:24.520 --> 00:19:31.600 of Carrington but there's a huge sea lion haul-out there and we were you know 00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:35.410 way off the point but these are all a bunch of youngsters and they're all full of 00:19:35.410 --> 00:19:39.850 themselves and so they like to see what's going on out 00:19:39.850 --> 00:19:53.620 there. All right so uh this is Arlington Canyon and there's a few friends there 00:19:53.620 --> 00:19:59.559 that I didn't know they were going to be there so you can you can see out on the 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:05.169 horizon it's looking pretty nasty this is the day that was blown 47 and gusting 00:20:05.169 --> 00:20:14.620 to 60 and I was basically stuck there and I woke up in the morning and there 00:20:14.620 --> 00:20:25.269 was these four northern elephant seal pups cozying up to the kayak and I was 00:20:25.269 --> 00:20:28.450 trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do because I needed to be at a 00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:32.320 guide meeting in a couple of days and and so it's thinking should I or 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:39.490 shouldn't I go for it and I went for it. And the first attempt I got washed the 00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:47.740 beach and the problem was if you look at the map this is Brockaway Point and so 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:50.919 it was really hard to get off the beach there and the current and the wind was 00:20:50.919 --> 00:20:55.600 moving so fast it was pushing me in to Brockaway Point so I needed to clear 00:20:55.600 --> 00:21:06.669 that to make it around and out and I was having my doubts after I got washed in 00:21:06.669 --> 00:21:11.350 the first time really got hammered I got hit by three or four waves and was on 00:21:11.350 --> 00:21:15.370 the beach before I knew it so I just decided to charge it and go right back 00:21:15.370 --> 00:21:22.029 out and made it outside but between there and Carrington Point I probably 00:21:22.029 --> 00:21:29.679 got launched out of the kayak somewhere between five and ten times. And the 00:21:29.679 --> 00:21:39.340 weather radio was spot on it was calling for seven to eleven foot seas and so the 00:21:39.340 --> 00:21:45.549 interval was really short the troughs were very steep so I got to Carrington 00:21:45.549 --> 00:21:48.630 Point eventually and 00:21:49.149 --> 00:21:57.639 started aiming towards Bechers just to take a break and got near Coati Point 00:21:57.639 --> 00:22:04.029 and I was about a quarter mile off the island and to my left right next to the 00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:10.960 kayak a wave started to suck up and break and then the whole ocean in front of me 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:16.119 started to boil and so there's a lot of rocks and I whipped the kayak around 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:21.219 really quick and took two waves full on back to back and I thought for sure I'm 00:22:21.219 --> 00:22:24.909 coming out of the boat and it's just going to be a mess but somehow I stayed 00:22:24.909 --> 00:22:32.139 in the boat and I said the heck with the break at Bechers and I just went all the 00:22:32.139 --> 00:22:37.239 way across the channel to the west end of Santa Cruz. Came out of the boat 00:22:37.239 --> 00:22:41.289 probably another five or six times especially in the potato patch where it 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:48.059 was really rough. My neck was sore from looking over my shoulder the whole time. 00:22:48.059 --> 00:22:51.789 Had a leash connected to my paddle so that was a good thing I didn't have to 00:22:51.789 --> 00:22:58.389 worry about swimming after a paddle too, just the kayak, and finally touched down 00:22:58.389 --> 00:23:06.299 at Cueva and took a break and then went all the way to Prisoner's so it was like a 00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:19.989 35 + day. no, no I really don't want to be tied to it, I'd rather just swim out it's 00:23:19.989 --> 00:23:26.679 pretty heavy it's not going to get too far away from me no no no it doesn't get 00:23:26.679 --> 00:23:33.399 that far away it's got food and all my you know my tent and sleeping bag and 00:23:33.399 --> 00:23:44.229 pad, all my camera gear and everything else, water. I had a long sleeve short leg 00:23:44.229 --> 00:23:50.399 spring suit on with a spray jacket and that was it, 00:23:53.860 --> 00:24:00.070 nothing on my feet. So this is actually the day before that last picture and 00:24:00.070 --> 00:24:08.090 these were two of my tent mates so there were no animals on the beach and I 00:24:08.090 --> 00:24:12.770 pulled in there right before dark and was pretty tired, pretty stiff, pitched my 00:24:12.770 --> 00:24:18.410 tent, ate, got my sleeping bag and wrapped up and there was a full moon 00:24:18.410 --> 00:24:22.670 that night and I woke up in the middle of the night and I realized that I could 00:24:22.670 --> 00:24:32.570 not roll over on my right or my left and so I had two on my right and one of my 00:24:32.570 --> 00:24:40.340 left and they were making all the noises that they make like yeah all kinds of 00:24:40.340 --> 00:24:47.030 things and they weren't, they were totally fine. What it was amazing was the 00:24:47.030 --> 00:24:52.330 tent didn't collapse because it was bowing in all the way and the poles didn't snap 00:24:52.330 --> 00:24:59.360 and the one of them I don't know which one it was but one of them kept putting 00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:05.420 its face right next to mine just the tent wall was separating us but 00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:12.110 amazingly enough everybody went to sleep I didn't need the sleeping bag, there was 00:25:12.110 --> 00:25:19.280 plenty of insulation and I slept the whole night. In the morning that's when I took 00:25:19.280 --> 00:25:23.750 this picture I unzipped the tent and these two were right there in the entrance so 00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:30.410 I went out the back and then there was probably 50 of them frolicking out in 00:25:30.410 --> 00:25:35.200 the water, a lot of first year pups, they don't make that migration back to Alaska, 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:40.460 they're not strong enough so they stay put and that's what these they're called 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:47.570 wieners that's what they were doing so very sweet looking teary-eyed puppy dog 00:25:47.570 --> 00:25:57.980 faces and they didn't mind hanging out with me. Well kayaking out to the islands 00:25:57.980 --> 00:26:00.320 wouldn't be the same without these little rascals. 00:26:00.320 --> 00:26:07.370 They get into everything, the island fox, they inspect every kayak out, 00:26:07.370 --> 00:26:12.740 this is at the kayak site at Scorpion Anchorage, if anybody anybody doesn't 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:18.409 know where that is, that's it right there. That's the most visited spot on the 00:26:18.409 --> 00:26:25.009 islands and so the foxes are very used to people and we're trying still to get 00:26:25.009 --> 00:26:30.350 used to them. They get into everything so he's this one's looking for food 00:26:30.350 --> 00:26:35.360 obviously. Yeah that's what a lot of people say, they're only about three or four 00:26:35.360 --> 00:26:41.559 pounds full size they've been on the endangered species list since 2004 but 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:47.500 thinking they're going to come off the endangered species list pretty soon here. 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:51.230 Carrying capacity is still unknown there's about 2500 of 00:26:51.230 --> 00:26:56.509 them out on Santa Cruz alone and they're flourishing out there even though we're 00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:02.029 experiencing a drought and right now there are a lot of foxes out there they 00:27:02.029 --> 00:27:13.850 are into everything. Unfortunately they're omnivorous so out on the island 00:27:13.850 --> 00:27:17.360 they're supposed to eat crickets and mice and land birds and reptiles and 00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:24.460 things like that but unfortunately people are careless and guides included. 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:34.629 They get they're smart they're crafty and they're fast. Nothing now. 00:27:34.629 --> 00:27:40.669 Here's an island fox doing a little dumpster diving at the kayak site, have 00:27:40.669 --> 00:27:44.059 no idea why it was going in the box there wasn't any food in there but it needed 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:46.669 to go in there and check things out, this is like its third attempt we kept 00:27:46.669 --> 00:27:51.220 chasing it out and it kept jumping out of there. 00:27:55.430 --> 00:28:00.860 And this kind of shows you it gives you an example of how nimble, how cat-like 00:28:00.860 --> 00:28:06.970 they are, this is an old fig tree in the back end of the lower campground behind 00:28:06.970 --> 00:28:12.890 the guide site we have our own camp site out there and last fall there was 00:28:12.890 --> 00:28:21.520 heaps of figs so these branches aren't real strong it's a quite a balancing act 00:28:21.520 --> 00:28:28.210 but they have no problem weaving in between the branches and getting to the 00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:33.440 choice is fruit; there was also a lot of birds in there too is a great 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:42.500 bird-watching spot last fall. There's a guide hard-working, that's Tam Loren 00:28:42.500 --> 00:28:46.700 Chase he's one of the guys for Channel Islands Outfitters and like I said 00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:56.210 the foxes they come right up to you they're always curious. This photo I 00:28:56.210 --> 00:29:07.880 call the blob this is Potato Harbor and it's right about here on the map, 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:14.750 it's in the marine protected area just like Scorpion Anchorage is and that's my 00:29:14.750 --> 00:29:17.930 friend Craig Fernandez and I we were coming back down we're just about 00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:23.480 finishing a trip coming down Santa Cruz from Prisoner's and we pulled in there 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:29.900 just because it's one of the prettiest places out on the islands I think and we 00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:34.520 hit the beach and I noticed this bait ball of fish that was forming in the back 00:29:34.520 --> 00:29:39.980 end of the beach there and so I told Craig to just ease his kayak out there and 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:46.010 see what happens, see if they congregate around you and sure enough this bait 00:29:46.010 --> 00:29:55.970 ball kind of formed around him and his kayak. I don't know silver fish or 00:29:55.970 --> 00:30:05.420 minnows I don't know. This is also at Potato Harbor this is during a trip that 00:30:05.420 --> 00:30:08.916 I was leading I had these four girls from Taiwan 00:30:08.916 --> 00:30:13.869 and we're sitting at a little lunch spot right here that we made with 00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:20.950 driftwood and we're sitting there, eating, talking, and this juvenile brown pelican 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:26.739 just flew in maybe just two or three feet in front of us and landed right 00:30:26.739 --> 00:30:29.679 there and the girls were freaking out they thought that it was going to attack 00:30:29.679 --> 00:30:34.749 them and take their food and and I was like no it's just sometimes they 00:30:34.749 --> 00:30:39.369 get a little confused when they're growing up when they're trying to figure 00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:45.519 things out out there and so the bird just sat there and then I went over and 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:51.279 sat next to it and it was just sitting there and then I started stroking its 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:55.629 breast and then I started scratching his head and his head flopped back and he 00:30:55.629 --> 00:31:01.179 took a nap and so the girls were going crazy they were filming all this and 00:31:01.179 --> 00:31:09.099 they started calling me the Pelican Whisperer. So when I stopped stroking its 00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:24.460 head and he woke up and he flew away. So this is at dawn let's see here right 00:31:24.460 --> 00:31:31.570 here if you can see that but we're leaving Santa Cruz Island, that's Anacapa 00:31:31.570 --> 00:31:45.479 that's where the sun's coming up and we are where is Santa Barbara Island oh ok. 00:31:47.609 --> 00:32:02.499 Santa Barbara Island is down here so we paddled from here... tell me about it. It's it ended 00:32:02.499 --> 00:32:08.320 up being about 50 miles so that the guy paddling there that's Tony Chapman maybe 00:32:08.320 --> 00:32:14.139 some of you know him he's been a guide islands for a long time, close to 30 00:32:14.139 --> 00:32:21.570 years at least and Tony asked me about 00:32:21.659 --> 00:32:26.679 maybe a year and a half, year nine months ago, to paddle with him 00:32:26.679 --> 00:32:32.860 to Santa Barbara Island and I told him I would do it and so we had a plan laid 00:32:32.860 --> 00:32:38.610 out we were going to leave at three in the morning and start our paddle across 00:32:38.610 --> 00:32:43.899 and but then we found out there was live fire exercises going on and so we had to 00:32:43.899 --> 00:32:49.419 wait until six o'clock in the morning and let them finish and so Tony said he 00:32:49.419 --> 00:32:56.519 would take care of the navigation portion of the trip and I agreed I 00:32:56.519 --> 00:33:02.230 trusted his experience being a guide for such a long time but as soon as we got 00:33:02.230 --> 00:33:07.330 out there between Santa Cruz and Anacapa I started having some reservations about 00:33:07.330 --> 00:33:12.399 the direction that we were taking. I've been to Santa Barbara 00:33:12.399 --> 00:33:17.679 Island lots of times so I didn't feel right and I kept asking him along the 00:33:17.679 --> 00:33:21.909 way, hey are you sure, are you sure? cuz I don't know something doesn't feel 00:33:21.909 --> 00:33:26.559 quite right and he was reassuring me yeah we're going in the right direction and I was 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:31.809 like okay okay. So about seven hours of paddling I could still see Santa Cruz 00:33:31.809 --> 00:33:38.019 over my right shoulder and now I was getting really worried and so I said 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:44.620 Tony let's uh let's go have a talk with the navy vessel captain or the tugboat 00:33:44.620 --> 00:33:48.490 captain that was pulling the targets they were still out there and so the 00:33:48.490 --> 00:33:53.019 navy vessel was way off too far away we couldn't hail him but we got the guy the 00:33:53.019 --> 00:33:59.409 captain on the tugboat and he told us we were heading to too steep we were 00:33:59.409 --> 00:34:03.970 heading to far southwest when we're heading south enough so we were actually 00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:10.960 heading towards San Nicolas island which is about 60 miles off the coast and he 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:14.290 told us we needed to be heading and we were going about 147 we need to be going 00:34:14.290 --> 00:34:21.399 at 126 and that was the direction we needed to go so we we were both maybe a 00:34:21.399 --> 00:34:24.669 little deflated it was about one o'clock in the afternoon and then I asked the 00:34:24.669 --> 00:34:31.810 captain how many miles more do we need to go and he said 26 and I was like okay 00:34:31.810 --> 00:34:34.960 we got to get moving here because it's going to get dark. 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:41.230 And we had already told the Ranger on Santa Cruz that we were planning on 00:34:41.230 --> 00:34:48.599 being to Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Island at 6pm we weren't even close. So 00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:53.560 off we went I started paddling faster and I thought Tony was going to be able 00:34:53.560 --> 00:35:03.130 to do the same and I kept having to stop and wait and then I had to get the nerve 00:35:03.130 --> 00:35:10.560 to ask him if I could put him on tow so I could at least paddle at my own pace and he 00:35:10.560 --> 00:35:16.690 agreed maybe a little reluctantly but I was glad that he let me do that and so that 00:35:16.690 --> 00:35:26.710 was about five o'clock in the afternoon and about six o'clock it got dark and I 00:35:26.710 --> 00:35:32.380 had my wetsuit on up to my waist and I just peeled up the rest and was fine and 00:35:32.380 --> 00:35:35.560 I had to help Tony get into his he had his trunks on but he was sitting on his 00:35:35.560 --> 00:35:40.060 wet suit pants so I had to help him get into those because he was pretty stiff at 00:35:40.060 --> 00:35:49.930 this point. Tony's probably he's Tony 77 now so then he was about 75 and so I had 00:35:49.930 --> 00:35:55.060 him on tow and we're going and now we're in the right direction but really didn't 00:35:55.060 --> 00:35:59.440 have any reference point as to where we were going and but then the moon popped 00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:04.720 up the east and it was a nice bright moon you couldn't see the mainland for a 00:36:04.720 --> 00:36:10.810 long time it was really hazy we were way out there and then and then it got real 00:36:10.810 --> 00:36:16.540 dark and there was a star in the south and Tony said if you stay on that star 00:36:16.540 --> 00:36:22.599 that's right where we need to go and so we continued on and I kept keeping an eye 00:36:22.599 --> 00:36:27.520 out for the beacon that's on Santa Barbara Island and I kept it was kind of 00:36:27.520 --> 00:36:30.760 like being out in the desert where you see things that are not really there and I 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:34.230 kept thought I was seeing a light Oh 00:36:34.859 --> 00:36:40.810 kept thought I was seeing a light and it would be there and then and then there 00:36:40.810 --> 00:36:44.950 was nothing and then I would see it again and then there was nothing and I 00:36:44.950 --> 00:36:53.880 was going oh well I'm going cuckoo, tired, hungry, and then about eight 00:36:53.880 --> 00:37:00.329 o'clock at night I felt Tony's line goes slack behind me and I thought it had 00:37:00.329 --> 00:37:08.339 snapped and he came up behind me and he said it just came untied and he needed 00:37:08.339 --> 00:37:13.470 to retie it and so while he was doing that I didn't realize that he didn't 00:37:13.470 --> 00:37:19.410 have a leash on his paddle and while he was retying it he dropped the paddle in 00:37:19.410 --> 00:37:23.670 the water and it was gone it was a you know black shaft with dark red blades 00:37:23.670 --> 00:37:31.160 and so right when I was about to lose my mind I turned and looked and I saw 00:37:31.160 --> 00:37:40.589 Sutil Island which is this this big giant rock outcropping just southwest 00:37:40.589 --> 00:37:47.940 I'd say it's about an eighth of a mile off Santa Barbara Island and that's what 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:52.380 I was looking at and but I couldn't see Santa Barbara Island it was covered in 00:37:52.380 --> 00:37:59.849 fog and I was looking for the beacon and so I was asking him, are you seeing what 00:37:59.849 --> 00:38:05.700 I'm seeing, because we were still about eight miles away and he says no I don't 00:38:05.700 --> 00:38:09.660 see anything and I was like Tony you've been spotting dimes on the water all day 00:38:09.660 --> 00:38:13.640 today you, don't telling me you don't see this and then he saw it and 00:38:13.640 --> 00:38:18.900 and then we were both very you know relieved and happy and all that and 00:38:18.900 --> 00:38:22.950 while we're paddling you know we could hear the rangers on Santa Cruz and the 00:38:22.950 --> 00:38:26.539 seabird biologists on Santa Barbara Island they were really concerned for 00:38:26.539 --> 00:38:35.430 obvious reasons. And so I when we figured out we were there and we saw the island 00:38:35.430 --> 00:38:39.950 and the fog moving around and I saw the beacon I was like okay I can do this 00:38:39.950 --> 00:38:51.329 last eight miles with him with no paddle, go ahead? (mumbling) yeah we're low on the water we 00:38:51.329 --> 00:38:57.240 could hear them they couldn't hear us we tried them eventually we did reach a 00:38:57.240 --> 00:39:00.150 boat we don't know where it was but they relayed a message 00:39:00.150 --> 00:39:06.390 to Santa Barbara Island and so it took me another two and a half hours to paddle 00:39:06.390 --> 00:39:12.420 that eight miles so it ended up being about a 50 mile day 17 hours on the 00:39:12.420 --> 00:39:18.750 water and six hours of towing in the last two and a half hours with no paddle 00:39:18.750 --> 00:39:28.980 for Tony. (mumbling) he had the compass he had the compass and we were using that star 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:38.849 that southerly star. No. So the seabird biologists were terrific they were right 00:39:38.849 --> 00:39:42.359 there at the dock there's a landing dock there there's no beach there there's no 00:39:42.359 --> 00:39:47.190 beaches on Santa Barbara Island so Tony and I were pretty stiff when we got up the 00:39:47.190 --> 00:39:51.869 ladder, I had to help Tony up the ladder and they were kind enough to let us 00:39:51.869 --> 00:39:56.960 sleep in the bunkhouse, we didn't have to pitch tents or anything at midnight. I 00:39:56.960 --> 00:40:00.599 got pretty early next morning made Tony get up so we could paddle around 00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:09.569 the island so I could take pictures. He was he was uh he complied he was a good 00:40:09.569 --> 00:40:17.190 sport and uh that's Tony out there on a lunch break don't ask me where we just 00:40:17.190 --> 00:40:21.260 out there somewhere between the islands. 00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:26.779 That's long before he lost the paddle. (mumbling) 00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:34.349 Right, there's two kayaks on the dock and there's a little boat house there and so 00:40:34.349 --> 00:40:38.430 they have paddles there and we just borrowed one but this is during the 00:40:38.430 --> 00:40:56.910 paddle this is midday and we're getting lunch. (mumbling) sure, that's right, it's a good job. (mumbling) No, 00:40:56.910 --> 00:41:01.170 we borrowed a paddle to go around the island and then in the next that day was 00:41:01.170 --> 00:41:05.010 Island Packers' last day to come out to Santa Barbara Island and that's what we 00:41:05.010 --> 00:41:13.170 took in to the harbor. We didn't paddle back but I will say if I didn't see 00:41:13.170 --> 00:41:16.440 Santa Barbara Island by 10pm I was going for the coast that 00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:21.840 was my only choice so that would have been probably a 90-mile day and I 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:25.710 wouldn't have got there until the next day obviously if I had been fortunate 00:41:25.710 --> 00:41:30.840 enough I was pretty tired at that point. So this is Sutil Island, this is just off 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:36.980 Santa Barbara Island and there's uh there's Tony being a good sport right there and 00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:41.610 we paddled around the island which is beautiful, it's it's Santa Barbara Island is only one 00:41:41.610 --> 00:41:46.260 square mile, it only takes you know an hour and a half to two hours to paddle 00:41:46.260 --> 00:41:54.270 all around it. And there's Tony sea lion rookery there is amazing it's arguably 00:41:54.270 --> 00:42:02.610 one of the most entertaining rookeries there's thousands of them on the on the 00:42:02.610 --> 00:42:09.869 south side or the southeast side of the island. So that's a this is on the 00:42:09.869 --> 00:42:14.040 southeast side on so there's a blowhole there that works like a fire hydrant when 00:42:14.040 --> 00:42:17.670 the swell is running and there's a good south swell running and so the sea lions 00:42:17.670 --> 00:42:21.240 come and go they kind of use it to cool off in get up there on the bluff and 00:42:21.240 --> 00:42:25.500 they bask in the sun and then they come down and they wait for the blowhole to 00:42:25.500 --> 00:42:34.290 fire off and it blows it fires off all day when there's a swell like that. I think 00:42:34.290 --> 00:42:36.680 that's it. 00:42:44.530 --> 00:42:48.350 So if you guys have any questions I'll... Yeah we're gonna open up for a 00:42:48.350 --> 00:42:52.130 question-and-answer period again just wait till I bring the mic to you, I know 00:42:52.130 --> 00:42:55.160 it was a little bit of a different thing during the talk but just wait until I bring 00:42:55.160 --> 00:43:01.820 the mic to you and then ask your question. What do you have against having 00:43:01.820 --> 00:43:10.360 a GPS? It's kind of the same thing with my film camera, I don't use digital so... 00:43:10.360 --> 00:43:23.090 Using the compass is I don't know like the old school way I guess. I'm curious about 00:43:23.090 --> 00:43:30.020 your selection of a sit-on-top versus a sit-in. Ah good question so I do a lot of 00:43:30.020 --> 00:43:36.730 photography from my kayak and the closed deck boat is rather restricting; 00:43:36.730 --> 00:43:42.740 sit-on-top I can move around in it, I can move all over it if I want to, so I just 00:43:42.740 --> 00:43:47.510 keep my camera gear in my lap in a dry bag, I don't use a housing, I just throw a 00:43:47.510 --> 00:43:51.080 leg over either side of the kayak and that also enables me to stabilize the 00:43:51.080 --> 00:43:56.750 boat that much more especially when it's windy out, some of those shots you can 00:43:56.750 --> 00:44:03.920 tell I took in the chop and so to sit on top it's just more I feel like I'm in 00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:13.760 more control. You in Arlington Canyon you'd mentioned the the freshwater 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:19.220 estuary and I was curious if are there are there spring-fed creeks or is it just run 00:44:19.220 --> 00:44:23.890 off creeks during the winter? There's a lot of springs out there a lot of 00:44:23.890 --> 00:44:31.310 natural natural springs out there. If you know where to go and I do most of the 00:44:31.310 --> 00:44:36.470 spots I don't need to bring much water with me at all even in a drought year 00:44:36.470 --> 00:44:41.960 there's still plenty of water out there. That's a ye, Arlington Canyon that 00:44:41.960 --> 00:44:45.560 spring that's a year-round deal there and there's several other places like 00:44:45.560 --> 00:44:48.100 that too. 00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:54.320 Do you have to notify the Park Service where you're going to go ashore and 00:44:54.320 --> 00:45:00.140 spend the night or can you just stay anywhere on the island? No you can't 00:45:00.140 --> 00:45:05.810 stay anywhere. Santa Cruz Island most of it's owned by the Nature Conservancy and 00:45:05.810 --> 00:45:12.160 they don't want anybody camping on the island but over time I've been able to 00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:17.720 just paddle the whole length of Santa Cruz and then over to Santa Rosa Island 00:45:17.720 --> 00:45:22.670 and Santa Rosa Island certain times of the year allows beach camping at certain 00:45:22.670 --> 00:45:32.690 spots so some of those spots so... this time of the year March through September 00:45:32.690 --> 00:45:37.580 there's no landing, no camping or anything like that at Skunk point because 00:45:37.580 --> 00:45:44.060 of Western snowy plovers and then once you get up here once you get East Point 00:45:44.060 --> 00:45:48.590 you can you can camp there and then along here you can camp and then once 00:45:48.590 --> 00:45:52.490 you get up here you have to pick your spots you're not supposed to camp where 00:45:52.490 --> 00:46:01.430 there are seals and sea lions hauled out and because there's so much overcrowding 00:46:01.430 --> 00:46:05.870 of that out on San Miguel especially northern elephant seals they're starting 00:46:05.870 --> 00:46:13.070 to colonize the backside of Santa Rosa there's a colony at Cluster Point and 00:46:13.070 --> 00:46:22.400 then there's several fingers out here, Sandy Point and there's some nice 00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:28.820 beaches there and they like to haul out in there too. You don't really don't see 00:46:28.820 --> 00:46:33.350 elephant seals much at all on Santa Cruz Island, every now and then you get one 00:46:33.350 --> 00:46:39.200 that's off course and it's usually a youngster when we see maybe one or two a 00:46:39.200 --> 00:46:47.000 year that make it there by accident but San Miguel has a campground and that's a 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:54.100 about a 24 mile paddle to go all the way around the island so that's very doable. 00:46:55.420 --> 00:46:59.840 Yeah when you're paddling out there sooner or later you're going to run into 00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:04.719 some big wind it's just there's just no avoiding it. 00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:16.969 Some trips are better than others. So I kind of have a follow-up to that so if 00:47:16.969 --> 00:47:21.849 you do get in trouble how does the Park Service feel about you taking shelter? Um 00:47:21.849 --> 00:47:28.339 well I don't know how it happened when we had to camp at Frenchy's I let my 00:47:28.339 --> 00:47:33.499 bosses handle it they talked to whoever at the Park Service and they were fine 00:47:33.499 --> 00:47:38.569 with it, I mean they would rather us play it safe, you know, and if it was rough like it 00:47:38.569 --> 00:47:45.410 was it was blowing 47 that day they would rather we pitch it right there on the 00:47:45.410 --> 00:47:48.640 rocks. We didn't pitch any tents or anything we'd slept out we just 00:47:48.640 --> 00:47:54.950 barricaded ourselves in with they kayaks best we could and stay out of the wind so 00:47:54.950 --> 00:48:05.019 they understood I think for the most part. You're obviously a world-class 00:48:05.019 --> 00:48:09.859 athlete most of us they go out to the islands we go for the day and explore 00:48:09.859 --> 00:48:13.700 the sea caves and this kind of stuff; I've assumed that you've been in most 00:48:13.700 --> 00:48:18.140 all of the caves and you probably have some wonderful wonderful pictures of 00:48:18.140 --> 00:48:21.619 those. I do. It was sort of expecting to see more of that today but it was a 00:48:21.619 --> 00:48:28.039 wonderful talk, thank you. Thank you. I've been in a lot of the caves. There's well over 00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:35.989 200 documented sea caves between Anacapa, as small as Anacapa is, there are a lot of 00:48:35.989 --> 00:48:40.279 great caves out there and then of course Santa Cruz. There's nothing on the 00:48:40.279 --> 00:48:45.249 backside not too much maybe one or two but all up along here there are some 00:48:45.249 --> 00:48:52.789 massive grottoes. Got to be really careful especially the further west you 00:48:52.789 --> 00:48:56.239 go you get a lot of exposure up there the wind and swell and you don't want to 00:48:56.239 --> 00:49:04.279 get trapped inside some of those caves, they got some real deep chambers and you really 00:49:04.279 --> 00:49:09.849 have to be on the ball when you're caving. 00:49:13.030 --> 00:49:20.359 Um when you're with the island foxes and can you touch the island foxes? That's a 00:49:20.359 --> 00:49:26.450 good question you shouldn't touch a wild animal a lot of times they come up to 00:49:26.450 --> 00:49:30.950 you, they're not afraid, the Chumash used to keep them as pets, so there is 00:49:30.950 --> 00:49:35.750 something there, there is a connection there. But they will come right up to you, 00:49:35.750 --> 00:49:42.190 I've been lying in my tent and I have all the fox prints to prove it, they 00:49:42.190 --> 00:49:47.690 literally walk right up the wall of the tent and got up in between the rain fly 00:49:47.690 --> 00:49:51.200 and the roof and I'm just lying there looking at them going 'it's just me in 00:49:51.200 --> 00:49:55.910 here' you know there's no food in here but they're so curious and they're so 00:49:55.910 --> 00:49:59.450 adept you know they're so cat-like they literally walk up the wall of a tent 00:49:59.450 --> 00:50:04.369 like we walk up a flight of stairs it's nothing for them. Have you seen any of 00:50:04.369 --> 00:50:11.000 the sea stars coming back the knobby ochre sea stars? That's a good question, have been seeing 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:20.270 a few I've seen a few out on a Scorpion Rock right off the island here, 00:50:20.270 --> 00:50:27.890 Scorpion Anchorage and a few along the way out to Potato Harbor so you know 00:50:27.890 --> 00:50:32.599 within the Marine Protected Area but it isn't a lot it's just a few I would say 00:50:32.599 --> 00:50:43.130 no more than 10 I've seen the last few trips but they seem more visible when the 00:50:43.130 --> 00:50:50.210 tide is really low. I don't know the name of the parasite but a parasite wiped 00:50:50.210 --> 00:50:57.619 them out and it's been a couple years now. Denso Virus, if anyone's curious. Thank 00:50:57.619 --> 00:51:05.560 you. Have.. is this on... 00:51:05.590 --> 00:51:11.420 have you had any encounters with close encounters with whales or sharks out in 00:51:11.420 --> 00:51:19.430 the open sea? I've never seen a great white out there I have had a really cool 00:51:19.430 --> 00:51:28.550 encounter with gray whales paddling from the middle of winter- it was February- I was 00:51:28.550 --> 00:51:34.880 at the campground here and I was on an assignment for Backpacker and I was 00:51:34.880 --> 00:51:39.410 doing these hikes to East Point and Cherry Canyon and I told myself if it 00:51:39.410 --> 00:51:44.600 looked good I was going to go and head home and it was nice and glassy and I 00:51:44.600 --> 00:51:50.060 could see the whales out in the channel and so I paddled, took off, and there was 00:51:50.060 --> 00:51:58.700 two adults with a calf and I didn't approach them they approached me and at 00:51:58.700 --> 00:52:04.490 one point the tail of one of the adults was underneath my kayak and the calf was 00:52:04.490 --> 00:52:08.930 in between the adults and they were basically sunbathing on the surface they 00:52:08.930 --> 00:52:13.310 were there they're really mellow they were just barely rolling on the surface 00:52:13.310 --> 00:52:18.680 and then I just continued on, hit some Risso's dolphins and then headed for the 00:52:18.680 --> 00:52:30.110 coast. Still waiting for that killer whale encounter in the kayak. So what's 00:52:30.110 --> 00:52:35.990 the longest you ever paddled in one stretch, the longest in terms of distance 00:52:35.990 --> 00:52:41.960 and hours? That would have been Santa Cruz Island to Santa Barbara Island. 00:52:41.960 --> 00:52:47.120 Should have been a 42-mile paddle it ended up being about 50 and that was 00:52:47.120 --> 00:52:54.620 about 17 hours. Too long. I do I always wondered about you know the length and 00:52:54.620 --> 00:52:58.520 the time doing that especially with everything that happened and about a 00:52:58.520 --> 00:53:03.380 month after our trip I read an account in Canoe and Kayak Magazine 00:53:03.380 --> 00:53:07.370 about a guy named Matt I'm going to butcher his name its Crieson or Creisen 00:53:07.370 --> 00:53:12.110 and he's a sea kayaker up in a Half Moon Bay and he did the whole 00:53:12.110 --> 00:53:17.990 California coast in 36 days and so he finished a month after our trip 00:53:17.990 --> 00:53:24.710 and in his account he said the hardest stretch or one of the hardest stretches 00:53:24.710 --> 00:53:29.270 of his trip was the stretch from Santa Cruz Island to Santa Barbara Island. It took 00:53:29.270 --> 00:53:37.730 him 15 hours and he was in a closed deck boat 18 and half feet long so he had a 00:53:37.730 --> 00:53:42.560 real sleek boat and he didn't have to tell anybody so I felt a bit better 00:53:42.560 --> 00:53:48.340 after knowing what I endured with Tony and I endured. 00:53:55.490 --> 00:54:06.230 I might have missed it but what do you do when you're not kayaking for fun? Well 00:54:06.230 --> 00:54:12.220 I'm a lifeguard in Carpinteria and I'm a kayak guide out on the islands and then 00:54:12.220 --> 00:54:18.020 I'm also an editor of a surfing/ ocean related magazine called Deep and then I 00:54:18.020 --> 00:54:21.170 do a lot of freelance writing and photography for lots of different 00:54:21.170 --> 00:54:25.240 magazines and newspapers, websites. 00:54:27.250 --> 00:54:30.650 I looked at your kayak and I thought that wouldn't have room for all the food I'd 00:54:30.650 --> 00:54:35.869 want to eat, what kind of food do you bring to pack enough food for these 00:54:35.869 --> 00:54:44.440 extended trips? Um kind of big on dry salami and dry cheese and crackers and 00:54:44.830 --> 00:54:52.820 dried fruits, I like dried mangoes and instant oatmeal, get freeze-dried mangoes 00:54:52.820 --> 00:55:01.520 and bananas and other things and trail mix and there's some good freeze-dried 00:55:01.520 --> 00:55:07.369 meals that a company called Mountain House I believe they're really good they 00:55:07.369 --> 00:55:10.520 taste good I mean it's not one of those things where you have to wait 00:55:10.520 --> 00:55:16.310 you're so hungry that you can enjoy it, it actually it tastes good, so there's 00:55:16.310 --> 00:55:20.780 some good stuff out there actually. I always like to have especially when I 00:55:20.780 --> 00:55:25.990 know I'm going a long ways I like to have a lot of stuff right on my chest so 00:55:25.990 --> 00:55:33.560 pockets in my vest or stuff down between my vest and my chest I like chews and 00:55:33.560 --> 00:55:38.590 things to keep my mouth moist while I'm paddling, something I can just suck on 00:55:38.590 --> 00:55:47.330 and then plenty of fluid so I'll use Emergen-C or some other you know energy 00:55:47.330 --> 00:55:53.750 drink and try not to stop just keep throwing down keep something in my mouth 00:55:53.750 --> 00:56:00.109 and keep moving forward. So like that day I paddled from Rosa back to Carpenteria I 00:56:00.109 --> 00:56:05.600 never stopped because I was a little bit wigged out you know just because of 00:56:05.600 --> 00:56:11.440 great whites and things like that and then of course the ships. Of course 00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:16.750 when you're crossing a channel you know the worst thing is the fog. The first 00:56:16.750 --> 00:56:21.550 time I paddled across the channel I was with three other guys and the fog rolled 00:56:21.550 --> 00:56:26.350 in right about here and everybody wanted to quit and I was like no we're not 00:56:26.350 --> 00:56:35.470 quitting we're going and we got out here just before the shipping lanes and this 00:56:35.470 --> 00:56:39.430 image showed up out on the horizon and it looked just like Anacapa Island, I was 00:56:39.430 --> 00:56:46.930 like oh my gosh look how fast we drifted and you know it was the fog it's just like 00:56:46.930 --> 00:56:52.510 being out in the desert again it was just playing tricks on our mind and we 00:56:52.510 --> 00:56:55.540 were really moving fast I thought well we're really this current was ripping and 00:56:55.540 --> 00:57:00.040 next thing you know here the ship came into view and then there was six more 00:57:00.040 --> 00:57:04.900 like it and the last one we hailed on the radio and he told us exactly where 00:57:04.900 --> 00:57:10.150 we were right eight miles off the middle of Santa Cruz so we didn't see 00:57:10.150 --> 00:57:14.140 the island that day until we were about a mile away it was just talk about monotonous 00:57:14.140 --> 00:57:18.780 paddling in the fog it's just really old. 00:57:19.380 --> 00:57:24.970 So there's a bunch of us here who are sailors and we've been out and about and 00:57:24.970 --> 00:57:31.780 we know how fast it can go from flat water and no wind to 20 miles an hour, 00:57:31.780 --> 00:57:37.240 so what's your worst experience along those lines because you had to have had 00:57:37.240 --> 00:57:43.780 at least one where you thought you were going to die? I don't know if I could 00:57:43.780 --> 00:57:49.000 ever say I thought I was going to die. I thought maybe something could happen 00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:55.750 where I could lose the kayak and I'm gonna have to swim for it but I never think I'm 00:57:55.750 --> 00:58:05.050 gonna die. No. You know, I don't know what to tell you, I just put my head 00:58:05.050 --> 00:58:14.020 down and get it done. Well the biggest stuff there's a guy sitting in the 00:58:14.020 --> 00:58:18.160 audience here his name's Dave Glazier, he's right there, he and I got in some nasty 00:58:18.160 --> 00:58:25.420 stuff. We got stuck and we were on Santa Cruz and uh we were 00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:32.980 out at Fraser Point and we had to get out of there it was going to blow for 00:58:32.980 --> 00:58:39.310 days and I was like we're not staying here we're going and we needed to avoid 00:58:39.310 --> 00:58:47.140 this right here- West Point- and we were right here and so we needed to get out 00:58:47.140 --> 00:58:51.550 and away so we didn't get swept into that cliff because it's it's a 00:58:51.550 --> 00:58:57.420 nasty-looking cliff it's a, it looks like something out of Lord of the Rings and 00:58:57.420 --> 00:59:03.430 so we needed a paddle into the wind, into the potato patch it was about 6 to 00:59:03.430 --> 00:59:09.550 8-foot the surf and uh needed to paddle out and then just make a hard right and then 00:59:09.550 --> 00:59:16.810 just ride it down. That was pretty heavy and then the heaviest stuff I think was 00:59:16.810 --> 00:59:21.760 just that solo paddle around Rosa and then getting trapped at Arlington 00:59:21.760 --> 00:59:26.020 Canyon and and trying to get off the beach. I really had doubts I 00:59:26.020 --> 00:59:29.440 was going to get off the beach, especially after I got washed in the first time and 00:59:29.440 --> 00:59:32.980 stuff was all over the place, I lost a whole bunch of stuff, I found it but I 00:59:32.980 --> 00:59:40.390 had to reattach it and make sure and then just paddle like there's no 00:59:40.390 --> 00:59:45.280 tomorrow. And then again around Carrington and where I almost got 00:59:45.280 --> 00:59:52.720 destroyed at Coati Point I thought I'm gonna take a real beating here and I 00:59:52.720 --> 00:59:56.320 wanted to rest but I was just like I was so freaked out I was like I'm going 00:59:56.320 --> 01:00:00.910 anyway I'm going all the way to Santa Cruz right now I don't care I just 01:00:00.910 --> 01:00:07.480 wanted to get out of that spot it was really a scary spot to be in. Have you 01:00:07.480 --> 01:00:12.040 ever have you ever needed a water purifier for drinking the water out 01:00:12.040 --> 01:00:16.080 there? No I've always just drank it. 01:00:24.520 --> 01:00:30.920 Well thank you everyone for coming tonight let's give another round 01:00:30.920 --> 01:00:34.210 of applause to Chuck here. Thank you.