Down Baja

Before we left San Diego, we went out to the HMS Surprise, to have a look.  I've started reading the Patrick O'Brian series, the first of which is called "Master and Commander" and it is really quite a fun time.  I think best when the deck beneath your feet moves on its own.  Better still, should there be guns being run in and out and excercised.  So they made a movie about it a while ago, spent tons of money in making the boat (or rather, re-making the "Rose") and then the movie didn't make enough money so they didn't make more.  Pity.


After that, we turned our sights South.  We made Ensenada in a day, got checked in and sorted, then pushed on south.  After a few overnights we made it to Islas San Benitos, which are beautiful islands, as the name suggests.  There are tons of Elephant seals on the islands, something that I did not see the last time I was there (5 years ago).  Previously, there were Guadalupe Fur Seals, but I guess their lease on the island is only for the autumn, and in the winter blubber trumps.  Blubber and burping croaks.
There are little cacti all over the place, and these wonderful succulents, so I got some shots of the smaller flora and fauna.

We went for a walk up to the lighthouse that probably more of the big container ships of the world see than the rest of Baja, because it is the furthest west point going up the coast, and everyone hugs that point a little bit on their way through.  The new light is on the top of the hill, a square boring building, but the old light was a treasure.  A corroded and broken treasure, to be sure.  We set foot inside to explore.  Up the questionable staircase we went and got to the tower's tip, where Rapunzel probably would be paralized by fear (and Tetanus).  The Fresnel lens from the light is still there, and it rotates around, or would, when the power turns the motor.  Its old glass, but you can tell that it was well made.  People have broken a lot of the windows, but the fresnel is still mostly intact.  A form of reverence for the science of refraction.

We left and went to Isla Cedros, then to Turtle Bay, and to Ascension Bay, and finally to Bahia de Ballenas.  The bay of the whales.  We saw bunches of grey whales migrating and being frisky, and would have liked to watch them further, but the weather turned (after a beautiful sunset) and we fought our way south for three days to Bahia Maria.

Bahia Maria was my favorite place last time down, and I like it still.  Initially I surfed the south side point, and it was HUGE and scary with lots of rocks all over the place.  Kind of heavy, too.  Then the wind shifted and we went to the north side to see the lagoon and the sand dunes and surf the north point.
After a hurried exploration, we left and overnighted to Cabo, catching a Dorado on the way.  The water is 75 degrees and its thunderstorming outside, but soon it will clear up and we'll go across the sea of cortez on our way to Puerto Vallarta.

There are fishermen who are here and they catch sharks in order to ship the fins to China.  If only the sharks could donate a fin or two and then continue to live.  Here is one on the beach looking fierce.  In Cabo, there is a great diving spot that I've been going to, and I've seen a small white-tip reef shark twice there now.  A real cutie.  Sharking is a big thing for Lindsay and for me, and although I am worried about the "Jaws" lurking in the shadows while surfing, I really like to see the sharks out there swimming around and beating up on the jets.  

San Diego

We've arrived at the end of America.  While rounding Point Loma, we found ourselves in Mexican Cell-phone territory, and we could smell the southern land in the SE wind that blew against our long drive from Catalina to here.  The smell of burning plastic and garbage.  Ahhh.  After a great skiing trip in the high elevations of the Rockies and a return to Altair, we are going south once more.  It feels good and also I am nervous.  I like the progress after two months of being stationary.  I'll be here until Tuesday, probably, and then head to Ensenada to cross the border.

Now for the pictures  Here is a Northern Fulmar (I think) that was swimming slowly close to Santa Barbara Island, and I snapped a shot.  Zoom in on the beak and look at that thing!
We went to Two Harbors and saw some of the Bison that live on Catalina.  They were brought in for a movie a long time ago and have remained.  A sort of pitiful little herd, but menacing at the same time.

We left in the middle of the night in order to make the 71 mile trek from the southern tip of Catalina to here, and during my lonely watch I got my camera out and snapped a few pictures.  It was really calm, so this 30 second shot worked well.


Hopefully in a few days we'll be in Mexico with all the political things sorted out, in a few more days.  From then on, its just a matter of wind and water.

Merry Christmas from the Channel Islands

I've been working on another video, this one almost entirely filmed on Santa Cruz Island.  I hope you like it!  We've enjoyed the islands a lot and will be sorry to leave them, but in the new year we'll go on south.

Continued Lingering in SoCal

 We've graduated to the lower class of homelessness, that is, taking showers outside.  Specifically in the outside shower at UCSB.  They have a nice campus and lots of nice things, like outside showers near the dorms, so the students who go surfing or to the beach can wash the salt off.  Lindsay took a shower there for Thanksgiving, when no-one was around, and also she had clothes on (or a swimsuit).  I guess there are still steps we could take downwards. 
After Turkey Day, which we didn't get any turkey of the sea, we headed back out to Santa Cruz Island in order to avoid the wrath of a storm that lashed the area.  It blew winds from the south and we needed to find a coastline that faced some other direction.  We went looking on the north side of SC island and found some sweet caves.  There is the "Painted Cave" that we learned is 1200 ft long, going into the bowels of the island.  There isn't a good spot to anchor near that so we went a bit east and found a nice little cove with some small caves and a tasty sheepshead and some waterfalls.  It was a fun little trip.
Since coming back, we've been surfing some more.  The most notable news is that Lindsay is beginning to like it.  Before she was humoring me with her presence in the waves, paddling after some, catching a few, and for some reason, unable to stand up and get balanced.  Yesterday she stood up and came slicing along the line of the wave, and an irresistible grin began to spread across her face.  The hook was set.  Now she can be found catching tons of waves and standing up and carving across the faces of many.  One small step for woman, but a giant leap for the trip.  I was worried earlier that I would want to surf all the time and she would hate it.

 There was another sailboat there and they found a shell on the beach that was most interesting.  I think it is a Nautalis (however you spell it).

Santa Cruz Island visit number 1

 We headed out to Santa Cruz island in order to see foxes, and we did.  The island Foxes live all over the island, but mostly they hang out in Scorpion Cove, and that is where we found them.  On the way over we were pummeled by high winds and big seas, and saw a Minke Whale breaching, but didn't get any pictures on account of the weather.
After Scorpion, we went around to the south side of the island, to Smuggler's Cove.  I'd been here before but not really explored the shoreline very well, and Lindsay showed me a neat canyon that extended into the hills a ways.  We set off in search of adventure and wound our way into the canyon lands.  We had both just finished reading "Desert Solitare" by Edward Abbey, a book about Arches National Park and the area around it.  I was really reminded of the southwest by the cliffs and the deep gulches.  There were lots of birds in the canyon and we even found some pools of water.  Puddles, really.
As we got back to the boat a choppy sea was building from the east, so we hauled up the anchor and took off in search of shelter.  There are tons of great places to visit on the south side of Santa Cruz Island, and as we sailed along looking at each in turn I thought it would be a great place to spend more time.  We'll be going back tomorrow.
We snorkeled at about 5 different places and saw a bunch of really cool things, with reasonably good visibility.  There is this antler kelp stuff that looks like bull kelp from the Northwest, but after the bulb it splits into two anters and looks kind of reindeerish.  We also saw the biggest lobster I've ever seen, caught in a trap.  Then, we scooted around the west end and back to Goleta.  We got a few looks at more common dolphins and some Risso's dolphins as well, but no more big whales.  Maybe next time.

 We also saw some monsters.....
its amazing how many dead things there are on the beaches.  I wonder if it is from the black tar tide or just that there aren't enough scavengers to pick it all over quickly.  There is a lot of life out there, though.  Despite the amount of death.

 Here's my little skiff, the walker bay 8.

The first week back in the water!

 We've become sailors again.  We set back in the water on Friday, a week ago, and then promptly left on Saturday to go out to Santa Cruz Island.  I've been through these islands before, but in a rush, so this was going to be a nice slow trip.  But the weather wasn't quite on board with that plan, so as we crossed the big channel, the winds began to pick up and shift against us.  Soon we were beating into heavy seas and fairly strong winds, reminding Lindsay why she doesn't like sailing.  We anchored on the West point of Santa Cruz island and set about checking out the local flora and fauna.  Dead things on the beach was the first priority.
After Dead things is things where you can't really say how or in what classification they live.  A lichen would do nicely.  Is it really alive?  I like this one because it has such tree-like tendencies.

 Then plants.  I love the cacti, of course, and this one prickled nicely.

 Then the local animals.  This was about 4 ft tall, and the owner must have let him off his leash for a moment too long and he hopped away!  I like these little sand hoppers.

 Now, on to the birds.  We saw a Red-Footed Booby!  I've seen these before, about 900 miles southeast of here, but I didn't know they went this far north!  I think this one was resting before going back south. 

 This is a mystery bird, I guess I need to look it up in the book, but there are tons of these shearwater/petrel things all over the place, eating krill, no doubt. 

 We went to Santa Rosa Island next, then to San Miguel, and found ourselves near some giants.  The Elephant Seals!  I love how human they are, with sneezing and expressions and their scratchy noses.  Lindsay told me that they are her spirit animal, because of the farting noises and general snoozy behavior they have. 

 Again, the little tree that I cannot ID, out on San Miguel.  I love the thing but I don't know what it is.  Little and beaten by the winds.

 We went back to Santa Rosa and went birdwatching.  And found some Snowy Plovers!

 And Perigrine Falcons!

 The Falcons are excellent at their work, and some of their kills showed up in the tide line, monsters from the deep underworld, with teeth and jaws and tentacles?   These are actually Sea Lions, probably killed by sharks.  An interesting story about sharks....  Lindsay and I went diving and I brought my spear gun, on the south side of Santa Rosa Island.  I shot a nice California Sheepshead, and then got out of the water.  Lindsay opted to stay in for a bit longer and after about 10 minutes it took to clean the fish and dispose of the remains, she turns around to find a shark 5 ft away from her and looking her in the eye.  I hear a squealing and the fin of the shark for a second, then it dives, goes under her and off in search of the fish.  She comes back to the boat and gets out post-haste, and we haven't gone back in the water since.  Hopefully the fear will pass.  

 I've never seen a Sand Dollar like this before, have you?

 Again with the snowy plovers.  I love their little-ness. 

 And Altair cozy up and anchored away.   We'll spend a few days here in Goleta, next to the UCSB campus and surf a bunch before going back out to the islands again.