|
The Scoop:
Video (1:52, 8.7M) -- (Some random clips
shot with the new digital
camera)
I (Shaun) got a new digital
camera with my graduation yield (thank you, everyone), and this
trip to Anacapa Island
was my first chance to try it out. My generous parents took us,
and my sister and brother-in-law (Kim and Cory) out for the day
to this smallest of the Channel Islands where Cory brought Kim to
propose to her, three and a half years ago.
14 miles off the coast of Ventura, Anacapa is actually a couple
of small islands, only one of which people are allowed to visit.
It's one tiny island -- you can walk from one end to the
other in about 20 min, I'd guess. It's a popular nesting place for
sea birds as there are no predators, and June is right in the middle
of nesting season, we learned. There are a few buildings on Anacapa,
one of which is the home of a park ranger, his wife and child, and
there's a small campground.
Traveling to Anacapa is half the fun (well, for those who don't
get seasick...). It's an hour's boat ride, and our particular ride
was over quite large swells -- the phrase "the tiny ship was
tossed" went through my mind a few times. Since the ocean pounds
against nearly every inch of Anacapa's coastline, approaching it
in a boat is a real adventure. Boats can't really tie up to the
island anywhere but there is a small dock in a cove on the north
side to which the boat backs up, where passengers can disembark.
The boat doesn't actually tie up to the dock, but presses its stern
against it with the engines powering the boat in reverse. The swells
cause the boat to rise and fall a foot or two while pressed against
the dock, so you have to carefully coordinate your stepping off
the boat and onto the dock ladder. (See the video)
To explain a couple of things in the photos: a while back, the
Coast Guard created a rainwater collector -- a large, slightly sloped
concrete slab that drains at one edge an into some storage tanks
-- but they failed to take into account that this island is populated
by zillions of sea birds (like sea gulls). The birds, especially
during nesting season, nest and live everywhere on the island, including
on the water collecting slab, so you can imagine that this slab
collects much more than rainwater. The fatal flaw was quickly recognized
and it wasn't really ever used.
Another thing: in our group of visitors was a guy from NASA who
was scouting the site for an educational program. He had with him
a special camera that takes panoramas all at once on the same frame
of film. Panoramas of our trip, and possibly us, may show up on
his website: e-villagegallery.com
We had a picnic lunch on the island, walked it end-to-end and had
a very nice time.
For more info on how to get to Anacapa, visit: Island
Packers
|
