Lake Tahoe ~ Mono Lake

Santa Barbara Parade of Lights

On a very brisk December 11th night, Kristi invited me to join her friends Daniel and Chris in the Santa Barbara Parade of Lights. Equipped with a new double paddle that Daniel and Chris have been creating we SUPed from the boat launch ramp around the pier where we showed off our skills of the “helicopter” and the “circle formation” to impress the judges, then it was off to the harbor and a second trip around the pier. When enjoyed the warming cider, fireworks and the accomplishment of staying dry.

After tucking the boards and paddles away, when wandered over to the delicious buffet at the Maritime Museum Awards Banquet. We must have really impressed the judges with the helicopter move, we won 2nd place in the human-powered category. Thanks Mom for the taking our picture  PS in the photo below we are the straight lines of lights in the bottom left corner. -Kim

If anyone is interested in joining us at “Little Beach” in Ventura Christmas night to SUP the Ventura Keys and check out the lights at 6pm, email us or just meet us there.

MoNstERs and cReaTurES, oh my…

Halloween of 2011was a cold and misty night shrouded in fog.  Kim and Karl dared the giveadam crew to join them on the dark and eerie waters of the Ventura Keys at this spookiest time of the year.  Betsy was the only one brave enough to acquiesce to tackle the Keys with Kim and Karl.  First, though, in order to garner more courage, we feasted on Kim’s stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and twice baked sweet potatoes (we couldn’t help but wonder – can’t she get them right the first time?), followed by pumpkin pie topped with cream cheese swirled pumpkin slices.  We silently worried that perhaps Kim had prepared this excellent gourmet meal worrying it might be our last??  We realized that with the dense fog we’d need light so we each carved our pumpkins (hopefully they’d be scary enough to ward off evil powers), and we placed a lit candle within as our wicked-faced pumpkins sat on the bow of our SUPs and we began our journey.  First we had to dodge the thousands of masked children running rampant through the Keys, with their candies littering the streets.  As we launched in the unusually low tide, Karl was the first to strike bad fortune – he hit a large rock and went partially under – just enough to make for a cold and wet journey in soggy boots and wet trousers.  We struggled so to stay together because we knew if one of us separated in this heavy weather we might not reconnect again.  We encountered jumping fish, and our pumpkins bobbed and blinked uncontrollably and we worried as we heard occasional screams from the streets, but soldiered on, policing the waterways of the Keys for two-headed dark figures and various and sundry other monsters and creatures that have appeared on this very night just once a year.  Once we determined the Keys were safe for the children, we paddled home to bat and pumpkin painted cookies, relieved to make it out alive.  Hoping the rest of our crew were safe tonight, wherever they ended up………..

To the Pier!!

October 23, 2011 – Sunday Crunch

Got a call early Sunday morning from Kim who reported conditions are great for a paddle to the Ventura Pier. Camille and Betsy flew out of bed, cleaned up and raced to Kim and Karl’s at the Keys. We have learned to just keep the boards loaded on the car (love the new locking Thule SUP Taxi racks!) to shorten prep time for early adventures. When we got to their house, they were loaded up – we headed to Marina Park, unloaded and paddled towards the Ventura Harbor entrance. We checked out conditions – calm glass with limited visibility. We all agreed it was a go and paddled eagerly past the breakwater where the morning meeting of pelicans was now in session. As we paddled into the calm open seas, we encountered brown pelicans plunging headfirst into the cool waters to retrieve their breakfast. We paddled close together at first with a careful watch on the hazy coastline to track our progress, as the pier was hidden from sight, shrouded in fog. Karl split from the gals and paddled close to the breaking waves and returned to report small surf – he can paddle twice as fast as us so it’s hard to keep him on a steady path! Betsy was content on her little Starboard, Kim on her Naish, Karl on the Hobie – each of us now with 100s of miles under our belts. Camille has entered the SUP world more recently and her stamina was strong as she kept up on the new bamboo Surftech board. The swells were gentle so it made for good “catching up” time as we paddled steadily towards our goal. We passed jetty after jetty till finally out of the misty fog the pilings of the pier emerged and we celebrated with a short break, trying to avoid the fishing lines and checked out the underside of the pier and took some pics. There were several kayakers out by now and outriggers enjoying the morning seas. It’s amazing how when you see only fog your other senses become more active as you pick up the freeway sounds and nature’s voices of the seagulls and waves as you get closer to shore. The paddle back was smooth with a light breeze helping us ease back to the harbor. We decided our next trip should be a camp-trip to Catalina so we can explore that island by SUP. By now the conversation was centered mainly on our next meal and as we returned to the harbor, besides being interrupted by an oystercatcher (pictured) sighting and our mascot harbor seal greeting us, it was decided that our next stop would be Andria’s Seafood. Good call. Another 5+ miles of paddling to add to the books.

Now, a corporate matter to attend to. After today’s 5+ mile ocean paddle, Camille qualifies as a waterwoman and is officially a member of the Give A Dam crew (picture and bio to follow). Welcome to our world, Camille!

California Coast Adventure

First stop on the California Coast Adventure was to pick up Nick from LAX, then it was off to Venice Beach. Wow, the ocean was beautiful and the people cruising the boardwalk were characters. Let’s just say we stayed for a total of 35 minutes! We appreciate the Ventura coast a lot more.  

Nick and I decided to take Hwy 1 to go along with the perfect sunshiny day. As we arrived to Ventura we couldn’t help but run as fast as we could to the beach and soak up a few rays.

The next day we left Ventura at 5:30am to head towards Morro Bay, Karl was scheduled to work for the Harbor Festival that brought in thousands of tourist to the sleepy town of Morro Bay. Usually along this drive the scenery is gray and foggy, however somehow Nick brought the sunshine from Denver, Colorado to make the weekend even more perfect.

Betsy, Camille, Nick and I couldn’t wait to get our SUP’s in the glassy water. Can you believe these photos were taken at 8:30am in Morro Bay!

As we explored the Morro Bay Estuary, some of the wildlife we came across include: Giant Bat Rays, Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Sea Otters, Crabs, White Pelicans, Snow Plover, Hermit Crabs, Anchovies, Jellyfish and Sardines. After the five-hour paddle and grueling wind along with a bit of sandblasting we made it back to Coleman Beach and was ready to set up camp at Morro Bay State Park. We had a wonderful campsite (#107) that held three large tents along with all of our gear. (Yes, we did have way more gear for one night than we did on our 5 day trip down the Colorado River, Lake Mohave, NV.) Still can’t figure out that mystery!

While we waiting for Karl to get off work and Kristi to arrive from surfing with friends in Big Sur, we made seafood kabob’s for appetizers from a local fish market “The Dockside,” which included Shrimp, Scallops and Ahi Tuna. They were delicious and even with Nick’s great seasoning tricks, a little dirt don’t hurt! Then we made Calzone’s in the Dutch oven and tested Betsys’ new birthday gift, a 10″ dutch oven with the Cherry Cobbler. Let’s just say no one goes hungry on our camping trips.

The next day, Karl went off to work at 6am we made tasty breakfast burritos’ with Nick’s orange muffins and set out for another day of SUPing and Hiking. Kristi, Nick and I left from the Morro Bay Marina and went towards Los Osos to check out the Oyster Aqua Culture Barges then explore the sand pit. By the after noon the fog rolled in and we headed towards Montana De Oro State park for Lunch, boulder scrambling and a hike. Along our hike we came across a little orange and black snake, a bright orange legless lizard and plenty of beautiful vantage points to look out over the oceans and cliffs.

The next day Nick and I we in need of some much-needed down time to heal our sunburns and wind chapped lips. However by 8:30am, Betsy hooked us up with some tickets to The Channel Islands aboard the Island Packers touring company to Santa Cruz Island. So we lathered up with sunblock, packed our lunch and dry clothes and headed toward the Ventura Harbor. The boat ride was great and neither of us got sick, which was amazing since that was Nick’s first time on the ocean in a boat.

As we hiked the windy coastline of Santa Cruz Land we enjoyed the looking over the cliffs at the sealions playing the ocean through the kelp forest. We only had a couple of hours to hike and ending up looking a Potato Bay Overlook. What a sight! Along the way back to Scorpion Bay we saw an Island fox scavenging at the historic ranch.

We loaded the Island Packer boat and enjoyed a few zzz’s before we woke up to a huge pod of more than a thousand Common Dolphins playing next to the boat chasing after a large bait ball only 5 miles off the coast of Ventura. What a wonderful weekend!

Adventure at Sea

This past Sunday, Karl and I paddled from Goleta Pier to Hendry’s Beach in Santa Barbara. We had the awesome opportunity to SUP next to a swimmer that was apart of a club that swims this six-mile stretch of the coastline every year. The wildlife was spectacular! The Sea Lions, Seals, bait fish and pelicans were encouraging us along the way.

 This was a lot different from the beautiful calm waters of Lake Mohave. The most challenging section of the paddle was the side/frontal wind chop along with the usual 3-4 foot ocean swell. About half way through I could not see the other kayakers as the ocean swell created a dance of 5 foot swell that would bring me up and the others down. Over half the paddle we have to use multiple paddling techniques, thank you to the 63 mile trip last year. From our knees to sitting on our butts, with our legs in and with them out we cruised along with our swimmer keeping him out of the large kelp masses and re-fueling him with gel pack, cliff bars and water for 2 hours and 45 minutes. He finished 1oth out of 31 swimmers. Some of the other swimmers times included over five hours. I’m not sure if we could have done that!

Monday

Monday, June 13, 2011.  By the time we crawl out of our tents, Kim and Karl had taken off to explore.  Kristi and I took off in the opposite direction towards Willow Beach, but our stomachs were like a magnet to the leftover cake.  It’s now our last day and we want to squeeze every last drop out of the day before packing up.  The battery on my camera dies as we approach Emerald Cove – oh, well, I have lots of pictures and Kim always has a great assortment of photos for all.  As we take off for Willow where the Jeep awaits us, Andrew, Kristi and Megan decide to investigate a historic trailsite.  The path was built in the 1930s to lead to the cables and cable cars that would take the river gaugers across to monitor the water levels.  It’s fascinating to imagine the solitary life of the men that worked the dam.  I try to image what it would be like today had the dams never interfered with the Colorado and the invasive species not taken over.  If the river still made it to the Sea of Cortez, wild and muddy and unpredictable.  If only.

 

It’s a tight and stinky ride back to Boulder City once we pack up the Jeep, sad to end this journey on the river but always good be back home.  Who wants to schedule the next trip-planning dinner at their house???