Crazy 8s

A few people know that I just returned from a great adventure at sea. A few months ago, I was chosen to be crew on the Californian on a historic expedition. We were to attempt to sail to all eight of the California Channel Islands in two weeks (which is very hard to do, for those who don't know). To date only 105 people in the history of the state have set foot on all eight of the islands, and we were hoping to add 35 more to that list. Part of the difficulty in this endeavor is that two of the islands belong to the US Navy, and we had to enlist their approval before we could even approach the islands. To all appearances, the Navy seemed eager to cooperate with us civilians and share in this historic attempt.

In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed up the coast of California, discovering bays, islands, and mapping the coastline as far as Monterey Bay. The Channel Islands he and his crew sailed around were later to be known as San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, San Nicolas, San Clemente, Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Islands. Anacapa was the only island to retain the Native American name for it. Cabrillo was injured during the course of his explorations, died, and was supposedly buried on San Miguel Island, though there are some claims that he was buried on Santa Rosa. No one has ever been able to locate his remains.

The islands are rich in Native American archaelogical sites, having been populated as far back as 14,000 years ago, and some now believe much further back. The Chumash Indians populated the northern islands, and the Gabrielinos the southern islands. Scott O'dell's book Island of the Blue Dolphins was written about a woman living on San Nicolas Island. San Nicolas and San Miguel boast some of the largest seal, sea lion and elephant seal rookeries on the west coast. And each island has its own unique and isolated ecosystem. As you can see, there is a wealth of information and history surrounding the islands. We had a lot to cover, going to each island.

We sailed from San Diego to Santa Barbara Island, the smallest of the eight. It is also the only island I've been to before, having stopped there on my trip on the Robert C. Seamans a few years ago. Then we sailed to Anacapa Island, and that leg proved to have the roughest, most difficult seas we experienced on the trip. From Anacapa we went to Santa Cruz, then to Santa Rosa. At the end of the first week, we headed from Santa Rosa Island to the harbor of Santa Barbara, where we were guests of that city's Maritime Museum for two days. We then headed out to Pt. Conception and then turned south for San Miguel Island. Then we sailed to San Nicolas, followed by San Clemente, where at both islands we were greeted and entertained by the Navy, and ended our trip at Santa Catalina Island.

The whole voyage was incredible, and one I will never forget. I hope someday to return to the islands, but now I've set my sights on other islands too. I hope one day to set foot on the Farallon Islands, and maybe even visit the Galapagos Islands too.

A more detailed account of various adventures that happened on the trip, as well as photos and videos will follow shortly.

Cheers!
L.