10.10.10

View from the porch.. I think I'll stay awhile.

10.10.10... Nothing too scary with that. I don't even hear too many people talking about it. In binary code it is the number 42. Sally Fitzgibbions tweeted that this morning so I thought I would toss it in. For me it marks the one year anniversary of moving to La Conchita. LC as it's called by the locals.

Excerpt from the novel.. The Innocents..

The '66 Bonneville eased out of Rincon Park and turned south, Wil nudged on the pedal conjuring up a throaty exhaust. He still had the hots for the car, virtually stolen from a widow during the gas crunch. The Bonnie had style; it went like a white bat. It's also carried a 9'6"longboard in a partition he'd punched through the back seat. To improve it's handling he'd replaced the suspension and steering. Other than that, the car was mint.

Wil rested his arm on the open window, to his left, La Conchita appealed to some inner sense. It was so unexpected: half a mile long, scrunched against the coastal cliffs, a vest pocket community not even on most road maps. North-bound drivers escaping LA for the red tiled splendors of Santa Barbara another 15 minutes up the road rarely caught two blinks of it in the rearview. Which suited him fine.

Like most locals, he dug the closeness of it. People co-existed.. like the mobile homes, beach shacks, stucco houses, redwood decks. Roses grew next to cactus, fuchsias next to Spanish bayonet. And up the street at the north end, bananas, the fruit tree-ripening in bright blue bags. La Conchita itself hadn't grown much, though. Laid out in 1924, it waited for the movies stars and city folk to come, some made it as far as Mussel Shoals. After a while the coast highway brought others: oil workers, smugglers, retirees, surfers, all attracted by cheap lots, and two miles of sloping beach...

Richard Barre pretty much nailed it in his 1995 description of LC. The banana's are unfortunately gone, and there are probably more nurses than smugglers these days though. It was late '94 when I first took a look at a house for sale on Vista del Rincon. Theresa quickly shut that idea down? The first slide happened about 3 months later when I was at the Ski Industries trade show in Vegas. I clearly remember the watching it on the news along side Chuck Barfoot, snowboard pioneer, and long time LC resident. Well..Chuck on is on the front row and so am I so I think we have more to worry about with the global warming and melting polar ice caps.. lol.

It was Jenny, Julia, and my daughter Kalie who brought me to La Conchita a year ago to this day. Well.. Long story short. That didn't quite pan out. So it was Jenny, Julia, who went back to Santa Barbara, leaving th big house, and mortgage, and myself. Thank you. I found Susy and her daughter to rent the uptairs. Problem solved.

Driving home last night on the way back from the Carp just in time to catch the sunset, there was a big ol dolphin show going on. Dolphins stretched from the curve all the way to the middle of town. Jumping, playing, racing, generally flying all over the place, speaking to me once again.. Yes.. I think I will stay awhile..

Bobby.. Some of the biggest LC Beach Break I've seen.

Kim's Sup Part Two or.. More time well spent..

About week later I decided I really didn’t pull a muscle but maybe cracked my rib. That’s what it feels like anyway. Don’t worry… it only hurts when I paddle real hard. So.. Over the weekend I tried to paddle casually into a few over at the left. Pretty small but I could have surfed bigger without much more pain so no worries. Wait. Before I go way off tangent and end up with a third part to this stand up paddle confession story of mine, I have to say one thing. You can’t just tell me you are a shortboarder, or a longboarder, or a supper, or a sponger, a kneeboarder, or a kite boarder or, I just surf when it’s good, or blah, blah, blah. Just surf. One of everything please..Thanks! I still plan on getting on a surf mat and on a kneeboard this winter. If you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate.. which only creates hate, which can only make you irate. Except those spongers. Fuck those guys…. Just kidding… and the kiteboarders…. Kidding..

So here’s the story I was trying to tell you about yesterday. It goes like this. Riley was taking me on his morning walk up at Bates. We hooked up with Feta and Lou on the way back. I notice some fins heading in the same direction, at the same time my brother Mike calls and gives me the up to date surf report from Venturah.. Actually he hasn’t arrived in the VTA yet but it’s not happening in Hueneme. Which by the way is the Chumash word for “halfway” or “resting place” Halfway to where? Glad you asked. Halfway between Malibu and Rincon of course. Google it. Sorry. No. .I made that up but it sounds good yes? It is the however the only deep water port between LA and San Francisco. So I headed home waiting to hear something on the surf, and wondering if I should forget about it, and go cut the dolphins off in LC for a photo shoot. Sometimes I wish someone would just tell me what to do and where to go. Kidding.. Surf report came back negative but too late to cut off the dolphins. So now what? I need a new plan.

I decided to grab my Camera , load the SUP, head south, and cut them off for some photos around Hobson’s, then maybe drive a bit further and launch the SUP. Making the left into La Conchita is a piece of cake but heading south is a pain in the ass, at least in the Westy. I try to not let the f-bombs fly as I merge into the southbound traffic. I am sure most of those drivers missed the sign and flashing lights two miles back that said “END FREEWAY - CROSS TRAFFIC AHEAD” I know the dolphins are not too far ahead of me so I start scanning. As soon as I am safely in the slow lane, I look over, and there they are. Heading north! It could be a different group so I keep heading south. Past Hobson’s. Past Crap Reef. Past Pitas. Pass Mondo’s (where I briefly thought about paddling out on Kim’s Sup) Pass Solimar ( where I wish the waves were a little better so I could paddle out on Kim’s Sup without a crowd) Sheesh.. See how quickly this story is getting away from me. Stop!

There are no fins to be seen down this way so I turn around and head north thinking briefly again about paddling out on Kim’s Sup as I pass by Mondos . Stop! I need a new plan. I will rush back to LC and shoot some photos of the northbound group I passed on the way down. As soon as I pulled the u-turn and parked, there they were, about 100 yards north of me.. I briefly thought about running them down. Nevermind ! New plan!!! Forget the photos today go to the cove and cut them off on the SUP. So I did. Finally a plan that I could live with. Not that cove.. the good cove.

No waves and no one in the parking lot. Good. Perfect. I don’t surf the cove much anyway but I don’t really want to be caught with an 11’ SUP on my head. As soon as I hit the beach I saw them. At least two fins about 200 yards south of the cove. Sweet.. I hit the water and the conditions were perfect. Glassy, foggy of course, 10’-20’ visibility in the water, and two fins only 100 yards away. So I paddle on out thinking wow this is great and a bit unnerving at the same time. I have been surfing with these guys for years. I have been on the same wave. I have had them pass by within a few feet. I have had to duck dive right in front of six of them, heading full speed, straight at me. But that was just them passing me by. This time I was going to try to hang out with them for a while. I soon as I got pretty close I stopped and sat down for a while. There were two of them. Big ones with big unique fins but neither that I knew by name. They didn’t seem to be going anywhere or maybe I just stopped them. The three of us all kind of hung around in the same area for quite a while, and it crossed mind that if I fell in, they might ram my already cracked rib. Ouch.. They would get pretty close sometimes.. maybe 10’ -15’ and then they would disappear . Occasionally they would come up to the surface and just stay there. I see that behavior a lot now that I have been watching them. This time I was sure they checking me out. Then they both disappeared. So I headed north to towards the cove to see if they would catch up with me when.. poo’fe.. That is the sound they make when they surface. Kind of a soft poof. I don’t know something like that. Anyway it’s the sound of more fins coming up from the south.

Note to self. It’s way easier to count dolphins from this angle especially with the clear water. Six in this group, and without a doubt I know some of these ones but, not by name. This group appeared a lot less freaky than the two bigger ones. They were on a slow but steady trip up the coast. I let them come up to me and then started to paddle in front of them hoping they would pass me. Nope. So I stopped again and just let them cruise by me. Two up front, the other four bringing up the rear. The water is so clear I can see the bottom, the fish, the eel grass, and a lot of sand if you know what I mean. Super good waves coming is what I mean.

I just kind of fell in line naturally behind these guys and followed them into the cove, on up the point, all the way to indicator. I can’t really explain how cool it was. I was right there with them and they didn’t seem to mind a bit. I could see the four below me so clearly it was like slow motion. They’d surface right in front of me, poo’fe.. And for a brief moment in time I was part of this pod. Pretty cool. They never tried to speed away, change directions, or ram into my ribs. In fact I had to slow down a couple times. Pretty freaking cool. Once I hit Indicator I decided to turn back and leave them alone. I didn’t want to wear out my welcome but was looking forward to another encounter. Plus there was somebody out surfing the left and I didn’t want to be spotted on the sup.. Ha..

I wasn’t even to the rivermouth when two more fins popped up. Took a seat and there was qunt’aw (lighting). Pretty much the first dolphin I named and the first dolphin I have seen and recognized from the water. I would like to think he or she was cruising along with ox’kon (thunder) but ox’kon does not have that distinctive of a fin and I didn’t have a camera. But where there’s lighting there’s usually thunder..

Lighting and Thunder..

Time well spent.. or Kim's Sup part one.

So when I started this little Dolphins of the Rincon thing I figured it would be fun to actually know some of the dolphins that cruise by everyday while I was out surfing, or walking on the beach, or just sitting on the porch. So far I have cataloged about 75 fins.. Some of quality on the photos makes a second ID questionable but hey, even the worst one was identified by Mark up at Okeanis. Mark and Daniela have been a huge help by the way.

I don’t have anyone down south that I am sharing info with at this time. However based on the amount of fins spotted down here, which have also been spotted up in Monterey, I would say it’s a safe bet that some of these fins definitely make it in to Baja Norte. What does this all mean.. hmm... They are getting better waves than me lately. But not last Monday. Labor Day brought the first decent waves of the season to the Rincon and I was stoked! I heard a few people complaining.. Why... Hey it was pretty good! Quite a few that came through that day were really good. I surfed close to 6 hours and was happy to be back home. 6 Hours.. That should show you how desperate I have become.. Funny thing. Not one dolphin the entire time I was out. I am sure that at least two cruised through between sessions when I went home to take a nap…

Wake up!! Riley was ready to go. Do something. Anything.. Just hurry up. So we took a bike ride down to the pier to see how the waves were looking. Not epic... but there were a few guys out and I am sure they were stoked to be back home too. Two dolphins came through the Cliffhouse section, passed by the rocks all the way to the call box. Actually I don’t know if there is a callbox there but this was the best dolphin wave of the season. I could see both of them clearly building speed though the first section riding inside the wave like only they can do, past the rocks which are kind of sketchy for dolphins and people, then they both burst out simultaneously doing two perfect airs in a row, then two alternating airs before doing their flyaway twisting kick outs at the end.. One of them rode about 20 yards further before doing his flyaway twisting kick out getting pretty dang close to the freeway in my opinion. What did I get out of this little 20 second encounter? I think they were saying Don. There’s three hours of light left and this swell is dropping fast, so you better get on it. So I did. Moving along...

My friend Kim loaned me her SUP (Stand up Paddle Board) for a few days. I know. I hate these things as much as the next guy but, this one is kind of a cruiser, and while, you can catch waves on it. I’m not planning to catch any.. just cruise. blah.. blah.. Well you know. . Ok. hmm. Then.... Anytime in the water is time well spent. I know Kim got this one for paddling around on flat days hoping to get out there and hang out with the “Dolphins of the Goodland” Personally I have been secretly wanting one of these for the same reason for quite some time now.

Tuesday.. There was still some surf to be had but, I had this new toy so.. Yea.. Hopefully run into some friends.. Dolphins that is. First off it’s not as easy as it looks. There is the width of 30 inches and a ridiculous length of 11 feet to consider. Try getting that through the hobbit tunnel of La Conchita or into your car without being seen. This is a super nice Jimmy Lewis board but must have come out before they put those nifty little built in handles. Somehow I came up with an ingenious carrying system that even MacGyver would have been proud of. Using the leash and the paddle, I made it through the tunnel and to the beach. Easy Peasy. There was actually surf that day in LC but, luckily no one on the beach, and no one to notice me paddle out. The steep beach break waves looked kind of fun and like certain death on the sup. Anyway I am out here to cruise around and look for some dolphin’s right? Ha.. I didn’t see any dolphins so I cruised on down to the pier where I might be able to catch some waves…

There was a lone surfer out at the beach break just north of the pier so I stayed way offshore to insure he did not see my face. I had paddled this thing around once before on really smooth water but other than that, this is my first time on the sup. It’s weird paddling around with your stance straight ahead. Weird standing out in the middle of the ocean. Weird trying to get through the pier on such a huge craft with the current sucking in and out. Weird this tall paddle. Just weird. So I get by the pier and no one is out. Good. High tide and not really enough swell . Good. I was heading to where I saw the dolphins catch that wave the day before, and that is where I was heading the minute I left the house. Stop!!!

I know what you’re thinking… a thousand sunsets, dolphins, heart shape stones, magic sea glass, stupid love song covers, and now a SUP.. WTF.. That is why I started shooting portraits of raptors and have a small but powerful collection of skull shape rocks. It’s harder than it looks those SUPS. My first wave.. A knee high but treacherous take off over the previously mentioned rock section. Shifting to a surf stance was easier than I thought given how off balance I am on that thing the rest of the time. Dig the paddle in and glide. Fun! Second wave.. Might be chest high. It’s hard to get this thing turned around and going. Which side do I favor when I am catching a wave? I favored my right side and dug really hard to get in this one then.. tweak… snap.. crackle.. I pulled something and instantly forget about the trampoline injury that was bothering me but I did catch the wave. Fun! Fun! Ouch!! I should have headed back after that but no one was out, and I wanted to get a few more. It was really hard to catch anything without putting any pressure on my right side but I managed a few more. Fun ! Fun! Fun! Ouch.. I was planning to tell a different story but the preamble turned into a preramble so that is the end of Kim’s Sup part one.. Or.. Time well spent.

The Old Rincon Creek Brick Quarry - Part 2

So hmmm.. Part Two. I knew I could dig up some more information on this subject if I was just patient. Well.. um. First we have to back up the first paragraph of Part One. I take that all back. Oops.. The Brick Factory was not 6-8 miles up the creek as it was related to me by, surf ski friend, Barron. According to David, who maintains a small file on the factory over at the Carpinteria Historical Museum, the factory was much closer to the rivermouth than that. That also confirms what another long time Carp local, beachcomber, and brick collector had told me.

The factory which operated under the name of Carpinteria Clay Products Company was located on what is now the L.L. Brenter Ranch. That puts the site about a 10th of mile up the creek from the railroad track. This of course makes my foray into the upper part of the creek, which resulted in the worst case of poison oak I have ever had, or seen for that matter, and subsequent scarring, completely unnecessary. Nice..


Carpinteria Clay Products Company operated in the 1920’s using native yellow adobe clay dug on site, hence the unique color of these bricks. The production machinery cost $37,000. They also manufactured tiles and in 1922 made the claim “our product is much superior to the tile that is made near Los Angeles" I have no trouble believing them on that one. I found both tiles and bricks in abundance after this winters consistent surf, and sand rearrangement.

I also took a quick drive around Carp and found two chimneys using these original bricks. One was painted but the other is still in its natural state. On a side note: When I first began thinking of moving down to La Conchita I found one of these bricks in the back yard of one of the houses I was looking at. (used in construction, not from the creek) Sly’s Restaurant on Linden Street is also reputed to be built of these bricks as well. However there are far too many layers of paint on those to really tell.

The Carpinteria Clay Products factory closed presumably around the start of the great depression, and reopened again in 1931 under the name, Montecito Clay Products Co. This time with an expanded product line which I assume included all the other colors of bricks that come out of the creek. I have had at least one person tell me “it’s just the yellow ones” Hmmm.. The yellow ones may be the original Rincon bricks but I can assure you that the pinks, oranges, beige, and multicolor bricks have all come out of that creek.

There is no information as to when Montecito Clay Products closed but, in 1960 they began construction on the double lane divided highway that was to be cut though Rincon. The factory was buried under the debris from cutting the highway and the terracing of the hillside. One idea is they tossed imperfect bricks into the creek and eventually washed out in all their glory. If that were the case I would assume they would have all washed out long ago. My guess is they are still buried and when the creek really gets going, like 2005, 1995, it uncovers a few more. Maybe the creek had to cut a new path right through the buried factory. I don’t know but the long time collectors say they come out every time we get one of those really, really, wet years.

No bricks came out of there this year. My collection has been built entirely on littoral drift and the non-stop wave action we had this winter. Speaking of littoral drift.. The furthest south I have even found one is Stables at C-Street in Ventura. That is a good 15 miles to the south at least. I am sure some have made it as far as the Mugu Submarine Canyon never to be seen again. Actually my ex-wife found that one for me at C-Street. Ouch. Dang it.. Thought I could get through a whole blog. Someone save me..

When you see Santa Clara Rivermouth doing this..

It time to go looking for bricks!!

Field notes from Dolphins of the Rincon.

8:15 am - Getting a late start so lets get started. There have been a lot of fins this past week so I spent the early morning posting new fin id shots and.. Yeah! I finally saw the same dolphins twice. Earlier in July I ran across that huge pod, which I will now call a herd (Pods may combine for several minutes or hours to form larger social groups called "herds" ) Anyway.. I came across some fins about 7:00 am on the 1st of August at Indicator. Of course didn't have my camera. I was down for a quick walk with Riley who got a cut on one of his pads last week. I was trying hard to keep him out of the water and test out the new waterproof/sandproof bandage design I came up with. He had this super nice bandage job courtesy of Animal Medical Clinic in Carp that I didn't want to mess up so I wrapped it in a plastic bag and threw a sock on over it. It would have worked if he just stayed out of the water. Oh well. So here come the fins heading south. I was over the waterproof bandage experiment so I figured I would head them off down in the LC. Riley was like hey, "no way we just got here" Even though he is smarter and more handsome than me.. I tricked him into getting back in the van and we headed home. Grab the Canon and got on the beach by 7:23. The surf was minimal so they were coming in quite close and a got a few good shots. This was a good size pod of about 7-9 dolphins and I called them Riley's Pod. Turns out 3 of the fins are from the Solimar herd back on the 19th July. After cataloging over 50 fins.. Finally a match. I guess that's a good thing. More dolphins than you can count..

8:26 am - After months of anticipation, and thanks to David over at the Carpinteria Historical Museum I am proud to announce I will finally be writing part two of the Old Rincon Creek Brick Quarry Anyway I went to the cove to get a few shots of one of the bigger stockpiles of bricks i have seen. Mission accomplished. Not quite. Riley still insisted on taking a walk so we headed around Indicator and up the coast..

8:53 am - I saw it exactly the same time as Riley which is too late. I made a run for it but Riley had it and was off down the beach. California Brown Pelican. This is quite a conundrum. On the one hand I don't like the leash laws but, sick and injured birds are no match for most dogs.. Curtis excluded. About a hundred yards down the beach we ran into Debbie and her dog which was enough distraction for me to get the pelican. Surprisingly he was looking good as far as injuries go. Riley had him by the scruff of the neck so no blood, no broken wings, didn't even really lose any feathers to speak of. But he was still sick so I figured I should get him to June's seabird rescue in SB before another dog came along. With the help of Debbie, I got the bird back to Lou's in the upper parking lot. Lou made a call to our local seabird care expert Connie, and a couple hours later he was looking pretty good and heading to June's.

Disclaimer: Dogs are Dogs. I don't like seeing any animals getting hit by a dog, cat, or car for that matter. I worked for a few years at the SB Wildlife Network for those exact reasons. In the case of birds that don't fly away when they see a dog coming.. Well.. They are usually pretty sick or injured already. In this case the pelican was lucky that Riley didn't get him, and lucky that he ended up getting the fluids and nourishment he is going to need survive. So if I twist it enough I could say Riley did him a favor.. but really.. bad dog.

9:33 am - Of course while all this is going on I caught some fins heading south out of the corner of my eye. Sheesh.. Walking on the beach is a full time job.. lol. There is probably enough time for a bowl of cereal before cutting them off in LC. I came out of the tunnel and there they were.

9:43 am - Haven't had a chance to do the fin id's yet but there were about 6-7 in this pod with another 2 following close behind (about 200 yards) I followed them for about 10 minutes down the beach then headed back to Rincon to check up on the Pelican.. Lot's of other sightings this week. A couple surfing down in Oxnard Shores.. A few more along Bates. See you out there tomorrow with the Dolphins of the Rincon..

Wednesday 6/30/2010 - POD Dolphin Research Boat Trip #2

This was my first boat trip, and the first time I got to meet anyone from the POD team. I have been doing my own research for a little over month but have just started to dig in lately. I have made a number of fin id's on my own and hope to get some matches on this trip. Anyway.. On board today are Lindsay Griffin, Lindsey Eltinge, Pod Director Dr Toni Frohoff, Captain Jim Klein, and myself, Don Jayne. What a boat. The FINADDICT is a 38' Radon Sportfisher. The boat is fully equipped to say the least and highly recommended. I didn't even know they made a Radon this size. Ok well.. Off we go.

9:45 - We are heading out. I had seen at least 3 pods down my way along the Rincon so off we went. I kind of wanted to go the other way towards the Ranch... Maybe another day. Samy's Camera was cool enough to loan Lindsay a Canon D40 with the same lens I use. EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L. Brooks graduate, Lindsey was in the cabin giving Lindsay some last minute photography tips. I should have been in there myself. I don’t know what I was doing but I heard the word “RAW” and I knew that word locks up my computer every time, so I went outside. I am really stoked, and grateful to be aboard with this crew. Our mission today. Try to get some good shots which can be used later for Dorsal Fin Identification. Easier said than done.

10:00 - We are already on our first pod. Just off the Biltmore and Coral Casino in Montecito. Good job Jim. I am going to have to start writing some notes down because my mental notes are starting to get a bit fuzzy. I think there were about 5 in this group and, I don’t know about the girls but, I really ended up with nothing from this pod. Timing and luck is everything in this game... Oh!! and a fast autofocus! Composition and all your other photo skills don't really mean a thing. Just looking for a clean detailed profile shot of the Dorsal Fin. Well. My first thought was. This was way easier from the beach. Anyway as far as I can remember these guys did come in close a few times. You know.. I thought I had my timing down with all the surf shots I have been getting but these guys are underwater and kind of unpredictable most of the time. They zipped around us for a bit, a little curious, might have been feeding, and then continued heading north. By 10:15 we are heading south. One thing I really like about Toni is her concern for the dolphins’ well being, and we are trying to be as non-invasive as possible, so if it seems like the dolphins are tired of us, we will head out…

10:45 - Passing by Santa Claus Lane. You can tell its summer because the surf camps are set up wall to wall on this tiny stretch of beach. No fins though.

11:00 - We are already in Rincon Bay according to Jim... I call it Bates Beach and the Carpinteria Bluffs. Really I call it my backyard and I spend a ridiculous amount of time walking in both directions with Riley looking for magic sea glass. Still no dolphins, but there is a big male sea lion surrounded by a bevy of beautiful sea lionesses, so break the cameras out! Apparently the polyamorous lifestyle is quite popular off the coast. More on that one later. Well I just saw a pretty good size pod of 8-12 here on Monday but, today it is as flat as a lake so maybe that explains it. We head pass Indicator and into the cove.

11:17 - We are passing my house and the sleepy seaside town of La Conchita del Mar. I can almost see Riley lying on a very sandy couch because there was no time to give him a rinse this morning.

11:30 – I’m hungry as we are rounding Arco Island and passing by my one my favorite spots for lunch. “The Shoals at the Cliffhouse Inn” Some Dolphins’ thought it would be a good idea for me to get married here and swam by and gave us their blessing right during our ceremony. I guess they only blessed us for 3 years.. What do those practical jokers know about monogamy anyway? Seriously.. I knew that dolphins were among the only animals besides us that have sex for pure enjoyment, but I always thought they mated for life. I used that line in many an argument. “look at those dolphins they can stay together, so can we” Ok now. Well that’s out the window... Thanks for clueing me on to that Lindsay. By 11:45 we are passing Hobson’s and turning around. No fins. Time for lunch.

12:47 – We needed to get some new profile shots for our facebook pages so Lindsay, Toni, and I pretend to spot some dolphins of the coast of Sandyland and the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. Got some good ones!

1:11 – We are back in the dolphin research business. Just off the northern end of Summerland in front of the cool secret house you can’t see from the freeway is another small pod of 3 -4. Ok. Whatever you see, there is probably 1 or 2 more. From an early check on the photo one of these guy’s looks like a dolphin I nicked named Simon Anderson. Not only the inventor of the Thruster and, grizzled veteran of the ASP tour but, also one of my first fin ID shots. I will have to do more work on that but, right now I am having huge problems with my database. This is pretty cool, and the whole idea behind this project, great. Get to know you local dolphins.. Got a few good fin id’s from these guys and by the time we hit Sharks Cove...

1:48 – I will call them the Gumby Pod because someone painted a cool little Gumby on the seawall at Sharks. Well... This was the most entertaining group of the day. Jumping, spinning, flying, bumping into each other, and popping up all over the place. There were 4 of them and they looked to be having plenty of fun. Almost always staying pretty close together but at one point 2 of them swam way behind us and came back trying to trick us in to believing there were 6. Those practical jokers. I could hear them laughing when they went by but.. I did get a few good shots. Well these guys and girls were up to something without question. We stayed with them till about 2:30 all the way to Hammonds. There was even a little sea lion trying to get in on the action jumping and porpoising all over the place. Nice..


2:39 – We are in the harbor. Perfect day but I did miss an opportunity to have my shark photo published by the Independent. Maybe I should get an IPhone. Naaaaa..

They are out there... Closer than you think!

So.. The great thing about walking on the beach is how much things change everyday. New sand, new stones, new logs, no sand, huge waves, driftwood, baby seals, etcetera, etcetera.. Warning. This is my second post about shark attacks so if you are squeamish or a non believer you might want to skip it. This is all speculation on my part anyway but, that has never stopped me before.

Yesterday during my daily morning walk with Riley we almost immediately came across a baby seal. Actually a baby sea lion. You can tell by the ears, and the fact that they speak. This one was saying "get this stupid, though quite handsome, dog out of my face" "don't you know there is a law that says you need to stay back 150 feet from all marine mammals" Stupid Riley no matter how many times I tell him this simple rule.. He forgets! That's why I always carry his leash even though there is no one else on the beach for miles. Well.. with Riley secured, I took a good look at the seal and while small he seemed to be pretty healthy. So I let him be. Just like they will tell you to do when you call the marine mammal rescue line.

A few weeks back I came across 3 medium sized seals on the beach. 3 is a lot for any one day, so I call a few people, and the mammal rescue even returns my call. It is determined, that they were in fact, baby elephant seals. They are pretty big for pups, super cute, and have these huge round heads. They don't look anything like the adults. Anyway they looked like they were on their deathbed to me. Turns out they were just dead tired. They come in to sleep after their first long trek from the islands (75 miles I am told) By the time I came back later in the day to shoot a couple photos using my EF100-400mmL series lens and staying at least 150 feet back.. they were gone. So back to our new baby seal. Here comes the sad part..


I continue my walk down the beach and about 500 yards to the north there is a dead adult seal rolling back and forth in the surf. Dead seals are not that uncommon on the coast but, this one is fresh, and and has a pretty huge chunk of flesh taken out near his rear flippers. As you will see in the pictures it is a pretty round chunk, and there are also a couple of deep incisions (tooth) Immediately I am thinking this is probably the mother and was a victim of some toothy creature, making our new favorite baby seal an orphan.



Here's where my speculation comes in. Mother and baby are swimming in the nearby waters possibly in the shark zone about 3-4 miles north of here, yes Carpinteria.. at the harbor seal rookery/sanctuary. This is where the violent attack occurred back in March of 2006. Two baby seals had there heads bit right off by a toothy creature known as "whitey" There were witnesses to the this attack and it made front page news in the Coastal View. This is the same stretch of coast that my friend Billy and his wife were on SUP's paddling from Indicator to the Pier one beautiful morning. She had "whitey" do a pass by on her. Just rose to the surface, looked straight at her, and went back down.. Yikes! Anyway back to the seals. Harbor seals do not have ears and do not speak so they hired some volunteers from seal watch to speak on their behalf. Seal watch volunteers are located on the bluffs just above the rookery. Stay back! They use signs so they don't have to yell and scare the seals.. Wait.. they don't hear. Actually the signs are for the people that don't hear. Anyway.. Unless your dog is right in their face stay back..

More speculation. The wound is not debilitating so mom and baby manage to get away from said toothy creature. Unfortunately, the wound is near some major arteries so she eventually bleeds out and they both land on the beach in LC. At this point I am pretty convinced our baby seal is likely an orphan. Hopefully he has learned enough to feed and fend for himself. Lots of seals (sea lions) nearby. Surely one can help him. But he needed to get back to the water. It was low tide and quite far away. I thought I come back at high tide without Riley and convince him to get back in. Anyway.. He decided not to wait for high tide and casually slid off the rock and walked on down to waters edge and went in..

Side note: I use to work for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network and love wild animals with a passion. We used to rescue everything from mice to coyotes. It is a great feeling to nurse one back to health and be there for the release. Most of what we dealt were animals in distress as a result of people, cars, dogs, cats, etc. I support that 100%. But if you have a naturally occurring death or circumstance, I think you need to take a step back and let nature take it's course. imo..I did a number of unnecessary rescues of these animals too. Only to have them put to sleep. I really believe they should have been left for the vultures, crows, opossums, other carrion eaters, if you know what I mean. From what I know.. The Marine Mammal Rescue which is separate from the Wildlife Rescue, will only get involved if it's is endangered by humans. They may move it to a quieter location or something. They may also get involved for research with some sick animals at times as well. Aside from that, they tend to let nature take it's course. Which is fine by me. God speed baby seal...

A simple drive. self help books.. therapy... or something..

This one is just about some personal reflection. Skip it if you are looking for something funny or informative.. Like bricks, or Banana Growers. Otherwise bare with me while I just write down some stuff for no reason. The seasons are changing and the surf up here is starting to wind down. I missed some good wind swell while I was up in Mammoth over Easter and since I have been back. I had one pretty nice day at indicator, and another average day sitting inside a bit.. the rivermouth. 2 surfs in one week. maybe it was 3.. That is still about 4 short! This definitely is a problem. The surf feeds my soul..

Getting waves in the summer means driving. Now that I live in LC.. It is about 5 minutes closer to Oxnard or Ventura. That is about as far south as I like to go. And of course there is "the left" Not to mention some small usually crappy, waves in front of the house. Those can be a blast some times. Now that I live downstairs I can't see the surf in front of the house so I could be missing it right now! When I lived in Oxnard I would make the occasional trip to the Malibu area but.. otherwise I have a mental block which ends in Port Humneme. I love Jalama but it is a drive, gas is expensive, camp spots are hard to get, and face it, it's hit or miss there. Anyway pray for some continued west swell to bring me through spring and into summer. Please.

Really that's not why I am writing. It's been a little over two weeks since the huge fight with me wife that left us both hurt, and injured, and ready to finally give up. I've been going through a series of revelations ever since. Revelation 1 Wow.. I am really hurt by everything "I said" in the middle of the fight. The things she said were painful as well but what I said, was the most damaging to me. My wife is really sick of the fighting and ready to move on and maybe I should be too. But still there is something there. We both know. And that something is good, and fun, and playful. But really I want her to depend on me for anything. Something she has given up on..

Revelation 2 This occurred to me when I was en route to Mammoth with my my daughters. They had a horoscope book and Sara was flipping through reading excepts on relationships, and general personality traits. Now while I have always believed you can hear whatever you want in those things and fit them into your life there is always some truth to these things. There is no doubt that I am stubborn as a bull! That is just fucking great! What am I supposed to do with that gift? Most of the time this just a huge personality flaw. Anyway.. combine that with some Bipolar Disorder and I can act quite childish at times. So.. it may appear to the casual observer that I am in fact a jerk!


Take for example one of my trips to Mammoth this year.. I let every one know as we hit the road.. We will be stopping in Mohave.. and Bishop.. for gas. Maybe dinner in Bishop. "It would be better if you just grab some food at the AMPM" I just want to get there, have a glass of wine, and wind down from what is a long trip with 6 people and a dog in the Syncro. But.. the restless passengers are getting hungry way earlier than that. This is when that stupid bull starts to rise above. I end up with all this anger, and frustration, because things are not going according to my plan. Practically ready to throw a tantrum. I stop anyway in Lone Pine for some Pizza but, I am being such a jerk, to my wife, and all the kids, mine, hers, J's friend. Arrrggg.. Told them I didn't want a pizza and ordered a sandwich instead as my final desperate childish act. That will teach them..

Wtf.. I couldn't give up my dream plan to enjoy a nice dinner with my family??? Madness! I really just wanted to say. I am so happy everyone is here on this trip with me and I love you all. But I was too mad.. Too Stubborn. So who's to blame. The stars! Them for not adhering to the plan, or me for not being flexible and just happy to be there.. I can't see anyone to blame but myself. I am just glad my wife let that outburst go and we ended up having a great trip. Revelation 3 I make myself mad. I thought they were making me mad. Duh..

So I began reading the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz I have gotten through the first three, and number one is really the basis for the the other three so I will dwell on that for a moment. No wait! I will tell you the four agreements first.

1) Be impeccable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best

"Be impeccable with your word" The definition of impeccable is: without sin, flawless, etc.. I thought I was being impeccable but, when I looked deeper I see I wasn't. I was throwing out so much poison in the form of words, carelessly, or intentionally, it didn't matter. Agreements were being made, by both parties. Accepted to be true. So now they are. I don't know how to fix this. Whats done is done but, I am sorry. Only today matters. People don't realize the power of their words or see the harm that can be caused with speaking carelessly, thoughtlessly or aggressively. I didn't. Man I speak so carelessly, and thoughtlessly, that I don't even remember what I said half the time. I can't even pinpoint when the conversation went from friendly banter to whatever it was that upset my wife, my kids, or my friends. Aggressively?? Look out! I am going to let that f- bomb fly and worse. Most of us are aware that screaming at someone may be upsetting to them, but subtle little digs at them, or gossip behind their backs, can hurt others more than we realize, and in hurting them, we hurt ourselves. It is those little digs that put a lot of poison into my relationship. Revelation 4 Words hurt more than I realized and I need to be a bit more thoughtful with what I want to say..

Anyway.. Just acknowledging these things has somehow brought a new lightness to my personality or being. I feel it. And it feels good. This is a good way to be. Nothing has really changed.

Bananas..

I promise to get back to the bricks soon. It hasn't been a great couple of weeks for me.. Just floating around in relationship limbo. Then I just had the worst fight of my life with my wife. Not that I didn't believe in what I was fighting for, I did, but, the way I fought it was.. Painful. Hurtful.. To both if us. In the end I think I hurt myself the most. I know I did. In the end it's like the song. Nobody right.. Nobody wrong.. Most of us are just trying to get heard..

I know what you are thinking. That doesn't have anything to do with bananas. You are right. So my friend John told me recently.. "You got to be grateful" Followed up quickly by "don't you hate that" you know "people telling you to be grateful" So.. yeah.. I do hate that. But still.. You got to be grateful. Even in the midst of the worst of it. There is always something good going on. Hopefully.. Got to be hopeful I guess too. So.. What am I grateful for this week. Well.. the surf just keeps coming like it has for the last 6 months. It was the flatest I had seen all winter over the weekend but, still fun enough for for a longboard go out with Kalie in front of the house..

I was definitely grateful that by Monday things were getting back to normal. Some punchy head high windswell at Indicator going overhead on a few of the sets. Tuesday (the day of the worst fight of my life with my wife) Well.. Tuesday brought super clean conditions in the morning. A nice sized wind swell comboing up with a south squeaking through islands. It was so pretty out there. All green and blue.. Crisp and clean with some pretty nice looking barrels rolling in. Maybe a bit peaky for Rincon but some of them would line up perfectly. I had such a good time I couldn't believe I was in the worst fight of my life with my wife. (name withheld by request) Wednesday. The south took over a bit and made for a few incredible left hand barrels, though they were few and far between. The right had that south swell sectiony thing going. It's like a beach break really but, you are at Rincon, so if you are going fast enough, it's possible to connect about 10 of those beach break waves together, and end up half way to the cove before you know it. Thursday. Yesterday.. Another west swell. Long intervals so it was a bit inconsistent, and windy, but going overhead and plenty of fun to say the least.. So.. yeah. You got to be grateful.. and hopeful. And yes.. the bananas.

We moved in here in October of last year. See post previous post: "Right smack in the middle of La Conchita" So hopeful.. I was. Anyway my house is literally about 25 feet from the entrance of Doug Richardson's old Seaside Banana Plantation. So we transplanted about a half a dozen banana trees from our old house in SB to the new house in the LC. I have to point out, at this point the lawn was dead, the only palm tree was dead, this yard was dead! So these bananas trees all green and lush were a huge improvement. I planted them on the north end of the yard about 25 feet from the Banana Plantation. Then.. They started dying. Leaf's turning brown, Riley running into them knocking them off.. One by one they were dying a slow death. I felt like the laughing stock of La Conchita. I mean bananas grow like weed here in the LC. Oops. I mean weeds. Mine were looking pretty sad. Some were down to just a stock, trunk, I don't know what to call it but not a single leaf. Sad. But I was hopeful..

Here's a nice healthy grove on SurfSide

So I brought over a Pygmy banana tree I had growing at the trailer in Carp. This thing was beautiful. "I will show this town I am no banana killer" It died faster than the others. Banana killer!!! Or just a bad time to plant bananas I guess. But what about that infamous La Conchita micro climate? Bad time to plant bananas. I looked around the town at the established bananas and they were holding up pretty well. I heard Doug, owner of the Seaside Banana Plantation, used to put sheets over his puppy's on cold nights. Someone else told me to do that also but, it was too late for mine. Can't put a sheet over a dead banana tree. Too sad.. So I suffered the torment and shame, of looking at dying bananas, 25 feet from the former site of the only successful Banana Plantation in the United States just hoping.. they'd come back. Got to be hopeful.

Then.. Just in the last two weeks new leafs started sprouting out of all of them. I even have one with bananas starting to drop down that on that flower stock thingy. Whatever you call that. So I am grateful.. and hopeful... Thanks John.

Turning over a New Leaf.. Have a great day!