Sea caving at Santa Cruz Island 4/16/11-the salvaged pics

I went down to Santa Barbara to visit family since my WSB charter trip to Santa Rosa was canceled due to gale force winds.  My brother in law Jim got called up to help guide a day trip for Aquasports outfitters, and generously allowed me to tag along as a third unpaid guide.

Well the weather was 80 degrees, wind 10-15kts, water 57 degrees. A moderate swell allowed us to access "Elephants belly", "Ooh-aah" and the "green room", "dog leg" and a handful of other caves. Our lead guide Andy used to work with Jim and me at the Santa Barbara parks department, and used to drive me around on an electric scooter when I was 12 years old (my very first job was as a volunteer junior ranger). So our trip was a really fun reunion of 3 salty characters!  We saw a gray whale just off scorpion, lots of common dolphins, and even one fat black abalone hanging on a wash rock. Sadly my camera battery died before I could take a single decent picture.

My best experience was hanging in the Green Room, and paddling through Dog Leg. Inside Dog leg the exit is too narrow for a paddle stroke, and I managed to get my scupper classic wedged crossways just as a wave surged in. With the bow and stern wedged against rock, the kayak couldn't float so it stayed solidly upright while the water rose around me and completely submerged the boat. I was sitting in the boat with water over my lap and bubbles coming from the front hatch. The water receded and the boat came loose. No harm done!

I had spent a week on the island in both 1993 and 1999 and there were mice everywhere, pigs tearing up the hillsides, no island foxes, and no potable water. That has all changed in the last 10 years. The pigs and golden eagles are all removed, the foxes are plentiful and have eaten all the offending mice, and there are now 3 potable water spigots in the campgrounds.  When I was there in August the island was dry and brown, but right now it is covered in green grass and wildflowers.

Aquasports is the 'high-end" outfitter, operating since the early 80's, so if you are inclined to do this trip I'd go with them. The ride to SC Island from Ventura is only 70 minutes on the Island Packers catamaran and Aquasports stores a fleet of OK scrambler XT's out there with helmets & gear, so the gear schlepping is minimal.

4/19-Since I got a heapin helpin o' scorn for the lack of photos  ( and because I was sooo stoked to have my cool camera to take photos with ---before the battery died  ) I found two that might serve to redeem me. I did try to take pictures, see!

Sounds like a blast.  I'd love to get down that way one day.   

Very cool.
Love the photos. 

No pics???? WTF?????? Thanks for the pickless report... ... That must have been scary going thru the cave and getting jammed. ...Im closterfobic!

NICE!!!!!!!!

Glad to hear about the pigs!! I was down there with a guy (Chris Spohrer) who now works for State Parks up around here who was doing a bunch of research on the feral pigs and the various ways to try and get them the heck out of there!!

Bring another camera battery next time bro!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

that's def on my summer wish list.  Someday....

Bring another camera battery next time bro!!

I KNOW!!!  I was so bummed. I had set it up to charge but realize now that the cord wasn't fully plugged in. Oh well.....

Glad to hear about the pigs!! I was down there with a guy (Chris Spohrer) who now works for State Parks up around here who was doing a bunch of research on the feral pigs and the various ways to try and get them the heck out of there!!

That's cool Jim. When I first moved to santa cruz (the town) my neighbors were part of the eagle restoration on the island. They used a rehabbed eagle with only one wing as a confidence builder to lure the other golden ealgs to the net, then caught them in a huge clamshell net operated remotely. They kept the decoy eagle as a pet and fed her rabbits and pigeons in the yard. They worked hard and you can see the results on the island today.

Glad to hear about the pigs!! I was down there with a guy (Chris Spohrer) who now works for State Parks up around here who was doing a bunch of research on the feral pigs and the various ways to try and get them the heck out of there!!

That's cool Jim. When I first moved to santa cruz (the town) my neighbors were part of the eagle restoration on the island. They used a rehabbed eagle with only one wing as a confidence builder to lure the other golden ealgs to the net, then caught them in a huge clamshell net operated remotely. They kept the decoy eagle as a pet and fed her rabbits and pigeons in the yard. They worked hard and you can see the results on the island today.

Awesome!!

If I remember correctly, and there is a VERY good chance I don't cuz there have been a lot of brain cells lost between then and now    they were actually working on something with native bees or wasps that would somehow get rid of the huge stands of fennel where the pigs would hide out (maybe getting rid of the one species that pollinated the fennel or something), thus making it easier to hunt and eradicate them....something like that!

From a quick search online it looks like they might have scrapped that idea and just burned the fennel...probably a heck of a lot simpler!
 

Really cool to hear that the isand is recovering well!!

Thanks for sharing bro!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

now with pics!
 

Awesome.  My butt puckered up when you mentioned the wedging incident.  Way to stay calm and ride it out!

I am drawn to rocks and caves like a fly to you-know-what. 

Awesome.  My butt puckered up when you mentioned the wedging incident.  Way to stay calm and ride it out!

I am drawn to rocks and caves like a fly to you-know-what.

I always wanted to do this trip, and this time it just all fell together, spur-of-the-moment. It really isn't that scary, heck most of our group had NO paddling experience. We were lucky to have Andy guiding us, he has 12yrs experience reading the water conditions inside the caves, and he got us into the "green room" and "cavern cave", both of which could only be accessed by one paddler at a time, who would get "flushed" out by the next swell.
It really was an awesome experience.
And each day is different out there, with swell and wind and tide dictating which caves will be accessible.

those rental yaks are very scratched up