Day One

At the ungodly hour of 5 am we prepped for a 6am launch from Cabrilo. The surf was small and from all weather reports we anticipated a smooth crossing. However Neptune had other plans, about an hour out into our 7 hour crossing we started encountering head winds and choppy seas. The head winds were never significant but the "chop" increased and it was a fairly rough crossing.

Despite the seas it was a great paddle and I felt that I had really accomplished something as we landed at Two Harbors. Upon landing I noticed some trouble with my skeg, after a few quick adjustments I thought I had it fixed. Unfortunately I didn't have it fixed and the failure would be an omen of several other equipment failures I was to experience on the trip.

Day 2

We moved from the Two Harbor's campground on the front side of the island to Little Harbor on the backside. I was looking forward to the 14nm paddle around the west end of the island, but I would do it alone since Duane had brought along a kayak cart and he and Joe decided to portage their kayaks across ½ mile isthmus between the mainland side of the island and the ocean side of the island where Little Harbor is located.

The seas where still choppy but I really enjoyed a leisurely and scenic paddle round the west end. The area at the western tip was especially scenic. However the equipment carnage continued for me. First the skeg jammed up on the launch and I did the trip without a skeg. I thought about landing to try and fix it but I was paddling pretty slowly (about 3kt's) and even with the choppy seas the boat kept a fairly straight with little weather cocking. Second, the clip on the waterproof bag that holds my VHF radio broke and somewhere between Two Harbors and Little Harbor my radio went over board. So along George Miller's GPS Neptune now has my VHF radio. Now all he or she needs is a kayak, a paddle, a PFD and a sprayskirt.

Day 3

This was the day of Duane's trip San Clemente Island. Joe and I got up early to watch Duane launch. We were rewarded for our early morning by seeing some buffalo on an early morning stroll on the bluffs above our campground. After breakfast we decided to make the several mile hike to Two Harbors for lunch and a few draft beers. The hike was fairly mild, but the views were good and the bar in Two Harbors makes a great cheeseburger. We both opted to take the bus shuttle back to Little Harbor and I went for a late afternoon snorkel dive. Shortly after dinner Duane returned from San Clemente and we listen to tales of conquering the open sea around a warm campfire.

Day 4

Since I had already conquered the west end of the island I decided to tackle the east end of the island. I tried to get Duane and Joe to join me but Joe planed to take a shuttle bus to Avalon and Duane opted for a rest day in camp after his feat of the prior day. Joe and I had unjammed the skeg and although it was not necessarily smooth it was working fairly well. So off I went at 6 am to paddle from Little Harbor to Two Harbors. a trip of about 27 nautical miles (NM).

Duane lent me his kayak cart and I planed to portage my kayak from Little Harbor across the isthmus and make the 3nm mile paddle from there back to Little Harbor. Duane was not kidding about the big steep swells that he faced the previous day. They were quartering my from my starboard stern. The swells were probably about six to eight foot, but they seemed closer to 12 to 15 from the deck of my boat. However, I knew from weather reports that the swell would dissipate later in the day and more importantly once I passed China point I would be protected by the island for the rest of my journey.

The skeg worked well and even with the big seas it was a great trip, this part of the island is beautiful especially the cliffs. While the ocean did calm down once I passed China point it was still choppy until I passed the east end of the island and started paddling back on the mainland side. As I paddled into Avalon bay I raised my skeg before landing to enjoy some well earned refreshments.

However I didn't feel any restance on the knob that controls my skeg. My worst fears were confirmed on the beach when I discovered that I no longer had a skeg. My guess is that all the fiddling I did somehow frayed the wire controlling the skeg. It probably caught on some kelp and pulled out. Since the rest of my crossing would be in fairly smooth protected waters I wasn't really worried about the rest of my day. But I still had a crossing back home to make and as I learned from my journey over, the channel can be rough. I decided to enjoy the rest of my trip that regardless of my skeg situation.

The day was hot, the water smooth and the scenic coast made for a great paddle. I had a great time pocking around coves and doing eskimo rolls to cool off and show off for the dive and party boats who were also enjoying a great day on the water. I was about four miles from Two Harbors when Neptune struck yet again. I had just completed a roll and was pushing myself back into my seat when I felt my foot peg snap. So now I would have to complete the rest of my journey with only one-foot peg to brace on. I have had this happen to me before with this boat and I knew it probably wasn't broken, but I would need to land to unbolt the foot peg railing to slide the foot peg back on. Since there wasn't any place to land other than Two Harbors I would have to deal with it until then. I can't say I was totally at ease the next 4nm miles knowing that if I had to brace I had a good probability of capsizing, but I did make it to Two Harbors. I fixed the problem at Two Harbors, made my portage and paddle to Little Harbor without further incident.

Day 5

This was a rest day at Little Harbor.

Day 6

We were going to spend the night at Wilson cove prior to a trip back to Newport. Wilson Cove is a primitive campground about two nautical miles from Avalon. Duane and I decided to paddle around the west end to Wilson Cove while Joe opted for a shorter journey. He once again portaged his boat across the Isthmus and paddled to Wilson via Two Harbors. The water was a calm as can be for our paddle along the west end so we hugged the coast and paddled slow to enjoy watching some of the prettiest parts of the island float past our bow.

After a quick lunch in Avalon we arrived at Wilson. It was a great campsite but it is certainly was primitive. There was only one tree for shade and it pretty much consisted of a rocky beach. Still the worst day of vacation is far better than the best day of work. Not to say that Wilson is bad. but I there is a trick to sleeping on a rocks. Still the same I would not hesitate to camp there again.

Day 7

We woke up early and were on the water by 5:55 am for the 27nm trip to Newport. The weather was hot but thankfully there were no winds so I didn't miss my skeg. On the way home we saw numerous sun fish and couple pods of dolphins, one dolphin jumped completely out of the water. The nature highlight was a five-foot shark. Joe and I noticed the shark's dorsal fin about 25 feet in front of us before the shark dived and swam about five feet under the boats. I have never seen a shark and it was definably a highlight of the trip to see one so close. As far as I know sharks pose very little, if any, threat to kayakers so I wasn't really worried. I would be interested in hearing if anyone has a different opinion.

We arrived home about 1:15 and I was happy to be home after 7 days and what I estimate to be about 115 nautical miles.

PS: Joe had brought a new kevlar Nekcy kayak prior to the trip and after he landed he noticed a number of spider cracks in his hull. At the moment he is attributing this to launch from the rocky beach at Wilson.

    Dave O'Connor