Grand Slam Completed
With the rounding of Point Conception on 8/10/02, I completed what I am calling "The Southern California Sea Kayaking Grand Slam." This accomplishment consisted of paddling the entire coast of Southern California (Point Conception to the Mexican border), circumnavigating the six publicly accessible Channel Islands (Catalina, Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel), and crossing to these six Channel Islands. The quest began in 1999 and was completed piecemeal.

I would like to give special thanks to the friends who accompanied me on large parts of the Grand Slam. They are ( in order of highest mileage first) Jim Gabriel, Bryant Burkhardt, Pedro Frigola, George Miller, and Dave O'Connor. Many other friends accompanied me on smaller parts, and I would like to thank them too, but they are too many to list. By far the most satisfying part of the trips was being with friends.

A map showing the routes I took to complete the Grand Slam is at www.geocities.com/strosaker/amap.html.

    Duane Strosaker Pirate Sea Kayaker

Submitted on August 12, 2002