Wow, what an amazing accomplishment! Mars! Who would've thought? And as a kid I thought we were hot launching our Estes model rockets into the far reaches of our schoolyard skies! But hey, we tried! Well all's I can say is congratulations to the JPL team!
I just happen to know Patrick Martin who works at JPL and is instrumental in the success of this mission. He's one of the guys who purposely tries to break everything JPL puts together. I met him through the California Kayak Friends club and have the distinct pleasure of paddling with him from time to time. Great guy so if you want to meet a celebrity join CKF.org! (Not that there aren't any other celebrities in the club...)
As for me, I've been lazy. That's right, just downright lazy. I haven't kept up with my blog and have been absent from the paddling scene for a bit as well. As some know I greatly prefer paddling during the fall, winter and spring as I like a bit of a snap in the air and a sting to the cooler water. Makes you feel alive! When it starts getting hot and muggy I head for shelter and I suppose it has something to do with having grown up in Arizona. I've had my fair share of blazing sun and don't need anymore of it! The only times I have been on the water worth mentioning were my trips to San Diego and my recent solo adventure north of Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.
San Diego was especially fun as I recently joined the San Diego Kayak Club and met up with them a couple months ago for a wild paddle on a very blustery day. I met them at Aqua Adventures and we headed out to the channel where the wind was just-a-howling! After leaving the safety of the harbor we paddled a bit south staying away from the surf zone as there were some breakers even I wouldn't have wanted to contend with. The swells were amazing enough and provided us with some good fun. We wound the morning up playing at the mouth of the harbor surfing the swells as they came rolling in and a good time was had by all.
My most recent adventure took me south to San Pedro where I launched from Cabrillo Beach and headed north towards Palos Verdes. I have to say that this is really a beautiful area to paddle as you don't see too many houses built along the cliffs. As a matter of fact I found one spot (see photo) where I saw no sign of the intervention of man. In my mind it looked as it must have before someone got in and developed the daylights out of it so it makes for a nice visual.
I also fell in love with the kelp beds there and came back with some nice underwater photos of them. I just held my camera underwater and snapped away. The light being filtered through the kelp and water made for some nice images. I do have to warn you that if your going to try this make sure you don't lean over too far as I did! lol (Yet another reason to have a good roll!)
Other than that I've just sped out of Marina Del Rey to play in the surf a couple times. I need to get back into venturing north to Channel Islands Harbor where the water is cooler, cleaner and I have some good friends to paddle with.
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| My launch point at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. |
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| Rest stop along the way. |
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| Just another shot I found interesting. |
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| Beautiful sun streak through the kelp beds. |
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| Reaching for the sunlight. |
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| As it may have been thousands of years ago. |
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| This guy kept peeking at me here and there just to make sure. |
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| The dolphins were plentiful and one jumped about 8 feet in front of me! |
