Anacapa Island - A 15 mile Journey

[2-Stix]

Another guy on the site went to Catalina by yak. Freaking stud. Find him on here. He's the guy to listen too.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by aren_denman

15 ft Malibu fishing kayaks... too poor for a Hobie!
We have them rigged up with basic bait tanks and fish finders.

What are you doing to train? Have you ever paddled more than 10mi straight w/o stopping in your 'whole life'? I would practice fully loaded nearshore. Try 3 6mile legs in a triangle nonstop thatway youre never too far from shore. 15mi on a straight line on a kayak is unrealistic. It will end up more than 15. With all that crap in/on your hull stability and seaworthiness is tailing off and you are more subject to capsize. Have you ever flooded your yak at sea and pumped it out to remount in wind and waves? Do you have a pump? You say camping is pricey so does that mean you have nowhere specific planned? Rangers arent too keen on anyone just hauling out to camp.

Youre crossing a nasty channel trying to hit a speck of rock in a month that historically is one of the stormiest. Call me a goober if youre a mod but you do not sound prepared enough to do it. You sound like a statistic. Aren meet logistics.

Follow Andys advice and try Cabrillo to 2 Harbors in a calmer month for your first long paddle/open ocean crossing.

[monstahfish]

I would highly recommend the PLB and a VHF radio. The PLB needs to be registered with SARSAT(search and rescue organization which will coordinate with coast guard, park ranger, police etc...) which is free. There are other units that are similar like spot and the delorme one that you can broadcast a message with but they require subscriptions. I have an ACR resqfix(they have newer units now) and though I've never had to use it, I always keep it in my PFD pocket, just have to send it in to change the battery every 5 years.

I would also recommend a flare gun and a visibility flag of about 4 feet with some kind of metal cap to act as a radar reflector on your kayak. Don't want to get run over crossing shipping lanes or by other boats.

[steve999]

I used to take a sailboat out to the channel islands a lot. The wind really rips out there, especially in the spring. It will be blowing 20 at Ventura, 30 at the closer islands, and 40 at the far islands. I've been sitting at anchor several times at the east end of Santa Cruz, when the wind is predicted to be to be 15 to 25, and we sat there and watched the anemometer clocking gusts of 40. We used to joke that when the forecast said winds from X to Y, you add X plus Y for the actual winds. The weather forecasts were notoriously low.

This time of year, the typical day will start out calm, and the wind at the near islands will build to 30 by 1:00 PM. You'll need to leave at first light and get there by noon, otherwise there's a good chance you won't make it. In October, however, the winds are much lighter. We always had the boat reefed in and rail buried on spring and early summer trips, but wound up motoring on fall trips.

If you leave from Ventura, the prevailing wind will be a little to the right of head on as you're going out. So will the current, although the current will be even more to the right as you get close. All the more reason to get there early, because you'll be fighting both wind and current.

Be sure to have a GPS with you. One of the newbie mistakes on an island trip is to underestimate how far away the island is. You start out, the island is barely visible through the mist, you go for a while, and then there's this big huge island in front of you. You think you're almost there. Nope, you're only half way, and it will be hours before you hit the beach. Be sure to have a GPS so you can determine ETA, and know if you need to abort.

Did you notice that the north side of anacapa for the eastern half is a state reserve? I think that means no fishing. You might have a long paddle from the campground to the legal fishing area. Be sure to check that.

The web site for anacapa also said you have to carry your own water. That will make an extended stay difficult.

They do have water on Santa Cruz. Given the time of year, the no fishing zones, and the lack of water, that's making an island packer trip more appealing.

But I'm not positive on all the details. If nobody with more info posts here, do get on one of the sea kyaker forums and get their views.


Steve

[aren_denman]

Originally Posted by Zed

What are you doing to train? Try 3 6mile legs in a triangle nonstop thatway youre never too far from shore.
Have you ever flooded your yak at sea and pumped it out to remount in wind and waves? Do you have a pump?

Youre crossing a nasty channel trying to hit a speck of rock in a month that historically is one of the stormiest. Call me a goober if youre a mod but you do not sound prepared enough to do it. You sound like a statistic. Aren meet logistics.

I am confident in a 20 mile paddle, however, I have never trained with this much gear. You never know what can go wrong. I take your concerns seriously and will not do the trip if I feel like I am not prepared.

To answer your question I do not have a pump and have never been capsized in my kayak and in another post, I do not have a visibility flag with metal on top for shipping traffic.

My kayak is watertight, I just went through with marine epoxy on all the cracks, but as of right now, if I flip I am screwed. A pump is very necessary. I have a flare gun. I plan on communicating with coast guards and Island officials. (I will pay for every night I camp there.)

Some new items on my list - waterproof pump. vhf and plb system. GPS system. visibility flag (ill probably rig something up) And finally, a full understanding of the common wind, currents, and MPA (Marine Protected Area)
Thanks for the suggestions, keep em comin.

[Socalkayak]

I camped and fished out there via islandpackers on a 3 day trip. Swell will come from your 2 o'clock on way there. But swell is secondary by far. I got in mass trouble at Santa Cruz because of wind. Had to beach and wait for like 8 hours due to wind and current. Scary scary. Horrible time of year to try this. I am not hating but I give you a 15% chance on making it. 85% you will be calling for rescue. Just take islandpackers and go island hoping. Camp at smugglers or scorpions. I would do this first then try the long haul in July or August. Call vessel assist and get info on how many boats they assist every weekend. 3 friends of a friend died on there boat trying to cross a few years ago. It's not like down south (catalina) there are not as many boats crossing so you are all alone except for the cargo boats. Trust me paddling from island to island will be extreme enough. Again camp out there via island packers first. It will be cheaper than paying for the rescue.

[Socalkayak]

I camped and fished out there via islandpackers on a 3 day trip. Swell will come from your 2 o'clock on way there. But swell is secondary by far. I got in mass trouble at Santa Cruz because of wind. Had to beach and wait for like 8 hours due to wind and current. Scary scary. Horrible time of year to try this. I am not hating but I give you a 15% chance on making it. 85% you will be calling for rescue. Just take islandpackers and go island hoping. Camp at smugglers or scorpions. I would do this first then try the long haul in July or August. Call vessel assist and get info on how many boats they assist every weekend. 3 friends of a friend died on there boat trying to cross a few years ago. It's not like down south (catalina) there are not as many boats crossing so you are all alone except for the cargo boats. Trust me paddling from island to island will be extreme enough. Again camp out there via island packers first. It will be cheaper than paying for the rescue.

[Socalkayak]

Just read Zeds post. I hope you don't think you are going to roll up and camp anywhere. There are a ton of rangers out there and you are not camping unless at a campground. So u need to make reservations as well there are only a few spots that you will be able to land cause it's all cliffs. There is nowhere to camp unless at campgrounds. Good luck getting reservations on the weekend. Weekdays yes weekend nope. You can leave all kayak gear on the rocky beach no problem of getting stolen then it's a 1/4 mile walk to campgrounds. Landing options are very limited when you get out there make sure you are paddling back from fishing with the wind and current. Ya it's 15 miles as the crow Flys but paddling count on a good 18. It's 15 to islands but another 2 or 3 miles to get to a place to pull into. So plan your milage from channel islands harbor to scopions. That will be your true millage. Ok I looked at navionics and from channel islands harbor. ( best place to launch ) to scorpions closes place you can camp is 17.8 miles perfect straight line so you can plan for 20 mile paddle. You can't camp on anacapa and will get emidately popped if you try. It's awsome out there but paddling probably not going to happen. Wish you the best. The current picks way up the closer you get to the islands so you really need to look at the tides at estimated arrival time and get it on a slack tide. Don't mean to be negative but you gave me flash backs of me on a 20 foot rock beach waiting 8 hours for the wind and tide to calm down so I could paddle 3 miles back at night freezing cold while my wife and two kids were freaking out at the campsite and pulling into the cove at 9pm to a wife shaking her head at me as if I didn't know I was a complete fool. That ruined me for at least a year.but good luck.

[Socalkayak]

At scorpions it's only like a 1/4 mile paddle and you are out of the MPLA area. Awsome 1/4 mile paddle as well. Caves cliffs mist enjoyable paddle ever. As soon as you get outside of MPLA GPS and a rock out coping daily marks boundary. The fishing is killer about 100-200 yards off of rock outcropping. When I was there there were 3 charters sitting there marking the spot for me. Also fish right along the island. One cool thing I liked was casting into the caves and pulling nice calicos out of caves bring a snorkel as well

[2-Stix]

So theres a few guys on this site that have been there done that with the Channel Islands and crossing the channel...I being one. Its a very very bad idea to do this now. Don't think for a minute we are saying this because were some old washed up pussies. Commercial fishing boats cancel trips all the time. 35'-75' boats, not 15' pieces of plastic. We have all set out thinking it was going to be the best trip ever and came back kissing land hugging friends with a tear in our eye. Take island packers, do a handful of trips, and you will see how brutal those islands can be. I was up all night in November on anchor watch in Smugglers Cove. The day we went out, Island Packers turned around in the channel. Your not allowed to go on land where ever you want. This is not the national forrest, or special BLM area. I have been one mile off shore shitting trying to get back to shore on big seas and heavy switched winds. 1 guy died a few months back in the Ventura Harbor when a 5' rouge wave flipped there fishing boat. One guy swam a 3-500 yards and his buddy didn't make it. 1/4 mile from the shore in a boat. Don't fuck with the ocean. Shit gets real fast. Look, we all care about you and what your doing. We want to see you yak and fish for 1,000's of days. Please hear our sincerity in this. TaggerMike and I saved 2 guys at La Jolla over the summer. It was spooky.

[aren_denman]

Were going to do the islandpackers trip. Check the island out, and return for the journey this summer. In the mean time, We are leaning towards Santa Cruz Island for base camp, We are trying to decide which campground - Prisoner Harbor vs Scorpion Anchorage . What has better fising, diving, hiking. Which side is best protected by the wind? Which side has more structure, more kelp, and biggest caves? Hunting game fish - WSB, Yellowtails fins, bluefin. Also, you guys know a good website for fish reports in channel islands?

[2-Stix]

Originally Posted by aren_denman

Were going to do the islandpackers trip. Check the island out, and return for the journey this summer. In the mean time, We are leaning towards Santa Cruz Island for base camp, We are trying to decide which campground - Prisoner Harbor vs Scorpion Anchorage . What has better fising, diving, hiking. Which side is best protected by the wind? Which side has more structure, more kelp, and biggest caves? Hunting game fish - WSB, Yellowtails fins, bluefin. Also, you guys know a good website for fish reports in channel islands?

East side for wind protection, caves and camping. Yellowbanks, the gap, east side, north, it all fishes good when the bites there. The island is like 20 miles long.

http://www.channelislandssportfishing.com

[steveooo]

We did Santa Cruz Island about 2 years ago using Island Packers. Super fun trip that I am trying to talk Andy into doing again. We camped at Scorpion.

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ght=Santa+Cruz

[Iceman]

Now there is lots of SOLID advice in this post without the dumbing down of BWE

We did Santa Cruz Island about 2 years ago using Island Packers. Super fun trip that I am trying to talk Andy into doing again. We camped at Scorpion.

MMMMMMMMM ok

[momo fish]

I still smell a troll... Kayaking across that channel, don't buy it... Getting on a boat and being dropped off.. Different story

[Zed]

I did have a suspicion it was a troll, Mo...

[aren_denman]

Originally Posted by momo fish

I still smell a troll... Kayaking across that channel, don't buy it... Getting on a boat and being dropped off.. Different story

Your the only troll on here yah goober, Its not a feasible time to make the trip. That being said, I learned a lot about what it takes for the voyage and I will make the trip this summer. Talk is cheap