Channel Islands National Park - Sea Kayaking at Santa Cruz Island

While our normal habit is to make a park visitor center our first stop, the weather forecast helped us decide to visit Santa Cruz Island first on our February 2015 trip and then visit the visitor center on the mainland. The park has one concessionaire, Island Packers, providing boat transportation to the islands and three concessionaires that provide kayak tours from Scorpion Bay on Santa Cruz Island. After researching the three concessionaires online, we chose Aquasports for our guided tour. It turned out to be an excellent decision. Tony, our guide and instructor, met us outside the entrance to Island Packers' ticket office to check in and sign the required liability waivers. At this point, we discovered that we were the only kayakers on Tony's tour.

Island Packers operates three catamarans from its Ventura dock. These US Coast Guard inspected boats have a lower, enclosed deck with a snack bar as well as a covered upper deck. Our passage to Santa Cruz took about an hour. After disembarking, we walked over to the kayaks stored near the beach where we had a safety briefing and kayaking lesson on land. Dry bags are provided for any items you wish to take with you, such as a spare bottle of water and a snack. Large items such as coolers or backpacks should be locked in the equipment lockers and not be left unattended as the birds team up to open them. Small valuable items such as wallets may be taken with you in the dry bag or locked in the equipment locker.

After donning personal flotation devices, otherwise known as life jackets or PFDs, and helmets, we carried the kayaks to the beach where Tony helped us launch into the almost non-existent surf. Helmets are required both for low clearances in the sea caves as well as falling or thrown rocks from the cliffs. From the beach, we headed left under the pier bridge toward Elephant Rock. After exploring several sea small caves, we rounded Cavern Point before heading back toward Scorpion Anchorage. Once past the beach, we explored an arch in one of the islets as well as the cliffs and inlets on Santa Cruz. We then explored another sea cave on the larger islet before returning to the beach. Since we were his only customers, Tony tailored the trip to our abilities, lack of experience, and interests. Tony has been leading tours for many years and often camps on the island, so he knows everyone and a lot of the recent history of the islands. He pointed out wildlife, explained the kelp forest ecosystem, provided geological information, and even identified wildflowers along the way. In We leisurely paddled just over four miles in just under five hours.

Once we helped lay the gear out to dry, we had time for the snack lunch we had brought as well as time to walk around the Scorpion Ranch area before boarding the boat to head back to Ventura.

Kayaking route

Approaching Scorpion Anchorage

Elephant Rock is the second point northwest of Scorpion Anchorage

On the beach

On the water

Sea lion pup

North shore from Cavern Point

Looking back at Elephant Rock

Juvenile Brandt's cormorants

Sea cave

California brown pelicans

Paddling over the kelp to a larger sea cave

An islet arch southeast of Scorpion Anchorage

Low tide blocked our route beyond the arch

Clearing skies and calm seas

Clear water

The sea is full of life

Another view of the seabed

Lots of small fish

Folded sedimentary rock on the cliff face

Preparing to navigate between the islets

Through the gap and into calm water

Exiting a large sea cave in an islet

The aptly named Green Room

Another cave

This cave has a bit of whitewater

Pockmarked hillside approaching Scorpion Anchorage

Concessionaires have equipment lockers as well as kayaks

Scorpion Valley

Morning glory

Coreopsis blooming

Abandoned farm implements

Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center

The Island Fox is endemic to the Channel Islands

Looking back at the beach before boarding the boat

The two islets we kayaked into with Anacapa Island in the background

An obvious fault zone on the cliff near Cavern Point

A gray whale exhales near the horizon

A Steller sea lion and a smaller California sea lion hauled out on a buoy

There is no entrance fee at Channel Islands National Park. However, the islands are only accessible by private boat or by park concessionaire boats or planes. Island Packers (http://www.islandpackers.com) has scheduled trips to four of the five islands. San Miguel Island was closed to the public in 2014 due to concerns about unexploded ordinance. The island was used as a bombing range by the U.S. Navy from the 1940s until 1975. Channel Islands Aviation (http://www.flycia.com/) only has scheduled flights from Camarillo to Santa Rosa Island.

Aquasports website is http://www.islandkayaking.com/.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm.

March Field Air Museum

Continuing our February 2015 trip to southern California, we went with to the March Field Air Museum at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. My uncle, Ed, was once stationed at the base and he accompanied us to the museum along with my cousin, Scott, and his wife, Carita. In the Heritage Courtyard is the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial shown above. Unlike most national memorials that are entrusted to the National Park Service, this memorial site is administered by the museum. The museum has enough exhibits to keep an avid military aviation fan content for hours, if not days.

The inscription reads:

We Remember

1st Lt. Joseph Howard Burton, Jr.

In February 1945 Lt. Burton was the aircraft commander of a B-24 Bomber which was on a training mission out of Langley Field, Virginia.

On returning home after completing the mission the aircraft experienced fuel problems. Engine number one and engine number two lost power. The command was given to bail out. Then engine number 3 quit. The co-pilot was told to bail out after the rest of the crew was safely out of the aircraft. The aircraft continued to lose altitude fast. Lt. Burton then attempted to bail out at an extremely low altitude. On hitting the water, he became entangled in the parachute harness and drowned.

This wall is dedicated as a tribute to Lt. Burton and all those other unsung heroes who perished while training for combat.

The inscription reads:

The Airplanes

Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis is a custome-built single engine, single seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20-21, 1927 on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize. Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt Airfield, Garden City (Long Island), New York and landed 33 hours, 30 minutes later at Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris France.

Manufactred by Ryan Airlines, San Diego, Ca it is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum

Loening OA-1A

The Pan American flyers flew the Loening OA-1A amphibians which had features of both a landplane and a seaplane by combining the fuselage and hull into a single structure. To allow the propeller to clear the hull, their specially modified Liberty engines were mounted upside down. The OA-1A had a wood interior structure with an aluminum covered fuselage and fabric covered wings. On Dec. 21, 1926 five Pan American aircraft took off from Kelly Field in Texaas to begin the 21,000 mile flight. About halfway through their planned flight as the formation descended into Balomar near Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Detroit accidentally drifted into the New York. Major Dargue and Lt Whitehead parachuted to safety. Capt. Woolsey chose to stay with the helpless Lt.Benton who was on the wing attempting to force their landing gear down. Both perished when both aircraft crashed.

The San Francisco was the only aircraft to complete the entire journey. All flyers received a DFC certificate while their Medals were being made. Charles Lindbergh received the first Medal.

The San Francisco is also preserved at the National Air and Space Museum.

Lt. Gen. James. H. Doolittle
First Commander Fifteenth Air Force

Lockheed C-141B Starlifter

Convair C-131D Samaritan with Cessna T-37 Tweety Bird and Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star

Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker with North American CT-39A Sabreliner

Another view of the KC-135A and the CT-39A

Boeing B-52D being restored

McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II

Republic F-105D Thunderchief

Boeing KC-97L

Martin EB-57B Canberra on left, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle on right
and Grumman HU-16E Albatross in the rear

Boeing B-47E Stratojet

Lockeed SR-71A Blackbird

Admission to the museum is $10 for ages 12 and up and $5 for ages 5-11. Active duty military and reserves are admitted free with a DOD ID card. The museum is closed on Mondays.

The museum website is http://www.marchfield.org/.