Oh Solo Mio On the Sea-oh!

Once upon a time there was a yitta girl born third child to a loving family. She loved to play and loved to be active, but didn't like doing things by herself. Often this meant that she didn't do what she wanted.

Until one day, when she was 42, she decided to go kayaking in the ocean, She asked everyone she could to go with her and no one could, so she went all by herself. . .

This is the story.

Last summer we were here:

Scorpion Bay Santa Cruz Island

We did a little of this,

Little cave off pelican rock

And a little of that,

Picture by Lisa Kirtley

We ate a little of this,

Richard cooking some breakfast

Saw a little of that,

some sea caves just north of Scorpion Bay

Went a little here,

Saw a little there,

low ceiling cave north of Scorpion Bay. There was a bend in the cave and it was pitch black no more than 50 yds in. Scarey.

Threaded a needle here,

This fun little Pirates of Caribbean tunnel was the furthest North of Scorpion Bay we went. We sang Yo Ho as we paddled through it.

Traversed a tunnel there,

This was an amazing little swimmers cave that had a great bend in the middle. The only way to see your way out was to look underwater where you could see the light coming from a hole in the rock wall below the surface of the water. You swim under water and follow the light until you get past that bend and to the opposite side. Great fun. It was at the end of this same cave that Rob had a seal swim back and froth between his legs which were straddled on either side of the narrow cave. The seal came up and blew water in Rob's face.

When all was said and done, I felt like this,

This shot was taken after a full day of sea kayaking. I was in heaven.

Since that day I have been craving to go back. Some day I will, and when I do I will take my kids.

During Spring Break, when I found out my kids were going to be out of town on a special trip to visit their Auntie, I wanted to get out of the house, where I was reminded they weren't there, and do something active. My choice, sea kayaking.

After some research, I was connected with an Adventure Photographer, Daniel Woods who has a business leading Kayak tours while he photographs the experience for your family. He is an enthusiastic conversationalist, and is customer service oriented. The customer is his top priority and he wants to make sure that they have a great time. He brought up all the gear I needed, which included snorkel gear, weight belt, and scuba suits because the water that day was a c-c-c-c-cold 56 degrees.

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Although the water was cold, the temp outside was 80 degrees, very comfortable for kayaking. The rock formations and structures were beautiful as was the coastline. We paddled about a half a mile north of down town Laguna before deciding we wanted to head back.

We set the goal to reach the twin rocks in the distance. Once we reached it we were delighted to discover that it was covered with sunbathing seals and roosting pelicans. When we paddled around the rocks, Dan wanted to shoot through the two but had to time it just right because there was some white water and waves. Dan was concerned for me, I didn't have the heart to tell him we went through narrows more rocky than this. Never the less Daniel cares a lot about safety and takes precautions to make sure everyone is safe. Below I am crossing the narrows.

On the way back, I wanted to do some snorkeling. Daniel had all the gear I needed including a hood. I was pretty sure that I didn't need the bulky and hideous hood, but he assured me I would, so I put it on begrudgingly. Once I got in the water I understood what Daniel meant. I felt a monumental brain freeze where the water hit my forehead. I was glad I listened to Free Diving Dan and put the hideous hood on.

The water visibility was only about 10 ft that day but it was still fun to swim around and catch a glimpse of some garibaldy and friends.

The lobster on the right was crawling along the bottom of the ocean. Daniel brought up for me because try as I might, I could not get down there. The neoprene was so bouyant that it kept me up, to my dismay. Dan thought it would be a good idea for me to hold the little creature. I reached over to grip it, but it knew he was in the hands of a scardey-cat chicken so as soon as I wrapped my fingers around it, the lobster bolted, It wiggled out of my hands and literally walked down my body with its spindley spider legs gripping me all the way. YIKES! I get the willies just thinking about it. I screached and grabbed onto Daniel who got a kick out of my shreik. Those little creatures are fast. I've only seen them walking along the bottom of the fish tank at Ralphs market. They don't move that fast in there with their little claws tapped shut, but in the ocean, and on my body in the ocean, they swim and move around like little olympians. Yikes.


On the way back we came across a stand up paddle boarder. Very cool, but I prefer to sit.

As we were finishing our day the sun was setting and the shadows were long. I was exhausted but very filled. I took this shot as Daniel was loading the kayaks onto the top of his car.

While watching him load, I was happy it wasn't me. I did what I could to help him, but I had just enough energy to get my body over to Wahoo's Fish Tacos for a charbroiled fish taco with black beans and rice.

The perfect ending to an exceptional day. I was glad I went, even though I was alone. I would have preferred a companion, but in the end I realized that I was okay by myself. Lesson learned.