My Catalina Kayak Adventure

[Apex Predator]

Well, I have long wanted to combine my love of backpacking, Free-dive Spear-fishing and Kayak-fishing,… a couple of weekends ago I had an opportunity. The destination is the most remote beach in Catalina where I plan on meeting some friends of mine, where we plan on doing some free-dive spear-fishing and night lobster free-diving. I decide to do a 26mile solo crossing on my Hobie Kayak, from San Pedro directly to our campsite, while my friends take the ferry to two harbors(Via Avalon) and then backpack 8miles to, Parsons Landing.

I decide to leave in the early morning hours when the wind and wave swells are predicted to be the smallest. October tends to be a calm month in these waters but with El Nino upon us, who knows what nature will bring. The trip was not without its drama but I was able to get that out of the way during the first half of my trip. During the crossing over I narrowly missed getting ran over by a China bound container ship in and its subsequent wake nearly capsized me. Then after padding 6 hours I arrive at my GPS coordinates and beach my Kayak at Parsons Landing. I beat my friends by over 2hours, and find our campsite in a hurry because my kayak is not pulled up all the way on the beach. I am exhausted at this point and would like nothing more to fall face first in the sand and pass out like in the movies but when I turn to head back to my kayak I see a rouge wave break on the beach and sweep my kayak out to sea only to immediately be capsized by the next wave. I run out into the surf and right my kayak and pickup my floating yard sale before pulling my kayak ALL the way on the beach this time! After taking an inventory of everything I realize I have lost my Mirage Drive(my primary source of propulsion) I was now officially up sh#t creek w/o a paddle and my only hope now lies in my snorkel, mask and fins. After an hour and 15min of combing the surf in the murky visibility I finally found my Mirage Drive nearly completely buried. I thanked God for the better part of a half hour and then set-up camp and wait for my friends to get there.

The next day we go Spear Fishing(I saw a Sea Turtle..sweet) and also go Kayak fishing, we catch enough fish to eat for ourselves for the rest of the trip by 11am and still have enough to treat our camping neighbors to some delicious fish tacos and yellowtail sashimi, which are fresh as the sun is hot.

The trip back went as planned on the Kayak with the exception of the welcomed surprise of seeing a school of some rare Sunfish(see pics) and by the grace of God I arrive safely in San Pedro Harbor late in the afternoon Sunday. This trip was truly amazing and cant wait to do it again next year….Who’s with me?