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The water just south of Isla Catalina is a spot that we go to and consistently see many type of wildlife, but yesterday we got one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. We got to play with Orcas. We aren’t quite sure why the transients were in this spot but we sure were grateful!

What made them so awesome was that they were acting very un-orca like. They were bow riding and riding playing in the wake just like dolphins.

I’ve decided to spend a bit more time on the beach this rotation, as a reward for all my hard work and efforts during my last time on the ship. So far, this seems to be working out a bit.

Puerto Gato is a place we don’t get to really often, and I had never had a chance to explore the beach there, so I took a little trip. The little beach is a nice sweeping arch, with nice sand and clear water. What’s so cool about this place is the rocks on the northeast end of the beach. They remind me of the red rocks around Moab, Utah, but they also have this really cool white-wash to them.

After looking around for the infamous “gatos”, I was a little a little surprised to not even see one trace of them cats that were left here many years ago to help combat the abundance of rodents on the island. I did, however, see lots of coyote tracks and scat and that probably explains that.

The other day I was lucky enough to have the time to make a run to the beach. Not just any beach, but one of my all-time favorite beaches! Sand Dollar Beach is on the island of Magdelena, across the bay from the town of San Carlos on the Pacific Ocean side of the Baja Peninsula.

Why do I like this beach so much? Well there’s one story in particular….

It was my last rotation on the National Geographic Sea Lion, sailing as the assistant engineer. We were in shipyard, in Alameda, California and it was the last day. It was also Thanksgiving Day, and it was the absolute last day we could leave to make it down to Herradura, Costa Rica in time for the first trip of the season. That morning we got the bad news. Twenty five to thirty foot seas just outside of the Golden Gate bridge, and it was going to be like that all the way down past San Diego. We had no choice, we had to go. At least it would be a following sea, not nearly as bad as going the opposite way and pounding through the crests.

We made our preparations, tied down everything that was loose and went in to dinner before leaving. The Chef had made us an amazing dinner, and everyone from the just about whole company was there. The only problem was that we couldn’t afford to eat a heavy meal, because we all knew it would just make getting sea sick come that much easier soon.

As we motored under the Golden Gate we proceeded to get a serious dose of getting pounded. Just as promised, it lasted well past San Diego and on into Baja. At one point, being the crazy lunatic that I am, I fought my way up to the top deck on the ship, or the Lido Deck, and stood there in awe as I looked UP at the tops of waves above the ship. It was truly one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Luckily, because it was a following sea, it just pushed us along, even faster than we would normally be able to move.

Because of this we were ahead of schedule, and that is when I fell in love with Sand Dollar Beach. Captain Graves decided that we deserved to have a little break from the horrible seas, so we ducked into la Entrada and weighed anchor just off of Sand Dollar beach. Captain then said to everyone, “You have 12 hours before we have to get out of here, I’d recommend you all go ashore and……” then there was silence. Everyone was gone, and that’s where I got my fond memory.

The life of a sailor is pretty interesting. I’m sure you’ve heard me complain about it, and speak highly of it all in the same paragraph before, but I’m going to do it again today. In a strange way, I both hate it and love it at the same time. My world is filled with many “firsts and lasts”, whether it’s the first trip of the Baja season or the last trip of the Alaska season, what it amounts to is that I am always moving, constant motion. This makes life interesting, for sure, but it also is hard as well.
Why this lifestyle is so hard, are the people. I’m constantly dealing with “firsts and lasts” when it comes to the people that I work with, and that’s not so easy. People come into my life for short bursts of time, and whether I hate them, befriend them, or fall in love with them their short stint in my life is filled with “firsts and lasts”. It’s not so easy to deal with sometimes.
Here I am again, right in the middle of my “first trip of the season for me in Baja” and I’m dealing with all the heart ache of several “lasts” right now. Many of the people that I have befriended over the last few months are either ending their contracts right now or are just plain moving on. It’s an interesting time. On top of that there is a whole rotation that is leaving this weekend, being replaced with a bunch of folks who I haven’t met yet, because they are so new.
It really is sad to see my friends go, but I know that I will have them as some type of friends for a long, long time and that the next wave of folks that come through will probably bring some more as well. At least it’s nice to think that they will be. It’s both a sad and happy time, all in one.
I really hope that all of the folks who are heading out, know that they are appreciated and will be missed. Somewhere down the road, I hope our paths cross again.

With beaches like this everywhere, how can I complain?

Things are going pretty good down here. The whales have been pretty good, though not quite as good as they will be later in the season. I’ve actually been so busy I haven’t had a chance to take pics of any yet! But that will come in good time….

The weather has been perfect and it sure is good to be back.

And with that, back to some seriously SLOW internet!

I’ll post the pictures as I can, hopefully tonight when I get up to La Paz. I don’t know why, but internet in Cabo is always slow, no matter where I stay. Kind of strange!

It’s good to be back….

I was pretty bored yesterday, so I drove around taking random pictures of stuff in my neighborhood.

Shipyard was pretty tough on me this year. In a lot of ways I feel like it took a little piece of me, maybe took some days off my life, or something. I haven’t ever to this day felt the stress or burden that I did during that period of days. I’m not saying that I couldn’t handle it, because I did, but what I am saying is that it wasn’t easy.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, when you experience a seriously stressful event like that the thing you lose is your sense of adventure. Your sense of the very thing that I celebrate here on this website, and over the last few days I’ve come to realize that I’m not about to give that up. To be honest with you, I’ve come too far to give up now. Many people wander through life going from one negative experience to the next, and I don’t want to be one of them. A couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to be the person that chooses to go from one positive experience to the next, and I’m not about to give that up.

In my effort to regain my soul, I decided to make a trip to the ocean. I knew that I needed to spend a night camped on the beach and I knew that there was only one place I would be able to do that. Pismo Beach, or more specifically Oceano Dunes OHV area. Oceano is a huge set of dunes and beach that are open to the public and they allow people to drive right on the beach. It’s a very special thing, and quite a sight to see.

The kids and I made the journey down, about a 7 hour drive from home, to the dunes. We didn’t make it down until after dark, which in a way added to the suspense of the trip. We were all set up, camped out when it hit me. We are camping RIGHT on the ocean! No matter how many times I do it I am still amazed at how soothing it is to sleep with the waves in the background.

The next morning we woke up with the sun, took some pretty solid pictures and stomped around on the dunes for a while. Even with all of those people the place still creates a sense of serenity.

After breakfast we took a look at some of the sand rails and atv’s as they blasted their way over the dunes. These machines are truly a testimony of the ability of man to conquer any terrain. There were so many high dollar, high quality rigs running around, it truly was impressive.

Once the sand toys settled down a bit we went just down the road a bit and had a look at the monarch butterfly habitat. The butterflies were pretty cool, but all the kids wanted to do was catch them! Since this wasn’t allowed, I quickly snapped a couple of pictures and we went on our way.

We decided after a while to hit the road and make a side trip on the way back home. My friend Tim told me about a place called Pinnacles National Monument that we should stop and take a look at on the way home.

The Pinnacles are a set of rock formations formed by fault lines coming together, and they reminded me of something I would have found in Colorado. It was a miniature version of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, would be my take on it. Really, the park was nothing more than a nice backdrop for a bbq, and maybe a good place for a hike or two.

I’ve been trying to catch up with stuff that’s been pushed aside for some time now, and thought I would post a couple of pictures that I took while down in the San Francisco Bay Area recently. It really is a beautiful place.

Enjoy.