Fellow Kayakers, Jim Gabriel, Jake Jacobs, Dave Murray and I had a great time at Santa Catalina Island Thursday through Sunday, June 17th through 20th, 1999. We arrived at Cabrillo Beach Park in San Pedro just before the park opened at 5:00am and launched through small two foot surf just as it became daylight at 5:45am. Due to a heavy marine layer of clouds, the island wasn't in sight, so we headed to Two Harbors at the island by following a bearing of 200 degrees magnetic. The weather was perfect for the twenty nautical mile crossing. We had glassy conditions the whole way. We lost sight of San Pedro at 8:30am, and we gained sight of the Isthmus at Two Harbors at 9:00am. About five miles out from Catalina, a large school of Dolphins crossed in front of us and repeatedly jumped high out of the water. Once they were out of sight, we stopped for one of our breaks that we took every 45 to 50 minutes. As we rested, there was almost complete silence. All we could hear were the Dolphins splashing into the water. Yet, they were too far away to see. The four of us arrived at Two Harbors at 11:45am, just six hours after launching. We set up camp at Two Harbors Campground, which is about a quarter mile from the town, if you can call it that. In town there is a bar, restaurant and grocery store. The campsite runs from just above the beach and up a hill. The best sites are numbers one through three, and we stayed at number three. These sites are on top of a 20 foot bluff overlooking the harbor. Reservations for the campground can be made by calling 1-800-322-3434. After setting up camp, Jake and Dave went into town, and Jim and I paddled two miles west to Howland's Landing. Along the way, we trolled lures for fishing, and I caught and released a 14 inch calico bass just outside a kelp bed. After getting back to Two Harbors, we drank cold beer in town. On Friday, Jake and Dave paddled west three miles to Arrow Point. Jim and I kayak fished at Bird Rock and Ship Rock, which are just outside Two Harbors. In a ten minute period on the edge of the kelp bed on the south side of Ship Rock, I caught and released three large calico bass on a swim bait lure. They were about 18, 16 and 15 inches long. I never caught so many quality calicos in so short a time. We left the rocks and paddled seven miles to the west end of the island. Along the way we trolled lures. I didn't catch any more fish, but Jim caught and released a 14 inch calico bass and a mackerel. We also stopped on a beach along the way to eat delicious MRE's for lunch. The two of us peaked around the West End and saw Eagle Rock. While we were there, another large school of jumping dolphins entertained us. On the paddle back, we had following seas, and we had fun surfing many of the steeper waves. Back in town that evening, we ate hot pizza from the restaurant and drank cold beer. The four of us decided to take it easy on Saturday in preparation for the crossing back on Sunday. Jake and Dave headed east a ways and found a cave at Blue Cavern Point. The cave can be paddled through, but only at high tide. They were there at low tide. Jim and I fished at the rocks. Jim caught and released two calico bass between the rocks. They were 18 and 17 inches long. I caught and released a small rock fish in about 100 feet of water just off the southwest side of Ship Rock. I left there when my peace and quiet was interrupted by the arrival of two sport diving boats. For lunch we ate juicy hamburgers and hot french fries at the restaurant. We washed them down with cold soda. After lunch, Jim did some more fishing. Jake and I headed back to the cave at high tide. Along the way, we hugged the coast, paddling in water as shallow as possible to enjoy viewing the rocks and plants just under the clear water. The cave was about 50 yards long and had an entrance and an exit. Passing through it was fun, and after a couple of times we headed back. Coming back from the cave, I saw three children being blown out to sea in the type of inflatable raft you can buy at a discount store. They had paddles but weren't able to make any headway against the wind. No PFD's were on board the raft. I ended up towing them a quarter mile back to the beach. The children and their parents thanked me, but I don't think they appreciated the danger they were in. I didn't bother to lecture them. On Sunday the four of us woke up at 4:30am. We ate, broke camp and were on the water by 5:45am. Without land in site, we followed a bearing of 20 degrees magnetic. During the first half of the crossing back, we had mostly glassy conditions, and a moderate swell was quartering us from our left rear. During the second half, wind started to blow in the opposite direction of the swell, which created choppy conditions. It was actually nice to have rougher conditions, because I felt guilty having such an easy crossing over to the island. We lost site of Catalina at 8:30am, and we gained site of the mainland at 9:30am. The mistake I made on this trip was not looking back at the mainland as we left Thursday. I should have done it to memorize the landmarks for the crossing back. For both crossings, my navigational strategy was to follow a straight bearing without bothering to ferry unless we had something obvious pushing us off course, such as a strong wind. I figured that with a forecast of ten miles of visibility, being a little off course a while wouldn't hurt, because when we sited land, we could correct. It worked fine going to Catalina, because the Isthmus is a huge notch that can be seen easily from a long distance. Once we saw it, we changed our bearing from 200 degrees to 210 to head straight for it. However, when we saw the mainland on Sunday, we could see the Palos Verdes Peninsula, but because of the distance we were from it, we weren't sure where Cabrillo Beach was at on it. The other three weren't sure but thought that a particular bump on the horizon was Cabrillo Beach. That bump was significantly to the right of our bearing. They wanted to head for it. I had been the one navigating with the compass, and I had been working hard to keep us following the 20 degree bearing. I told them that since we didn't know if the bump was Cabrillo, we should trust the compass and stay on the bearing, until we were closer to shore and could recognize some landmarks. I felt it was more conservative to follow the compass rather than chase landmarks we weren't sure about. I had a GPS on deck that I could have easily turned on and used to resolved the whole thing, but I would rather make a recoverable mistake with a compass than use a GPS. To me the GPS is only a back up for safety. Jim decided to follow the navigator. Jake and Dave headed for the bump. I was angry the group divided, and it was the low point in the trip. As Jim and I followed the compass, landmarks began to appear. We recognized the light tower at the harbor entrance, which confirmed that the bump was Cabrillo. Jim and I changed course towards Cabrillo, and the two groups met up again on the water. The other three had been right about the bump. I was two and a half miles off course, but I still think it was best to trust the compass rather than to chase landmarks that we weren't sure about. Again, my mistake was not checking landmarks as we paddled away from Cabrillo on Thursday. A few miles off the mainland coast, Dave raced ahead of the group. During the crossing, Jake was having to be careful with his injured forearm and wrist. He didn't know how, but sometime during the trip he strained himself, and his forearm was swollen. Remarkably, he was able to maintain a good touring pace the whole twenty miles back, and he didn't slow us down one bit. Jim, Jake and I landed at 11:45am, making for a six hour crossing both ways. While we unpacked our kayaks, Dave gave us a hard time about landing so long after him. As Dave went up the hill to get his truck, Jake found Dave's hat washing up in the small two foot surf. We didn't ask. Duane Strosaker Irvine, California *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I guess my original message got stripped of it's attached file for some of you... Here is the text. Catalina Training By Albert Wang Quote whatever you want. It's late and this really isn't all that interesting. Since moving down to SoCal a little over a year ago, I have rotated thru a few sports. Lately, kayaking, has consumed much of my time. I haven't really kayaked that long, but with all that training for the Bay2Bay, polo, rolling, and concerts, my feet were getting wet an average of over 6 days per week. BTW, Chris S. and I managed to have the 2nd fastest kayak on the 20 miler in the Bay2Bay. Not bad for a first timer. Since the race, it's been down to 4x a week. My old body can't take it anymore and my back is all screwed up with a few strained muscles and knots that feel like golf balls. Back to my story. Paddling to Catalina has recently been one of my kayaking dreams. I've only talked about it with the Tuesday Nite group in SD. I've never been to Catalina at all. The thought of actually paddling there really intrigues me. I believe my tenative date for the crossing will be in September. Of course, the macho guys in the SD Tuesday nite group want to do the crossing in a storm because they are "bored" with the calm conditions. So part of all this paddling recently has been to get ready for the longer distances. I admit my skills are relatively limited. I only learned how to roll last month. I've learned how to go fast tho. A little training, some studying, and time on the water gets you a long ways. Anyway (as I sip my Sapphire-up straight from the freezer) I am dreaming of the Catalina crossing with its famed currents, distance, sharks, and other hazards. Recently, local kayakers have participated in a Catalina crossing. Trip reports are always nice to read as there is much to be learned and of course the entertainment value. :) A while back, I plotted a strategy to conquer the Catalina crossing. A "friend" told me there is a three part strategy to prepare for this. Throw money at the equipment (the Dennis Conner strategy), paddle in the ocean and paddle around an island. Well, I've thrown more money into kayaking than I wanted to, paddled enuf in the ocean surfing and chasing whales but haven't done much of the Island thing. Well the closest island that I can circumnavigate is Vacation Island in Mission Bay. What better way to train for an island circumnavigation than an island circumnavigation. I ditched my job duties and headed for Mission bay at 5 am to meet a friend at Bahia Point for the crossing to the Bare Foot Bar. Neither of us was able to get any sleep the evening before and we were so pumped up about the trip that sleeping was impossible. It took us 4 hours to rig our boats with sails, GPS, compass, food, radios, sand our boats, etc,. While we were "preparing" we met two young boys who were unloading their boats. The boy with the carbon fiber K1 with wing paddles, I will refer to this person as the Young Kayaker (or YK) as I have some unflattering opinions and observations about him. The other young kayaker was a little older, about 13 and I will refer to him as YK2.. Initially I was hesitant to participate this crossing with them, because I had been on two previous paddles with YK and YK2 shortly after each paddle he published articles on various internet bulletin board sites that were very critical of everyone else involved and very self serving for themselves. Overall I felt that I could put up with minor inconveniences for the security of a larger group crossing. YK assured us that he had an excellent compass and a GPS unit. I have my own submersible VHF radio so I felt we were covered. I contacted my paddle buddy, Jay, and he was as ready as I was for the trip. We're ready, so let's launch! The crossing isn't all that exciting. It's about a half a mile to the island. Jay and I almost came to blows with YK and YK2 deciding on the best route during max ebb. We made it over arguing the whole way. I should have looked at my landmarks while heading over for the trip back. My mistake. By the time we got to the Bare Foot bar it was lunch time. We chowed down, drank (water in their case) and got ready to go back . After all the beers Jay and I had, we had a hard time figuring how to get back. We trusted all our electronics to get us home safely. YK and YK2, who only drank water, were whining, something about Jay and I being incompetent kayakers, etc. I told them to shut-up and I would buy them an ice cream when we got back. Well they decided to put it in gear and paddle back fast in their own direction. This put us in danger as we split up and were almost hit by powerboats trying to avoid a long train of kayakers. Oh well youth. We caught back up to them as we approached the shore. I was so pissed at them that I pushed them over. They had to swim to shore. Serves them right. I hate kids. Lesson learned: Don' t paddle with babies. This trip was enjoyable and I would do it again, without YK and YK2. I will certainly not invite YK and YK2 on my Catalina trip. I don't want to be put at risk, and listen to all that whining. It seems like there are bigger hazards than the currents, winds, storms and sharks on the Catalina crossing It's getting late, I've run out of Saphire and I still have to make the Catalina crossing. Sorry to utilize all your bandwidth, but I was "inspired". It looks like the ocean isn't big enuf for all of us Just thought I'd throw my kayak into the "pissing pond". Live long and paddle. See you on the water. albert *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Albert, let me get this straight ... you drank alot of beer while only half way through a trip; you failed to even watch your landmarks while conducting a circumvation (geez it was only half a mile away - how many land marks did you need?); you relied on two boys for directions, and then you pushed tipped their kayaks over? And you don't want to paddle with them? I'm not sure of your age, but you seem old enough to know better on all accounts. First and foremost, I NEVER paddle or swim after drinking alcohol. I'm not preaching against beer, but you need to use common sense. As a former lifeguard I've seen way too many problems and near drownings caused by alcohol use. How many beers did you have? No wonder you almost got lost coming back! Also, alcohol dehydrates your body. As a final point, there's nothing funny about being a bully and pushing two little kids' boat over. Just how old are you? I've noticed that bullies always like to do things like this to those smaller than themselves. Would you have tried pushing a grown man's boat over? And what if one of the kids had drown? I'm sorry if I seem a bit overly critical. But folks need to act responsibly on the water. Try drinking and paddling on the Catalina trip and we may be reading your obituary. - Scott Ives Albert Wang wrote: > > > While we were "preparing" we met two young boys who were unloading their boats. The boy with the carbon fiber K1 with wing paddles, I will refer to this person as the Young Kayaker (or YK) as I have some unflattering opinions and observations about him. The other young kayaker was a little older, about 13 and I will refer to him as YK2... > The crossing isn't all that exciting. It's about a half a mile to the > island. Jay and I almost came to blows with YK and YK2 deciding on the best route during max ebb. We made it over arguing the whole way. I should have looked at my landmarks while heading over for the trip back. My mistake. > > By the time we got to the Bare Foot bar it was lunch time. We chowed down, drank (water in their case) and got ready to go back . After all the beers Jay and I had, we had a hard time figuring how to get back. We trusted all our electronics to get us home safely. YK and YK2, who only drank water, were whining, something about Jay and I being incompetent kayakers, etc. I told them to shut-up and I would buy them an ice cream when we got back. Well they decided to put it in gear and paddle back fast in their own direction. This put us in danger as we split up and were almost hit by powerboats trying to avoid a long train of kayakers. Oh well youth. > > We caught back up to them as we approached the shore. I was so pissed at them that I pushed them over. They had to swim to shore. Serves them right. I hate kids. Lesson learned: Don' t paddle with babies. > > This trip was enjoyable and I would do it again, without YK and YK2. I will certainly not invite YK and YK2 on my Catalina trip. I don't want to be put at risk, and listen to all that whining. It seems like there are bigger hazards than the currents, winds, storms and sharks on the Catalina crossing > > It's getting late, I've run out of Saphire and I still have to make the Catalina crossing. Sorry to utilize all your bandwidth, but I was "inspired". > It looks like the ocean isn't big enuf for all of us > > Just thought I'd throw my kayak into the "pissing pond". > > > albert > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hear, Hear! (British expression) Well said, Scott, I was thinking the same. Sandy Kramer Miami, FL *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
After mountains of supportive emails,flames have been redirected towards me... >On Jun 26, 11:19, DMurray911_at_aol.com wrote: >} Subject: [Paddlewise] Catalina, etc. >> Howdy >> Just signed on to Paddlewise. Wow! Have to get a larger mailbox. >> First, Many sincere thanks to Albert Wang for his deserved attitude >> adjustment directed to me. I deserved it, and besides his story is much >> better! >> Secondly, my apologies to all that had to tolerate me exercising my >> Constitutional right to make a fool of myself in public. I know better and >> will not allow it to happen in the future. >> Happy Paddles, Dave Murray [Bob Myers wrote:] >Just to explain a little bit to the Paddlewise subscribers who may be >a little confused by what's going on here, Dave Murray sent in his >version of the Catalina crossing story recently posted by Duane >Strosaker. Dave replied to Duane's story with the same list of >recipients, so it was submitted to Paddlewise even though he wasn't >subscribed to the list. > >Dave's story never made it to Paddlewise due to a number >of problems - the large recipient list, Dave's non-member status, >and even more than that, the bulk of Dave's story was a rich text >format (RTF) attachment that was filtered by our demime filters. > >Albert Wang's message was a very funny parody of Dave's story. > >I'll bet Albert is a really great guy to paddle with! > >-- >Bob Myers InteleNet Communications, Inc. I may not be so great to paddle with... A. [Paddlewise] Date: Saturday, June 26, 1999 7:52 PM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Successful Catalina Crossings >Albert, let me get this straight ... you drank alot of beer while >only half way through a trip; you failed to even watch your landmarks >while conducting a circumvation (geez it was only half a mile away - how >many land marks did you need?); you relied on two boys for directions, >and then you pushed tipped their kayaks over? > > And you don't want to paddle with them? I'm not sure of your age, but >you seem old enough to know better on all accounts. First and foremost, >I NEVER paddle or swim after drinking alcohol. I'm not preaching >against beer, but you need to use common sense. As a former lifeguard >I've seen way too many problems and near drownings caused by alcohol >use. How many beers did you have? No wonder you almost got lost coming >back! Also, alcohol dehydrates your body. > > As a final point, there's nothing funny about being a bully and >pushing two little kids' boat over. Just how old are you? I've noticed >that bullies always like to do things like this to those smaller than >themselves. Would you have tried pushing a grown man's boat over? And >what if one of the kids had drown? > I have learned empirically that pushing a grown man's boat over is *NOT* a good idea. I should probably stick to those younger and smaller. A. > I'm sorry if I seem a bit overly critical. But folks need to act >responsibly on the water. Try drinking and paddling on the Catalina >trip and we may be reading your obituary. > > - Scott Ives Put that way, you make me sound just plain stupid... :) A. [Paddlewise] Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 6:15 AM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Successful Catalina Crossings >Hear, Hear! (British expression) > >Well said, Scott, I was thinking the same. > >Sandy Kramer Now I feel bad... :( After apologies and all... Lesson learned: don't group reply when there are multiple mail lists that you don't belong too. I did not look carefully. Parallel threads get started and discontinuous stories are propagated. Attachments stripped from messages can wreak havoc on subsequent replies in the thread. If it will make anybody feel better I can paint my kayak flourescent pink so that I can easily be spotted and avoided. Or I can trade my kayaks for a jet ski. I seem to recall this all got started because of some navigational difficulties. I have come up with a solution!!! My new soon-to-be-patented kayak navigational device is called "Line2Land" TM. It's a rather ingenious device consisting of 500 yds of monofilament line neatly coiled arount a precision cut and sanded piece of wood (~1.5" x 3.5" x 20.5"). To use, just tie one end around an object on land and merrily paddle away. When it is time to return, it's as easy as following the line back! Use it once or rewind for multiple uses. The beauty is that you can use multiple linkable Line2Lands for longer trips. Line2Land has joined the compass, sextant, GPS, and stars as primary sea navigational devices. Because I feel so bad, I'm selling them to you guys who have tolerated this thread for only $249/ea!!! That's a small price to pay for primary or back-up navigation ... and more importantly paddling buddies. WARNING: Beta-testing has shown that tying the Line2Land to movable objects such as boats, bikes, cars, seagulls, seals, etc., can render the Line2Land useless. ...It seems that there is a slight blip in subscription this weekend for the Paddlewise list from the SoCal area. I know i account for one. BTW, I'm looking for new paddling buddies. My former ones got tired of getting wet. Live long and paddle, Albert Wang *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Sun, 27 Jun 1999, Albert Wang wrote: > I seem to recall this all got started because of some navigational > difficulties. I have come up with a solution!!! > > My new soon-to-be-patented kayak navigational device is called "Line2Land" > TM. It's a rather ingenious device consisting of 500 yds of monofilament > line neatly coiled arount a precision cut and sanded piece of wood (~1.5" x > 3.5" x 20.5"). To use, just tie one end around an object on land and merrily > paddle away. When it is time to return, it's as easy as following the line > back! Use it once or rewind for multiple uses. The beauty is that you can > use multiple linkable Line2Lands for longer trips. Line2Land has joined the > compass, sextant, GPS, and stars as primary sea navigational devices. As a patent lawyer and caver, I must regretfully inform you that it's not a new idea. > BTW, I'm looking for new paddling buddies. My former ones got tired of > getting wet. I agree with someone else who said you must be a hoot to paddle with! And I like to be wet. My place or yours? Slainte! elaine *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I dont need a "line to land" device Albert, I find the bread chunks work fine. Besides the bread chunks act as chum too and I catch lots of fish. Jerry Esten *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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