Monday, July 21, 2008

Kayaking on Santa Cruz Island


If you didn't already hear from Sara's Blog, I surprised her with a getaway to the Channel Islands. (Not exotic, just off the California coast.) It turned out to be an awesome trip. Here are some details.
Sara is posed with the sunset and the poopy Ventura Pier. We spent the night there and caught the boat in the morning.


We saw hundreds of dolphins on the boat ride but we didn't have our camera when it counted or we could have gotten some awesome pictures.

This was the point were the boat dropped us off and the adventure began. Neither I nor Sara had really done anything like this and so I had to fib a little bit concerning my ocean kayaking experience to put the charter boat company at ease. They required amateurs have a guide but we compensated for this by ease dropping on the lesson the hired guide gave another couple who were admitted amateurs.


Exploring the Island on our own turned out to be a great decision. Sara only yelled at me a couple of times for taking her into what she perceived as dangerous situations. Which was much better than the alternative of having a third wheel along for the day.


The coastline was full of colorful starfish.



We saw a few jelly fish.


We got very close to one sea lion in particular. Though this was not it. It was however one of the situations Sara perceived as dangerous.


We found some big sea caves that Sara was comfortable in.



And some small ones she was not.


Another picture same cave.


The water was so clear and peaceful. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the serenity of kayaking.


The approach to an arch way.


Sara is posed for the next REI catalog as she passes through the arch.



We picnicked and explored the island a little bit.



We found a secluded cove to swim in.


It was a perfect day. Minus the smudge on the camera lens.

1 comment:

jenni bishop said...

Wow! That looks like so much fun! I would love to do that...but I don't know if Aaron and I could talk our way out of the guide. They would just know we were beginners!