Out of the mist the island slowly appeared. It was a reassuring sight to see after a long day at sea.  The islands shape itself resembles the seals it is a home to for most of the year.

As we approached the northern end of the island there was quite a big kelp island. A kelp island is a place in the ocean where the kelp has grown so tall and thick that if you try and sail through it you most likely will have trouble and get stuck. We were dragging a fishing line, like we did most of the time we cruised, as we approached the island we forgot to bring it in.

We were not paying much attention to our direction and ran right into a kelp bed, and Dad thinking I can get out of this put the engine in reverse forgetting that we had a fishing line out. The fishing line got wrapped around the rudder post, which is not so conveniently located underneath the boat. With a little struggle and a lot of scratching our heads, Mom got down the ladder in the stern and untangled the line and we circumvented the kelp bed, and made for an anchorage on the east end of the island.

As we approached Landing Cove a couple of seals came out for a visit to check things out. We said hi to the seals and watched the sun set over the island and things chilled down quite a bit.

I love cold water but it was still too cold for me to jump in. So we ate dinner down below, read more in the Harry Potter book and went to bed early so we could get up the next morning and explore the island.

Landing Cove did not provide much protection if the wind came up but the night was relatively calm.

We launched the dinghy early the next morning. The first point of interest was Arch Point. It was pretty cold as we motored up to the huge cut out hole in the rock it had to be more than five stories high. The swells were pretty big so we did not get to close.

We motored south to see the sea lion rookery. I thought that I should of brought my violin. The sea lions were all basking in the sun on the shore. There had to be hundreds of them. They all started to bark as we got to close. I thought they would make a good audience for a round of Cripple Creek on my violin. We were getting pretty hungry so we headed back to Maude for lunch.

Mom had lunch already for us, so we downed it and packed up a backpack with water and snacks to take to shore for the hike.

Every cove has its peculiarities; this one has a real interesting landing area. There are no beaches to land on because most of the beaches are covered with seals, which you do not want to be any part of. The rest of the island is pretty much cliffs. As you approached the landing platform you were met by the kindergarten rookery. 

They were at least fifty baby seals jumping diving and swimming all around us checking us out. There were some nice rocks near the landing platform that made it easy for the baby seals to get in and out of the water. So while this was going on the mothers who were just below the platform were barking their group disapproval at all the baby seals for playing with us. So now if this was not enough distraction the swells were pretty good size and timing was going to have to be just right if we wanted to stay dry.  You can see the landing platform in the background of the picture on the right.  So the trick is to time the waves just right, go to the ladder at the bottom of the platform, let someone off and get as much gear off as you can, then go back out to sea while the bigger swells come in and then do it all over again until everyone and thing is ashore. Usually there is a ranger to help you but no one was there today. We achieved this with only a few bumps and bruises and managed to haul the dinghy up the ladder also.

The mother seals were right below us on the platform barking there disapproval of our presents. They were also biting each other on the backs of the necks to negotiate the best spot.  It did not look like a place you would want to be.

We headed up the cliff, it seemed like a hundred stairs to get to the top of the bluff and start our hike. There was a great ranger station that had a lot of information about the islands and marine life. It was very informative. It even had movies to see.

One thing that is very interesting about cruising  when you say you are going on an extended cruise, living in the Midwest most people think you are nuts. Then they all start worrying about what could go wrong, eaten by sharks, rattlesnakes… Well our dear friend from Tennessee, Geneil was worried about the mice on Santa Barbara Island. Supposedly they carry some sort of virus that is not to good for people to have. The only way to get it is to be bit by a mouse who has the virus. Needless to say we saw no mice and no sign of much other kind of animal life on the island. The only hint that there were mice is that we saw a snowy white owl that stood so still it almost looked fake except when it flew.

One thing that really stood out or should I say did not stand out on this island was that there were no trees at all. The biggest thing on the island were bushes that stood about three feet high.

We walked to the top of Arch Point and then over to the cliffs over Elephant Cove. The natives were getting hungry so we headed back to Maude.

We dropped the dinghy over the platform and the Tide had gone out so it was a long ways down to the water. Climbed down the ladder and got out before we were swamped by the third wave. 

A couple of fishing boats came in for the evening but besides that all was calm. The island shaded us early from the setting sun so we went to bed early. It was getting a little chilly.

We headed out early the next morning for Catalina Island and Emerald Cove. It was going to be a long haul but not as long as it was from Forney's. We were heading directly east.

We got some homework done but not before long the dolphins came along to relive us and we got a dolphin break. Those breaks were always welcomed.

Here I am ready to go for a swim with the dolphins. Just jump in and go for a ride!

Catalina was not to far off in the distance.  We were hoping to get some swimming In before bed because none us have had a bath since leaving Santa Barbara.  We were all hoping for warmer waters.