Sunday Paddle
Seven folks had said they were coming but we launched promptly at 09:00 with
just 3 of us. The sun was shining, the water clear and no wind. That made it
easy to make a change of plans. Anchored just west of Butterfly Beach about
"3/4 mile" off the coast was a US Navy vessel. We had to go take a look. As
we approached we noticed the armed sailors patrolling the deck. The ship
itself appears to be a sub chaser with racks and tubes for depth charges. We
took a few photos, paddled around it the ship and then headed east towards Carpenteria.
We were quite a bit off shore and the water was flat (and kinda boring, if you
really want to know). Somewhere near Summerland we ran into the kelp beds and
were stared at by a whole group of seals. We continued to about 1/2 mile west
of Santa Clause Lane and beached for a bit, had a snack, petted the local
canine beggars and launched again heading back towards Butterfly Beach. Just
prior to launch we had a dolphin cross our path just outside the small breakers.
We continued along the coast seeing the seals again. At one point we ran
across a dolphin just laying on the surface. We approached slowly to see if
he/she were alive when a loud noise emanated from the blow hole and the
dolphin took off to surface a few yards away to continue his/her sunbathing.
We made beautiful landings at Butterfly at about 14:00.
Beautiful day, clear water, sunshine--a wonderful way to spend the day.
Mike Brown
Submitted on August 19, 2001