Channel Islands Part 4: Above Ground Sites And Goodbye

There was plenty to see out of the water on this trip too. Some of it I've shared but here's some of the other things we saw: wildlife, some seascapes and even an awesome cave that Captain Davy drove the boat into.

The first day was when we first started seeing sights like this. What are they doing? They were always sea lions in pairs and we wondered if it was some sort of sea lion date! Turns out this is one way for them to thermo-regulate their bodies. Still, hanging out in pairs to do this must show their social nature.


Lots of sea lions swimming around us


Another sea lion


Birds all over the rocks


Apparently we were lucky to see these dolphins as Captain Davy said this type is a lot more shy and not seen as often. I don't remember what kind he said they were but after a little looking, I think these are Risso's dolphins.






More scenes of birds on rocks. I particularly like the King of the Mountain bird








Showing how turquoise the water looked.


On the last day, between dives, Captain Davy took us to Painted Cave of Santa Cruz Island. Here's a map of the cave:


Looking into the cave


And then Captain Davy drove us in!


Some sea lions hanging out on the side of the cave




It would be cool to kayak in all the way


Another look at the sea lions on the way back out


We were pretty far in and it was very cool


The diving is done and it's time to head back in.
Debbie, Justin and Amy


Travis and Laurie


Coming back into Santa Barbara we entered a big patch of fog.

Santa Barbara Yacht Club practicing.


A pale rainbow leading to a sailboat


Captain Davy bet some that we'd come out of the fog we we came into the harbor. Still looks a little foggy...


But he was right! Look at that fog bank!


A cool ship in the harbor. After a little research I found that this is the Spirit of Dana Point, a Tall Ship that's an 18th Century schooner replica.


Thanks Captain Davy for taking great care of us on an excellent trip!


After we all unloaded from the boat and loaded up our cars on Saturday evening, we headed to the Waterfront for dinner together. While we waited for our table we explored the area and visited a gift shop. This is the Purisima. Imagine being crammed in one of those lobes for hours... (story below)


From the info plate: The Purisima was the world's first commercial diving lock-out bell, used to support the deepwater oil and gas exploration taking place offshore of Santa Barbara in the 1960s... It was rated at 1,000 feet.

The Purisima utilized two dry spheres to transport and protect both divers and subsea engineers to underwater worksites outside the scope of traditional surface diving. The upper sphere was kept at the surface pressure to house engineers and observers, while the bottom sphere was pressurized at depth permitting divers to leave the bell (lock-out) and work on subsea structures at depth.

Purisima allowed the deep divers to stay warm and dry during the ascent and descent to the worksite. They could also perform the long hours of decompression inside the bell in a controlled environment.

Crazy.

We finally were called to our table at Brophy Bros. and happily we got a corner booth on the outside balcony. This was our view of the harbor.


Debbie and Justin


Justin and Travis


Me, Amy and Debbie.


We had such a great trip!