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"Believe me, my young friend. There is nothing, absolutely nothing,
half so worth doing as simply messing around in boats." 

The Wind in the Willows

Santa Barbara Harbor

6/11/2012

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Picture
A couple weeks ago my job brought me to Santa Barbara (~ 6 hours south of San Fran) to survey parts of Mission Creek and a beach lagoon. Naturally, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to have my gas mileage reimbursed and bring my kayak along, so I volunteered to drive. Wednesday was the first time I was able to get on the water since we worked a couple 13 hour days on Monday and Tuesday.

Following advice from a local paddler, I started out at Ledbetter Beach, just upcoast of the Santa Barbara Harbor...
I unloaded Big Purple and lugged her across the wide sandy beach to the high water line, where I promptly seated myself and spent the next 20 minutes watching the intimidating waves crash uniformly on the beach. Not sure how to proceed, I made some wimpy phone calls to Dave/Morgan/Mike who told me to stop being a chicken and get in.  
Picture
(not) greeted by a seal on my way back to the dock.
Picture
Not sure when I'll stop being amused by palm trees. They're just so tall and gangly looking!
While I didn't completely chicken-out, I ended up returning to the car and driving down-coast to the sheltered harbor, where I could avoid a solo surf launch. I scanned the boat names as I paddled down the aisles and realized that there are far fewer "joke" boat names here than in Upstate NY. Odd...
Picture
Menacing waves at the breakwater.
I paddled out into the ocean from the harbor and enjoyed bobbing up and down on the big swells, while avoiding the breakers. I landed on the little offshore sandbar (see map below) and watched the sun set over Santa Barbara for a while. It's such a cute little city. Apparently there are laws in place to ensure that it continues to feel like a little Spanish settlement with its red tiled roofs and missionary churches


I was a little bummed to have such a limited paddle in this beautiful SoCal city, but I'm sure I'll be back soon!

Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Time: 1 hour 
Distance: negligible
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    Welcome!

    This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.

    In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology. 

    ​Happy Paddling!
    ​Nena

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