Gaviota To Coho Bay
Paul Roggensack, from Sacramento, and I did this paddle as a practice for the
Labor Day Outer Channel Islands Grand Tour, and to check out our launch site
for that trip. Gaviota is a nice little pocket beach, about 32 miles
northwest of Santa Barbara, on the 101, right where it leaves the coast and
heads north into the hills. Coho Bay is east of Government Point, in the
Point Conception area. This trip is a subset of Tour SB2 in our own local son
Rob Mohle's famous book, Adventure Kayaking-- Trips from Big Sur to San
Diego. This guy really gets around. His books tell you things you can't find
in any other guide, chart, topo map or the Coast Pilot.
After a late start and a longer drive than we thought, we finally arrived at
Gaviota, chatted with George S., the knowledgeable lifeguard, to learn more
about the area, then launched at about 0940, in fairly calm conditions, with
an occasionally big breaker to keep us on our toes.
We ducked under the pier, dodging fishing lines, then headed north, up the
coast, Paul in his Necky Tesla and I, in my trusty Perception Eclipse. Paul,
you may recall, was one of the stars of the 14 January "Salt Point Saga" (see
trip report on the web site). This trip, thankfully, was far less eventful.
Visibility gradually opened up as the sun came out, revealing more of the
beautiful coast and the oil platforms offshore. We saw several sea lions and
a possible sea otter, bolder than the ones in our home waters to the south.
The browning hills harbored comfortable looking luxury homes along the few
private roads, looking down on the railroad line, trestles, the Pacific and
us, below. Several lumbering freight trains passed by on our trip up the coast.
As we proceeded, the wind picked up. After about three or four miles, we
heard a distant booming beat, sounding just like a car sitting at a traffic
light with boom boxes going, turning the driver's brain to mush. We had no
idea what could be causing it, until we approached a point and saw some huge
white tents up on a hill. As we got closer, we saw many people and noticed a
large bandstand with huge speakers pointed in our direction, pounding out a
rockabilly staccato cocktail to seafarers and other creatures. Overcome with
curiosity, we landed among throngs of beachgoers, to learn that we were at
Hollister Ranch Beach and that this was their annual "hoedown" --
YeeeeeeeeHaa! After looking around for a few minutes, we decided that we
preferred a sailor's life and put to sea again.
Paul spotted a large oil tank, our chosen destination, and estimated two
miles to go, which turned out to be five. Crossing a cove (little Coho
Bay), about 2 NM before reaching Coho Bay, we saw a large trawler anchored
south of Government point. We encountered a confluence of strong winds
coming down out of the canyons, competing with the prevailing westerlies, for
a combined, confused 20+kts across the cove. The waves were all ripped up and
we got bounced around a lot. As we approached the tank, increasing headwinds
slowed us to fewer than two knots. Up until then, we had averaged about 3.8
kts, on the GPS. Since it was getting late, we decided to eat a quick lunch
at sea and head back, even though we wanted to visit Government Point and see
Point Conception, to the north.
By this time, the sea was frothy with breaking wind waves up to 3'. We
paddled back, making about 4 kts initially, but slowed down as the wind waves
slammed us repeatedly crosswise, forcing us into serpentine paths. The
canyon winds were pushing us from the port side and the wind was behind us
and a little to starboard. I was glad to have a strong paddling partner.
I thought I saw a good sized, "Portuguese Man of War" (jellyfish), with red,
gray and white coloration, ahead to starboard. I altered course and pulled
over to see a stubby shark-like fish that appeared dead, one dorsal above the
surface. When I tried to scoop it up with my paddle, to my surprise, it
suddenly revived and thrashed out of reach. In the brief time that I
stopped, Paul traveled too far away to enjoy the show.
As we headed south, the tailwinds gradually subsided, but the canyon winds
gusted intermittently, while the wind waves grew taller and nastier. For a
while, we slowed to about 2.5 kts. We passed by the hoedown again, which was
now reaching a crescendo. The beach was crowded and several kayaks frolicked
behind the protected point. We saw at least a dozen mostly small boats out
fishing. As far as I know, the only launch point in the area is the hoist on
the Gaviota Pier, so I was surprised to see that many.
We passed under the pier a little after 1600 and signaled the lifeguard that
we wished to land. George S. was off duty, but still hanging around an hour
later, while another guy took over the watch. He smartly cleared the beach
in short order. We landed at about 1605 in growing sets, one of which caught
Paul napping and rolled him right over, dumping boat and contents
unceremoniously into the foaming brine. I was in the process of unloading and
looked up to hear a commotion. The lifeguard grabbed Paul's boat smartly,
while a bevy of bikini clad beach beauties came to Paul's rescue and scooped
up all of his spilled goodies. Paul, you may remember, was the only paddler
to remain unscathed in the Salt Point Saga, so it was funny to see him
tripped up by something that was a mere ripple, by his standards.
So, we wearily packed up, rinsed off, and headed back to Oak Park for a
relaxing dinner provided by Carol and a walk in a park in the Simi Hills
behind the house. According to my GPS and "Ocean Navigator" software, we
covered over 22 miles. We arose early the next morning and hauled kayaks,
gear and Carol off to Channel Islands Harbor to participate in the hugely
successful rescue practice, sponsored by Mike Brown, John Ernst and Peter
O'Sullivan. Thanks, guys!
George Miller
Submitted on August 13, 2001