A group of us planned a modified replay of our 2001 trip. It involved leaving from Gaviota and crossing 27 NM to San Miguel Island on day 1, hiking the island for day 2 and rendezvousing with others crossing by ferry, circumnavigating the island (22 NM) on day 3, paddling over to Santa Rosa Island (12 NM) on day 5, to Santa Cruz (31 NM) on Day 5 and to Anacapa and back to the mainland, Ventura (25 NM) on Day 6.

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The planning started months before the trip. The trip participants kept changing, with new ones signing up and people dropping out or changing itineraries. We conducted one formal rescue practice, two formal distance training paddles and encouraged the participants to do additional training on their own, which they did with varying degrees of determination.

Nine people and one non-participating spouse were signed up as of trip week.

• Diane Smith
• Phil Sager
• Duane Strosaker
• Paul Kirste
• Linda Roman
• Tom Camp
• John Petersen
• Pammy Petersen
• Mike Brown
• George Miller

Diane and Phil were already headed for the Gaviota launch point and could not get kayak reservations on the boat. So, they headed to Mexico, to the Los Arbolitos rock garden trip, with Aqua Adventures. Diane told me that they had a great time even while putting an extra 400 miles on their vehicles.

The Trip Begins

The rest of us boarded the Friday morning boat leaving Ventura Harbor. The new Island packers office in the Powerboat Magazine building is much more spacious than the old one. Docking facilities are comparable. I must tell you that the Island Packers people treated us just great. There were eight kayaks loaded on the 64' catamaran, including six composite, 1 fabric and one plastic boat. The extra two kayaks belonged to Ellen and Katherine, going on a separate trip. Super-kayaker Duane elected not to bring a boat (!) because the inclement weather did not make it seem worth it to him. IP has finally dispensed with the absurd "bucket brigade" loading methodology and now has us merely carry our gear to the loaders. All they need now is to add a simple conveyor belt.

The IP crew handled our craft with kid gloves. They piloted us through increasingly heavy seas and high winds with great skill, stopping regularly to point out various wildlife, such as seals, dolphins and two beautiful Orcas! We stopped to drop off passengers at Prisoners' Harbor on Northern Santa Cruz Island. It got quite rough in the "Potato Patch" off northwest Santa Cruz Island. I'm sure glad that we didn't have to make that crossing. There were some sick puppies on board! Even the catamaran had to slow down considerably in those conditions. We more fortunate ones were enjoying the beautiful, if bouncy, crossing under partially sunny skies.

This was my first trip on one of their catamarans, since I have always paddled out for the last few years. The craft are very well-designed, except for kayak and luggage loading. The pilot house and wing controls are wonderful. Visibility is good from most seats. Space utilization is good. Cruising speed is over 20 kts.

Santa Rosa Island

The bow-in landing at the Santa Rosa Pier works much better than the backing in technique used by the monohull boats. We easily landed and came up on the pier in stiff winds that blew away anything that wasn't nailed down or sat upo n. Five of us lowered our kayaks down to the beach from the pier, loaded up and launched to paddle down to the campsite. The others secured their boats near the pier and proceeded on foot to the campsite, while the park service ferried their gear by truck.

The campsite was rather unpleasant, with a strong, cold noisy wind blowing grit and sand everywhere-- and I do mean EVERYWHERE. Wind estimates ranged from 25-35 kts. Building the campsite in a northwest-oriented canyon was really a stroke of genius on the part of our park service bureaucrats. They partially redeemed themselves by recently building steel-framed wind shelters at each site, capable of surviving anything short of a nuclear attack.

Duane was kind enough to let me set up at his site. I was off to one side of the leeward side of a shelter wall. Mike and Paul each had private sites. John and Pammy, Linda and Tom and Ellen and Katherine each shared two person sites.

The first afternoon was spent in getting to the campsites, getting set up and making dinner. We also toured the main farm complex about a mile or more away, roaming through a barn full of potential antiques and museum pieces. The weather was so darned nasty that there was nothing to be done afterward, except to clean up, talk a while and retreat to our tents. We observed the wind buffeting my ancient, but noble, tent mercilessly. It was located in an eddy, behind the shelter and would occasionally be literally flattened by severe gusts of unknown intensity, then would spring back up like a Phoenix rising. At about 1 AM, I was suddenly awakened by a loud metallic snap, the tent went down and stayed down. I went to gather it around me. Shortly after that, the tent fly tore off in the wind, being retained only by a cord I had the foresight to secure earlier. I retrieved some of my things blowing around, surveyed the damage in the cold, inhospitable darkness and gathered the remnants of the tent around me, attempting to squeeze a little more sleep out of a miserable night. I heard others were rather uncomfortable as well. The next morning I went down to my kayak, got my repair kit and improvised a repair splint on a broken aluminum tent pole, with some help from Duane. The tent endured for the remainder of the trip.

The next morning after breakfast, we were treated to a guided hike through Lobo Canyon by Don, the former Island Archeologist, along with a biologist and a botanist whose names I did not get. We were driven by SUV to the canyon entrance and proceeded on foot for a delightful narrated tour, which took us down to the ocean. We saw 9 elk in a two day period, including 5 that fled single file before us, as we marched down the canyon. The elk were put on the island for hunting and cost $8000 per head to bag, including room and board (for the hunter). The area contains some of the oldest evidence of human inhabitation in North America, including the now-famous "Arlington Canyon Woman." Understandably, the local Chumash Indian population is not keen on having strangers root through their ancestors' remains. I suppose that it's a tough question whether they should allow some exploration for historical purposes and under what conditions. Don held us spellbound, describing the digs and his increasing sensitivity to the feelings of the descendants.

He mentioned that this canyon is also special to him, since he met his wife there. He would not say where he unearthed her, but she appeared quite well-preserved to me. Don brought a party of 12 , including extended family. He now volunteers his services, helping to reduce the deficit. The Park Service returned our party by SUV, but Duane and I elected to hoof it back the eight miles from the Lobo Canyon outlet to the ocean and hang out on the beach until dinnertime, as several others also did.

Last time I camped at the main site, I saw two island foxes, one right outside the farm gate. Not so this time. The species is now endangered. Survivors are being captured and put in protective custody in pens on San Miguel Island.

We had another very windy evening, although it was a bit less intense than the previous one. We heard that the wind was forecast to abate that night. It didn't. We passed the time sharing some food and talking, again retiring early to get out of the weather.

All in all, we spent nearly two days hunkered down on Santa Rosa Island before venturing out to paddle again. In spite of the conditions, we entertained ourselves exploring the island by foot, talking and eating interesting meals. Nearly all the participants are experienced campers, so they had little difficulty in whipping up good things to eat. Linda once again won first prize with her blue ribbon home made steak jerky. It puts Trader Joe's and those roadside places on the way to Mammoth to shame.

Sunday morning, the wind was still whipping around the campsite, but the weather man said everything was cool. So, four intrepid crossers broke camp in the still strong winds, trusting that the forecast for improving weather was correct. We elected to check the beach conditions and make a go/no go launch decision. It was a lot nicer on the beach than at the windy campsite, so it was a "GO" for Santa Cruz!

Those Who Stayed on Santa Rosa

John's account:

Hey George, welcome back!

Was wondering when you'd be pulling into port. We had a wonderful time and would do it again in a minute. You've probably heard from the others who remained, but Ellen, Katherine, Mike and I finally did kayak and had a blast exploring from the pier, almost up to Lobo Canyon (fog and time issues) on our last day. The day you took off, I was actually able to monitor your progress with my binoculars. Yes, I was able to spot you! All of us hiked out to East Point on that day and were hoping the best for you. We saw an Osprey that did aerial dives as it was fishing. Magnificent! Torrey Pines,Gopher Snake, Oyster Catchers, and Snowy Plovers with the occasional seal playing peeping tom with Pammie and I as we skinny dipped were the high light during our hike. Thank God for an Archeological team from Univ. of Oregon that gave us a lift on the way back which saved my sore feet! Looking forward to your trip report and thanks again for organizing the event. Eager to do San Miguel...

Duane's account:

Kayakless Darwin Duane hiked on Sunday. On Monday, he hitched a ride with Island Packers to San Miguel Island and back, managing to put his feet on Miguel Terra Firma for a while and to be the only one traveling that far west on the trip.

Linda Roman's account:

Tom Camp and I decided it would be nice to sleep in on Monday at the Scorpion Ranch Campground and then do some hiking on Sta Cruz. So after enjoying coffee, tea and breakfast, Paul and George were gone without a trace, we hiked on up to Cavern Point and Potato Harbor. The fog went from sparse to thick and we couldn't see a damn thing, except for occasional glimpses of the waves crashing on rocks below. Through a break in the mist we did see Harold and company exploring the coastline in their kayaks.

After eating a hot lunch and taking a siesta, we packed up and headed for the pier to see if we could hitch a ride on the 3 pm Island Packer's boat. The captain and crew (John and Greg) were very hospitable and allowed us to load our boats from the pier instead of tying them on to the long string of plastic boats that gets hoisted up from the beach. The trip back was calm and sunny, my gps showing a speed of 30- 35 mph. It took about an hour even with about a 20 min slowing to see a large school of dolphins playing at our stern. Captain John wanted to know if we were somehow related to the two psychos who did the crossing in the morning, whom he encountered right in the middle of the "cruise ship lane" in pea soup conditions. He said the cruise ship lane is even more dangerous than the shipping lane. I didn't know one existed.

We spent another night at McGrath SB with a bottle of rum and then headed home in the morning, back to San Diego via a circuitous route through LA. All in all, a really nice trip.

The Monday afternoon boat trip home passed uneventfully, but included a sail into the mouth of Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island. The Island Packers crew really knows how to please the customers.

On to Santa Cruz

Meanwhile, back on the bounding main, Linda, Tom, Paul and George launched under sunny skies and in moderately windy conditions, with small wind waves and nearly nonexistent swells. The trip across was in increasing, to 15-20 kt., tailwinds, off the port stern quarter. Wind waves got up to about two feet, on top of increasing swells, gradually creating manageable surfing and bracing conditions. We landed to relax and eat at a nice beach on West Santa Cruz Island, opposite Skunk Point on SRI.

Increasing weather motivated us to launch again, earlier than we would prefer and head around the Southwest corner of SCI, past Gull Island, where tailwinds, but smaller swells, continued, tapering off as we moved behind the shelter of towering cliffs and 2000' mountains of Santa Cruz. As soon as we rounded the corner, boat traffic picked up considerably, more than I have ever seen this far out, on this Labor Day weekend.

Beautiful Willow Anchorage was the only place suitable for landing, since eastward less-protected beaches were unsuitable for beaching heavily-loaded composite sea kayaks in the Mexican hurricane swells pounding the island's south side. We enjoyed the tropical conditions there for a time. A number of smart boaters came here. Adjacent beaches were weekend nudie spots.

On the way east, we looked for other safe places to land, but finding none, we ate and rested offshore during several breaks. Twelve miles later, we found that Smuggler's Cove was being pounded by dumping surf, kicking

spray up at least 12 feet high. Disappointed, we elected not to land and to continue on. We passed by numerous jumping fish. I originally thought they were flying fish years ago, but when one landed in my lap, it looked like an ordinary bait fish on steroids.

Along the way east, we passed by a number of surfswept beaches, with surge reaching high up the rocky shores. We saw a lot of surfers at a couple of beaches. It was calm when we reached the East side. The cave district was magnificent as usual, so we poked our head into a few of them. We came into Scorpion Anchorage and landed without incident, settling in and dining in balmy weather. There were hordes of holiday campers all around. Conditions were very benign. We passed the final two nights in warm weather, with almost no wind at all.

We watched the last boat depart fully loaded on Monday night, leaving the entire

Scorpion Ranch area almost deserted, except for the four of us, four independent day kayakers and the Southwind Kayak caving tour group. That group was headed by the well-known instructor Harold Tervort, who regaled them with salty tales and cooked gourmet fare. Linda forced us to look at Mars, since she didn't want to be responsible for making us wait 60,000 years for the next really good photo-op.

Linda and Tom elected not to make the kayak crossing back to Ventura, but to take the boat, which I recall might have been their original plan. Paul and I learned from NOAA broadcasts that there would (probably) be less than 10 kt. winds and minimal swells until the following afternoon, increasing to 15 later on.

The Crossing to Ventura

We packed up and launched by 0600, into glassy conditions and heavy fog. With the darkness, condensation and the glare of our headlamps, we could barely read our instruments.

We stopped frequently, to listen for boats and ships in the eerie stillness, then made a run across the sea lanes. Between the frequent stops and long breaks, we made poor time for nearly the first half of the trip, but poured on the coal later on, practicing forward strokes and taking turns leading. Paul and I have both been studying forward stroke enhancements, so we compared notes and shared ideas on improvement, using our GPS' and each other to provide feedback on effectiveness. We hit 5 kts on some stretches, even with heavily loaded boats and days of paddling behind us. But, we were feeling it by the time we reached Ventura.

Along the way, we saw plentiful dolphins, sea lions, various unidentified jumping fish and a large sunfish. At about 0850, we first heard, then saw, the Island Adventurerer (Island Packers Catamaran) on a parallel track, racing for Santa Cruz Island. We said hi on the radio. They informed us that they had (thoughtfully) informed other boats in the area of our presence and intentions. Very helpful, since our handheld VHF sets have very limited range and power. I'm thinking about getting a long whip antenna for mine.

Sometimes we just paddled in silence, sometimes we remarked upon our surroundings. Sometimes, we talked about our work. For example, I now know more about the suitability of programmable logic controllers vs. microprocessor-based devices for process control applications.

A headwind gradually gained momentum as we proceeded, slowing us down a bit, but never becoming a serious problem. We didn't even see the mainland until we were well under a mile out. In those conditions, boat traffic is often the first evidence that land is approaching. If it was more foggy, we would have taken a more out-of-the-way route back, perhaps a half mile outside the harbor, then made our way along the coast.

We reached Mother's beach, in Ventura, at 1138, but then elected to land at the Island Packers facility inside the harbor, to avoid all the sand, which we were thoroughly bored with by then.

It's too bad that most people are intimidated or bored by crossings. I like the feeling of solitude, peacefulness and oneness with nature out there. It's also a great workout, traveling between distant points under your own power. It's important to make the boat as comfortable as possible and properly prepare in advance-- and of course, on must be VERY mindful of the weather. We finally found a good "weather window" after the offshore winds laid down. We hustled home before they came back up again.

After packing up the cars, we had lunch at the Greek at the Harbor, which partially restored our energy. We observed the wind in the harbor picking up considerably during our repast. We then headed south to our respective home grounds. Paul and I will next be doing Duane's Catalina Lunch Paddle on 20 September. Duane had better be buying.

Regards,
    George Miller

Mike Brown's Report and pictures...

While George, Paul, Tom and Linda launched for Santa Cruz, Duane, Ellen, Kathrine, the Petersens and I started out together on a hike to East Point. Eventually we split into 3 groups of two each stopping off at various places in the Torey Pines or beaches. Duane and I continued almost to East Point. About 3/4 mile short of East Point I stopped due to "squished" toes as I neglected to bring good hiking boots or shoes. I ate some lunch and started back along the tide pools and beaches eventually coming back to the roadway. I was lucky to catch a ride back with the University of Oregon researchers getting back to camp shorty after 1300.

The winds were still blowing >15 kit but I decided to launch and bring my boat back to the pier, a mile or so upwind. I was using a short (196) white water paddle which seemed to give great control in the wind with little resistance so I continued up to Carrington Point stopping along to view a few caves and crannies. The winds and surges were enough that I decided not to explore too deeply. Along the way I was treated to two huge rays that came up under my boat. The water was so clear that near the point I was surprised to see the "rocks" below move--a couple huge halibut.

Just past the point I turned to come back. What took me abut 1 1/2 hours to paddle, granted I was sight seeing along the way, took about 25 minutes with the wind at my back.

That evening the winds died down and it was warm enough to socialize. While gathered around a mini lantern we were treated to a visit by one of the island skunks. He/she/it knew where all of us tossed our tidbits in the wash water and was busy cleaning up. There was no odor we could tell and our presence didn't bother the sashay puddy cat at all.

The next morning the water was calm as glass. There was also pea soup fog. As the sun began to cut through John, Ellen, Katherine and I launched while Duane took the boat to San Miguel as it was returning to pick us all up. We traversed the same ground as I did the day before but the calmer water allowed more exploration. We passed under a huge arch in addition to playing at some blow holes. Below are some photos. We came back, pulled out boats up onto the pier and prepared for the boat home. The boat ride was smooth and fast. A better ending to a wild start. On the way we saw a whale and entered Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island. A great trip--wind, cold, sore toes and all.

Click on image to see larger picture
Blow Hole	Dolphin Rock	Lobo Canyon
More Caves	Whale Jaw Piece	View From Cave
Under the Arch	The Arch	Shore Caves

    Mike Brown

Submitted on September 08, 2003