Anacapa
Gregg
Remer organized this trip, but a shoulder injury on the last practice paddle
kept him from coming. He continued to help us with planning and even showed
up at 4:00 AM on the morning of the launch to help us assess conditions. Above
& beyond the call Gregg! Thanks very much! The team consisted of Geoff, Patrick,
Tim, and myself, all experienced and strong paddlers but none had made the crossing
before. Due to Gregg's injury, I was appointed Focal Point for Decisions, aka
'Leader'. Geoff was planning to camp on the island, and would meet a friend
who took Island Packers over. The rest of us had reservations on the boat back
later that day, but thought we might try paddling round trip if conditions looked
good.
We left Kiddee Beach at 5:15. We expected it to be a four-hour trip. Gregg
was in radio contact with us for the first few miles. Our first waypoint
was Platform Gina, lit up like a Christmas Tree. Sure takes the edge off
navigation. Right out of the Harbor it was 'Green water on deck!" I
thought I hit a boat wake, but no such luck. The swells weren't very big,
maybe 2 + feet, but high frequency made them steep and my bow would plunge
in the troughs. More fun than I like in the dark, I prefer to see what's
coming at me. Tim & Patrick said it was rougher than previous trips to
Gina. It took us an hour & 30 minutes to make the 3.5 miles out there.
Wind was about 10 knots. We rafted up for a go/nogo decision. There was
some concern about how much more conditions might deteriorate. After all,
we left so early precisely to avoid this kind of stuff. We decided to
continue, I thought we might re-assess over the next few miles.
We took off on a 213 degree heading, and the wind picked up another few
knots. There seemed to be a two foot base swell, with winds waves on top,
totaling 2 to 6 feet. We were being blown south, so we added a 30 degree
ferry angle. We saw a ship towing a barge in the Northbound shipping
lane, but she passed before we got there. Southbound was clear. We took
several breaks to check GPS (sorry purists), as we were all very concerned
with just exactly where those shipping lanes were. For awhile I thought
Platform Gail was a big ship bearing down on us, but I was set straight.
The GPS breaks were the only rests we got. Whenever we stopped we were
blown off course and would weathercock all around. Geoff & I were using
our rudders, Tim & Patrick weren't. Didn't seem to make much difference.
At about 6 miles out I got hungry and started to bonk. I had to get a
Cliff bar out from a waist pocket in my sprayskirt, which meant unzipping
my PFD. While I did that I was blown 50+ yards from the group and turned
180 degrees. That was the best Cliff bar I ever tasted and really turned
my energy level around. Note to Self: Keep the food more accessible.
In between the shipping lanes the Island Packers Sunfish came by to check
on us, and we talked on the radio. They are really great guys, and it was
reassuring to know they were watching our back. The kayaking community is
very luck to have an organization like that. Geoff passed on a message to
his friend that our ETA at the dock was 11:00. He was dead on in his
estimate, after a photo stop we entered the dock cove at 11:15. The Island
Packers crew pulled our boats up out of the water for us so we didn't have
to use the Anacapa hoist. Our estimated four hour trip took 6 hours total
of serious effort. Patrick later computed only 12 minutes of rest for the
GPS & radio stops.
Gregg met us back at Kiddee Beach and bought us a round. We all felt we
had pushed ourselves a little past our comfort zones and had an adventure
and a good time, as well as a lesson that the Santa Barbara Channel needs
to be taken very seriously. Thanks again, Gregg, for your organizing and
mentoring.
Anneli
Kyner
Submitted on April 14, 2001