My adopted family from Quebec are here so an additional flag is flying at the entrance to Shangri-La. I have always been partial to the Fleur-de-Lis and the history it represents.

The whale season is definitely not as it was last year. I still have only 10 IDs while last year at this time I had 36. It is not of concern due to reports of large numbers around Todos Santos, Cabo and San Jose. Vicente and I believe that they will still come here to our area, just a bit later than usual. I am just happy to know they are back here in Mexican waters after their long and arduous migration back from The North. The other day however, I saw three Blue Whales and two Humpbacks within a ½ mile of shore. I couldn’t get out to them due to the wind but it was sure nice to see them cruising by and thinking I might know one or two of them.

Here’s a pic taken a week ago however, of another mother and calf pair to show up this year. This is always a good sign (this calf is probably another yearling and will be weaned down here this season).


While not out at Sea I have had the opportunity to spend time with my adopted grandchildren from Quebec. The youngest, Quentin, loves nature walks so we went on three such while he was here. Here he is scoping the arroyo for critters and then later discovering a great cache of bones.



This is his older brother Tristan who I had over recently for a discussion about chemistry. An earlier talk with him prompted me to give him The Quantum Foam Lecture. I talked for 2 hrs straight and he barely got a word in. Those of you who were students of mine might remember this lecture so you know what I put him through. He accepted all graciously.


Some of you won’t believe this but I had a visit from Jehovah’s Witnesses the other day. Now I have often commented on my views on religion but these people bring out the devil in me. Before they had a chance to even begin their spiel I gave them a discourse on the history of The Church, my delight in being a “Born again Pagan” and shooed them on their way with a somewhat sarcastic “Namaste”. I mean come on……here at Shangri-La?

I have a visitor here for a few days, Deborah Siciluna from Malta.


I met her in San Jose some months back and invited her to join me for a whale search. We went out two days ago but didn’t see any Humpbacks or Blues. Did run across a couple of really good sized Bryde’s Whales though. Bigger than either Vicente or I had seen before. Due to this being the second time out without an ID I decided not to go out again this morning and instead took her kayaking out to The WZ. No whales but on the way in we ran across a pod of 10-15 Common Pacific Dolphins. “Debbs” made a perfect intercept and the pod had a great time “playing” with her in her kayak. They were moving to fast to try to get in with them but they were all around and under our kayaks…..even bumped Debbs once. I’ve never had dolphins bow ride my kayak before, great fun of course and the dolphins were getting a real kick out of Debbs joy in the moment.

Some of you might enjoy this also. Sent to me by Debbs.

A week has gone by since my last post and it has been both busy and very good. Not to say that the whale season has been anything like last year ( I have 10 IDs this season whereas I had 28 by this time last season) but that does not necessarily signify anything but vagaries of weather (my being able to go out) or simply a later arrival. I heard from one of my fisherman friends the other day that there are large numbers of Humpbacks off of Todos Santos right now. That would put them here in another two weeks or so…..if they decide to come into The Sea of Cortez this year.

Here are some whales I did encounter and get photos but the water was too cold and it was too early in the day for me to swim with them. I am at that age now where if I go in the water early in the morning and then search for the next 4 to 5 hours the wind chill from the moving boat gets right into the core of my bones, just can’t do that anymore.


This is another really good ID: HB# 8 11


And here’s another mom & calf: HB# 6 & 7

The mom put on a great show of breaching and tail lobbing for the calf and the calf responded by doing a damn fine job of learning. I suspect this may be a yearling that will be weaned this year here in Baja. Come April/May the calf will be making it’s first solo swim north for the big krill feed.

I am once again treated to a month with my adopted family from Quebec. It is an enormous pleasure for me to have them here. They are all intelligent, active, creative and loving. I am a very lucky man to have them as my “extended” family. We are all going out Saturday for a whale search and maybe a dive…..it is time. I had the special pleasure the other day of taking a morning nature walk with the youngest of the boys, Quentin. He is interested in critters, rocks, trees, fossils etc, etc and I am a retired teacher without an audience. Well, you can imagine the fun I had! Here they all are perched on the Hopi style ladder I built for them instead of steps to their roof.


From the top: Jean-Luc, Brigitte, Antoine, Tristan, Quentin

Also in town last week were a group of people I had not met before and came to know and enjoy. Four were from Ukiah (Tiffany, Kirsten, Micheal and Desmond…..and from hills of N. Carolina, Whitney). It was such a treat to have all these really wonderful people here. I had an especially delightful conversation with Whitney on the drive from The San Jose Airport. She came in later than the others and I agreed to pick her up, lucky me.

I pulled my kayak the other day to try to improve the repair on the keel. I found myself spending too much “head” time worried about another break while out at The WZ alone yesterday, no amount of Cliff Bar would save my kayak this time. I think it’s good now and from this point on it’s up to The Great Mystery (Huichol for whatever is in charge of this fantastic journey).

I did try some BreathWave exercise while out there in The WZ the other day and I have to say it was terrific. Total silence, lightly bobbing on the Sea, eyes closed and filling my cells with pure energy, way cool!

You may recall a statement I made a post or two back about whale entanglements and why I always have at least two knives with me whenever I am in The WZ. Here is what happened a week ago to a colleague of mine, Micheal Fishbach, who monitors the Humpback and Blue population north of me outside Loreto. I will let his e-mailed pictures and comments tell the story:

Hi Everyone, I have been so busy, 10-11 hours on the sea every day so I apologize for the delay. Bt here is the humpback we saved finally for you all to see.

First image is as we found her, you can see a float from the net behind her. It is the video that really shows the entanglement not any still I have.


Second image is of her fluke identification and this whale has a pretty unique one, very complex.


Third is of her breaching shortly after being freed.




Last is just before we left her, maybe goodbye maybe something else but a grand sight.


We have looked long and hard in the past 6 days and twice found a young humpback but in neither case was it our Valentines Day whale.

We will keep searching.


This is a picture from NASA passed on through FB by my dear friend Karen Hensley.
To me: The Great Mystery, The Creator, Grandfather, Aten

Namaste'

On January 18th I took a few friends out to look for whales and I have been awaiting photos from that day to include in a post. So here they are with a nice little story to go along.

One of the nice things about living down here full time is that every now and again some really special old friends come through and I am able to give them a rare experience. What I call, “The Whale Experience”. This does not necessarily mean diving with them, though many have, but it does mean getting closer to Humpbacks and Blue Whales than is possible for most people. My reward for this is not only their pleasure but also my belief that they will then become “friends” of The Cetacean Nation and spread the word about the wonder of these fellow earthly travelers. Since starting to do this since 2004 I have had the pleasure of introducing dozens of old, and new, friends to The Cetacean Nation.

So about 3 weeks ago these old friends, and one new one, were in the area, the winds were right, and we went out. In anticipation of possibly diving with them they all suited up before the adventure.


From left, Susanna Pepperwood, Laura Hamburg, Addison (?) and Carrie Hamburg

I can’t remember exactly but I think we saw some dolphin, turtles and Mobulas but my recollections dim as I get older. We did however indeed cross paths with a Humpback Whale. This guy as a matter of fact.


HB# 2 11, "Laura's Whale

I call him a guy because we had the distinct pleasure of coming across a “singer”. This is a male Humpback carrying last years song of The East Pacific Humpbacks and inviting some new verses (or introducing them) from other male Humpbacks and/or just announcing his intention to engage in combat for a lady this year.

To hear the song of The Humpback in real time is a treat that I continue to find almost too much to bear in it’s beauty. We could hear it clearly on the surface and vibrating through the hull of the panga. He was clearly near, and to me, announcing his willingness to meet. After getting my ID shot (I was so wanting to go in that I rushed my shot so it is not a world class shot but…I’m only human) I turned to my friends and said, “I’m going in, suit up if you are coming”.

Within minutes I was ready and I saw that of the group it was Laura Hamburg who was going to join me. What I didn’t know was she had never had a mask and snorkel on or worn a wet suit….we are talking novice, and she is going in to 500’ of water in front of a full on 40 ton Humpback…oh well, she’s a grown woman! I tell her where to sit on the gunnel of the panga to do a reverse flip into the water and ask her if she has done this before (talk about a stupid question) and she say’s no. Well, we are nearing the whale and I am explaining to her the technique, she is nodding as though she is just about to do her first dive into a pool and we go in. I tell her to look for me right away, clear her snorkel and mask and there we are with the whale coming at us.



Laura hamburg and I......and HB# 2 11

We do this twice and get within about 50’ of the whale but visibility is bad. Nevertheless, that whale was within a distance of us that it knew full well our position AND ATTITUDE, and gifted us with a close pass. Here are two pics of Laura and me in the water after the whale has passed. I really admire the willingness and courage of this young lady to do this. It reminded me of how proud I was of my son Zack last year when we dove into a veritable circus of three male Humpback fighters and their 40+ Bottlenose Dolphin audience (and raucous to say the least) and he also never having done anything quite like that before!

Two other recent adventures (my but the year is full of excitement already) to relate. On the 9th I went out and did get a “world class” ID on this Humpback. Ain’t it a beaut!


HB# 3 11

Shortly after the above photo we received a call from El Cardonal on the radio that there were some Humpbacks in front of the village. Vicente and I high balled over and found this mom and calf. The mom is HB# 4 11 and the calf, HB# 5 11.


First mom and calf for me this season.

The next day I go out and find no Humpbacks but when we go further out into the Blue Whale Zone (8-15 miles) we come across two Blue Whales. What makes it special is that two new friends, Lon & Liz Fitton from Los Barriles are with me and get to have “The Whale Experience” with these very cool critters. The day was beautiful, the Sea calm, The Whale cool and I went in. Same old problem, visibility, but Vicente said I got REAL close, maybe 20-30’….I could FEEL it, just couldn’t see it underwater.


B# 1 11

So….the adventure continues, can’t wait to see what’s over the next horizon.

Bigtimes in the water with my "friends" this last two weeks

It has been a very special two weeks for me in a number of ways. My first experience took place on the 30th of Jan. There was another break in the wind so I went out to The WZ to look for an encounter. I did't see anything for quite a while so I just lay back in my kayak and listened with my eyes shut. I heard what sounded like the surface activity of a "bait ball" but louder than usual. I see coming at me from about 1/2 mile away a large herd of dolphins. As they get closer I see that it is a a herd of at least 100 maybe as many as 200. I paddle directly in their path and bail out of my kayak just before they reach me. Visibility is bad so I onle see a few go by but definitely more than ever before. I climb back into my kayak and chase them but they are moving too fast. Oh well, it was cool. But then the whole herd turns around and heads right back at me.....the whole herd! I dive in front of them again and this time they come much closer so I really get a lot of encounters. They are clearly checking me out. I chase them, make noises, wave etc to let them know I am one of them. After they pass I climb out again, start paddling back to the beach and damned if they don't turn AGAIN and come for me. Well, out I go and this time they are everywhere around me, closer still and I FEEL I have been accepted. Incredible.

The next day was another good one wind wise, so I went out looking for Humpbacks with my neighbor’s daughters, Tyler and Lexie. The Cook family has been one of my longest and most generous supporters of my whale work here in Baja, and it was a delight to take two of their three charming and intelligent daughters out for a search.

The day was a bit dark and cold but they were game and ended up on our route south bundled up as best they could. We ran pretty fast because we had received word from one of the fisherman near La Ribera (Vicente has all his buddies looking out for whales for us) that there were two Humpbacks there. La Ribera is a good ½ hr haul from El Cardonal so we were traveling fast….therefore the cold.

Lexie on left, Tyler next to her. They are two very attractive young women, I promise to include a photo of them in a later post.


Lexie

Tyler


Tyler & Lexie's dad and my good friend, Alex, kite surfing the big wind this week

When we got to the area the whales were not there of course so we moved further south a bit since that was the direction the fisherman told us they were going (this part of the story becomes more relevant a bit later). Unfortunately (fortunately???) we didn’t go far enough and missed them by minutes because on our way back north we got a call that they were now at Punta Arena and we could have easily found them had we gone just a little further south. Field work can often be disappointing that way but I love being out at Sea so much it’s all good for me regardless.

On our way back north both Vicente and Tyler see blows in front of us about 100yds away. I see some dorsals (fins) but they look like dolphins to me….and no real blows but they are both certain they are whales (Tyler has been out with me before so she knows what to look for). Well, they are whales but ORCAS!!



Now I saw some Orcas about 5 years ago while kayaking but they were at least a half mile off so no encounter. These are right in front of us and there must be at least 6 maybe more…and they are very active! When we close on the pod we see that they are hunting/playing with a good-sized herd of Mobulas (rays related to the Manta Ray but smaller). Tyler and I start taking photos as fast as we can because this is way out of the ordinary experience one gets even if you really, really work at it and have lots and lots of money. Vicente is blown away too, he has never seen this before and it is going on all around the panga. It is also clear that there are more than 6, perhaps as many as 10, or even more. Most are females but there are one or two males in evidence for sure; one does a full breach only 10 ft from the panga to take a look at us (and NO I am not anthropomorphizing).



While I am photographing I am suddenly struck by the thought that this is on my “Bucket List”. I have been talking about swimming with the Orcas for years. I called it the hope for the “swim of a lifetime”! However, I am a bit trepidacious because I am only human. And then Lexie says, “Urmas, this is your chance” (or something to that effect because neither of us remember what was actually said). I put my camera away, donned my dive gear (no tanks) and ask Vicente to get me near them. Vicente decides to put me in THE MIDDLE of them. We stop, I bail out and suddenly I am surrounded by frantic Mobulas and joyous top predator hunters having a good old time.

I try to remember now as I write this, “was I fearful at this point”? And the answer is no, NOT AT ALL. This is not because I am brave or courageous believe me, it is because I FEEL that I am now part of something ELSE and that the Orcas as well as the Mobulas are accepting me into their “world” and will do me no harm. Not because I am “good” but because…..well, I love them all.

At one point a large Orca passes by me no more than 5’ away with a Mobula in it’s mouth, looks at me, releases the Mobula and takes a closer look at me. What passes through my mind is her voice saying, “my, my, will you look at that, it’s a human”, kindly and with more than just some degree of surprise.



After the pod moves on a bit, the visibility sucks, I can only see about 30’ so Vicente pulls the panga over, I climb out and he asks, “Un otro tiempo”? So we get back in their middle and he drops me off again. Now I’m really into it. I want to be part of the Orca mind so I dive as though chasing Mobulas (think of the Caribou scene in the movie, “Never Cry Wolf”)…..way cool, now I’m getting some real interaction. We don't see any blood or body parts in the water, and from my perspective under and on top of the water amongst them they did not seem to be feeding as much as playing/training the young ones.



I have Orcas all around me checking me out. At one point 6 Orcas pass within 4’ of me (not a ripple do I feel) and all turn on their sides to get a good look, I wave and yell through my snorkel some unintelligible thing meant to say, “hey amigos”! Then I get the feeling that they are getting used to me being there and just occasionally glance at me while harassing a Mobula, I have experienced Orca mind. They are after all THE MOST INTELLIGENT CREATURE in The OCEAN WORLD.

By now I’m pretty tired and cold so I climb out. Tyler looks at me and with not a waver in her voice asks, “can I go in”? I had to say no, the responsibility was to great. I don’t recommend this for everyone, it is dangerous. They are large, have big teeth and personality. I am at heart a biologist and have a certain trust in the animal world, particularly whales and dolphins…..and I have led a good long life already. Please understand this has nothing to do with courage….or a death wish!

Oh, the mother & calf Humpbacks down by La Ribera. You see, they should (?) have been continuing north but didn’t, they returned south. Vicente and I agreed that she knew the Orcas were just north of her and she needed to protect the calf (one of The Orcas favorite meals is baby Humpback tongue) so left the area. If this bothers you then I certainly hope you are not a biologist or you must be suffering terribly in your work….or you are in denial.

The movies of the encounter just take too long to upload so you'll have to catch the show at another time.

My good friend and whale mentor, Dr. Jorge Urban Ramierez at UABCS in La Paz, is checking my dorsal photos against his from last week where a large pod of Orcas were feeding near Isla Espirito Santo north of me.

The Great Mystery has once again blessed me. I MUST assume I am deserving, or it makes no sense.

Later in the day, after a hot tub at Lynn and Bob’s and a good strong screwdriver I am famished for a hamburger. I drive to Los Algodones (the village 1 mile south) to see if my friend Antonio’s restaurant is open. It isn’t but they are preparing for a political meeting. Antonio asks if I want to take a burger with me. I think he means just the meat so I can cook a burger at home. No, he gets his wife too cook me a “grande” burger as I tell the assembly stories about whales, my Orca dive and why they must not let the development company from Monterey fence the arroyo.

As I drive back to my village on our dirt road at a stately 5 miles an hour, eating the best hamburger I have ever had I think…..I am “HOME”.

*Addendum: Orcas in The Sea of Cortez are known to eat the Mobulas.

just something pleasing to the eye and the spirit (not my photo)

Had a great visit from my friends Susanna, Carrie, Laura, Nantzy…and a new friend, Addison. The day after their arrival was an excellent Whale Search day so on the morning of the 18th we got into Vicente’s panga and started for the WZ. Within ½ hour we received a call from one of Vicente’s friends that there was a Humpback near Punta Pescadero.

It didn’t take long for us to see the blow and we were off. By the time we had gotten in good position for a photo it was almost 10:00 and the day was warming up. The water was also very calm and there were very, very few Aqua Malas (Portuguese Man “O” Wars) around so as I was taking a last photo I turned to my friends and told them that after the next picture I was going in for a whale swim and anyone wanting to join me needed to suit up.

After my last shot I turned to get on my own suit and there was Laura Hamburg all set to go in… suit, mask and snorkel. What I didn’t know was that Laura had never snorkeled in her life nor even worn a wetsuit. I was very impressed and not just a bit trepidatious at taking a “first timer” with absolutely no experience into the water to meet a 30-40 ton mobile critter coming her way. Nevertheless she was determined and after all she is a grown woman so the decision was hers. I asked her if she knew how to bail out of a skiff with mask etc and of course she hadn’t so I explained the procedure to her. Someone remarked that it might be easier to put the ladder out but Laura refused that, said she wanted to do it “right”…I loved that.

Vicente got us into position (difficult because this whale was changing direction after each breath set) and we bailed out. I asked Laura to meet me as soon as she came up and we would see how things looked. She had a little trouble with her mask but with the whale in sight nearby she took off with me in an attempt to close in. The whale however dove again before we could reach it and the water was not clear enough to see more than 20-30 feet so no underwater viewing. We were close to the whale topside (maybe 60-70 feet) but not near enough for me. Laura was ready to go again with great enthusiasm so Vicente put us in position and this time we were dropped directly in front of the whale and within maybe 50 feet of it before it dove. Still couldn’t see it around us but Vicente said that we were real close with the whale underneath us somewhere. Oh, by the way this whale was a “singer” and that was a special experience for everyone because he could be heard distinctly. He then moved on somewhere else and Laura and I reveled in the wonderful feeling of having been that close to a creature so large and so intelligent. For those of you who know Laura have her tell her side of the story, I’m sure it will be a treat. I should be receiving some photos of all this soon and will post immediately, both here and my next post.

I did get a fairly good photo but definitely not a world class ID (but a good “comparison” shot though).


This is HB# 2 11, I’m calling it “Laura’s Whale”


This is his right side and you can see the damaged dorsal fin, probably from earlier combat. As a “singer” he was calling in another male.

We also saw Turtles, Mobulas, a Marlin and a herd of Dolphin…great day! I was treated the night before to entertaining everyone for dinner at my trailer and enjoying the wit, humor and intelligence of the group. I swear I haven’t laughed so hard in years…it was shear delight.

In a recent post I mentioned how and old motorcycle injury has kept me from attempting kite surfing down here. This is a picture of the amateur class moto-cross race I was in while a graduate student at The Univ. of Arizona in which I layed my bike down in a turn and wrenched my left knee; put a big dent with that knee into the gas tank. This was 1967 or 68 I think so I was about 26-27 (before I developed an eco-conscience).





I just finished reading a book given to me by Gwen Riddell called, “Born to Run”. Fascinating, and though it is about running, it is about so much more…and not the Lance Armstrong type stuff. It is about The Tarahumara people of Mexico and what their kind of “running” means to us all. I myself am not a runner but I was deeply affected.

Another book I recently finished is “The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail”. This is a scholar’s approach to this ancient legend and if it does not connect some dots for you I would be surprised.

Speaking of “legends” there is a myth I would like to clear up. I do this because as the myth is perpetuated more of our Whales will die, as well as a great many other Sea Creatures. The myth is that there is not enough food in the world to feed the continuingly growing human population. DON’T GET ME WRONG (misquote me!), over population is a huge problem, if not the greatest we face as a planet, but the myth that there is not enough food for our billions is a lie. What we have is a HUNGER PROBLEM not a FOOD PROBLEM. There is plenty of food, more than enough, which is not the issue, the issue is that food production has become a mega business controlled by a very, very few and their ONLY interest in producing food is making a PROFIT. In setting up agriculture as a business they have made it continuingly more difficult for the masses to purchase it. In another words you can’t grow your own, you have to BUY it and they control all the pricing. The food is there it is a matter of DISTRIBUTING it. Based on Capitalism food has become something that a great, great many people simply can’t afford.

The perpetuation of THE MYTH allows them to increase the length of their longlines and drift nets, double the boat traffic every 20 years and trawl the bottom of The Oceans keeping 10% of the catch and discarding (now dead) 90% as “By Catch”. All of these techniques are to increase the food for the “masses”….bullshit. It is to increase profits. In the meantime, boat strikes and entanglements already scar 50% of our North Pacific Humpback population. This will not only continue but also increase as long as The Myth holds people in fear.

Fishing of all kinds takes place in pretty much the same areas that the World’s Whales migrate (which they MUST do) so THERE WILL BE MORE STRIKES AND ENTANGLEMENTS. During the 7 years now that I have studied our local Humpback population I have come across one still swimming entanglement, two dead Humpbacks from entanglement on our beaches and have been asked to assist in two more entanglements south of my grid.

I will continue to monitor this population of whales and do all I can to discourage the continuation of “The Myth”. The Great Mystery has brought me here to live in this most beautiful place and has given me the chance to pay back a certain Humpback Whale that saved my life off Bodega Head in 1971.

How can I not start this blog without the most exciting news? I ID’d my first whale of this 2011 season on the 10th. Here he is….”El Primero” and adopted by my good friend Jorge Sievers in Colorado.


"El Primero", first Humpback ID of 2011 Season

I believe “he” is a 2-3 year old male due to various combat scars on his dorsal fin. Had it not been for Marilyn Pomeroy’s suggestion we go out (very short wind window last week) and Alan Pomeroy’s “spotting”, Vicente and I would have missed him. He was real close but a short way behind us and his blow was not heard by any of us. We followed him for about an hour until I got this shot and then Alan asked, “now can we go in”? (he loves to swim with them as much as I do). Unfortunately we missed our chance because by the time we were geared up he went down and we lost him. I’m going out again Tuesday or Wednesday, as the winds are dying a bit.

The winds have been real good for the world class “Lord of the Wind” kite/wind surfing competition in Los Barriles right now. I went to watch the Masters Free Style event and got some photos but the wind wore me out before I could enjoy the after competition nightlife. After dinner tonight I may just drive back in and check out the scene. Some friends are in town and I may see them. They are coming out here to El Cardonal Monday to go with me on my search Tuesday. The more eyes the better!





A couple of posts back I mentioned an old friend, Frank Denney, who I buddied with as a kid and later off and on as a fellow traveler on this trip called “Life”. While rereading a book from the past I found this picture stuck in the pages. That’s me on the left and Frank on the right sitting on the deck of a place I built in Potter Valley, CA, must have been around 1975. I was in a REAL low place in my spirit at that time and Frank helped me out of it. Muchas gracias, amigo.


Me & my buddy Frank Denney, 1974

On a bit lighter level, this is what can happen driving in an arroyo around here. This is not my vehicle but one of a friend. Finally took another friend, Jose Martin and his backhoe, to get the SUV off the rock. One of the things about it all was that there was not even a grimace on anyone’s face the whole time. John Hensley was there too and it was just 4 friends solving a problem while still enjoying the beauty of Baja.




I don’t have a picture of the next event but Alan and I went out to his mooring buoy the other day to retrieve his anchor. He was going to tank dive down to it (it was stuck) while I watched from above to help lift, clear etc. All went well and I mentioned to Alan on the way in (each in our kayaks plus an extra kayak for the anchor, buoy and 100’ of rope) that we pulled that off like old pros. Alan laughed and said we weren’t through the surf yet and on the beach.

Well, I went in first, beached and waded out as he came in to stabilize the second kayak so it wouldn’t broadside in the surf (it was roped to the stern of his kayak). All looked good, Alan went in fine but I couldn’t steady the second kayak because a bit of a roller was coming in just then so I shoved the second kayak so it would ride as straight as possible and not mess up Alan as he was pulling out (remember he is still roped to the second kayak). Bad decision,

I shoved the kayak right into Alan as he was getting out and suddenly both kayaks are askew, Alan is trying to control them and I am in the surf unable to do a goddamn thing. Alan goes over on his back and does a graceful backward somersault and I stumble out of the surf like a shipwrecked sailor. We really must have looked like The Keystone Cops and no one appreciated it more than ourselves. For about an hour after we would break out laughing just thinking about how we looked after all that “professional” appearance out at the mooring.

This last picture is of my daughter Kersti and her husband Bill Evans. I put it in just because I think they look so good.

If you missed the kayak rescue story, go back one post.

Winter north winds are starting to blow, so very few chances to either kayak or swim. Luckily I have a bunch of real good friends that keep bringing me books, DVDs and movie downloads so I am not at a loss for entertainment. I miss the exercise but the work in the garden makes up for some of that and I can always walk my beautiful beach.

Here’s a picture of a very friendly and fearless Sea Turtle that let us visit with it a few days back, we saw three that day which is always nice.


Not so nice is a dead Humpback that washed ashore north of us wrapped up in a gill net day before yesterday. We tried to find it so I could get some shots and maybe some ID from the gill net but as hard as we searched we couldn’t find the whale. This is becoming an increasingly serious problem as the myth of “not enough food for the planets people” is perpetuated by the food industry. There is way more than enough food to feed everyone, it’s simply distributed according to profit, therefore the majority of the worlds people simply can’t afford it. As long as THE MYTH prevails, there will be more gill nets, more entanglements etc.

This is a whale similariy entangled in a gill net and dead that washed ashore during the 2009 season.

I have posted pictures of some of my really good friends off and on and the recent HS reunion has inspired me to show you some of my very dearest men friends. Alan Pomeroy and George (Jorge) Sievers (Mexico buds) I have posted before and in my last post I had my old buddy Frank Denney on the blog…..well here’s another.

This is John Erving who I started school with in the 4th grade. We went to different high schools and Universities but always stayed in touch and still see each other now and again. He was a real fine athlete, as were all my friends, and we shared some “high” adventure, ie: sailing a small “El Toro” boat on Clear Lake once in a BIG wind. John skippered and I kept some of the younger guys comforted. We climbed Mt. Konocti together and raced jeeps. This picture was taken recently when he realized one of the items on his “Bucket List”, a ride in an open cockpit biplane.

Had some great news from my boy Zack regarding some Native American energy.

In July of 2010, the Feather Dancers of the Tribes joined Friends of the Eel River (FOER) at a swimming hole in the Hearst area, a few miles downstream of the PG&E Potter Valley diversion (PVP) to the Russian River. The dance was to call in the waters to aid the salmon in their migration. The waters came!

Not my pic

For 6 years I crossed The Border on Dec. 31st so I could spend New Years Eve at Hussong’s Bar in Ensenada, Mexico. It is my favorite bar in The World and if it weren’t so far away I would still be going there. Can’t be there but I still put out my new Earth and Mexico flags each January first to replace the previous years wind blown ones (you should see them after a Hurican). This year was not so bad.

Before pic

After pic

Saw some blows from my bodega roof yesterday, really got my juices flowing. Arranged with Vicente to go out after the 15th (depending on winds) and see what we can find. The seasons first ID is always kinda special. May have some spotting help from my dear friends Susanna Pepperwood and Carrie Hamburg.