Jurassic Park?

Anacapa Island

Anacapa Island

As we continued southeast through the Channel Islands, the water turned a beautiful turquoise blue.  The mountains on Anacapa Island seem to rise steeply from the ocean floor and reminded us of a dramatic island scene in “Jurassic Park.”  Cruising between the islands of Santa Cruz and Anacapa via the Anacapa Passage gave us the thrill of a lifetime.  I stepped out from the pilothouse door and saw a large white figure moving forward alongside the boat.  With my camera in-hand, I rushed to the bow and realized it was a Blue Whale riding the wake produced from our boat.  Turning and rolling, he rose out of the water a couple of times and then disappeared.  Leonard was down in the engine room so had missed the spectacle; but shortly thereafter, a pod of dolphins came to see us.  They too rode through the wake of our bow, diving, rolling, and rising out of the water to take a peak at the mother ship and the strange humans peering over the edge.  They played alongside for several minutes and then left, perhaps to join their friends who were off in the distance performing summersaults over the water.  What a show!  We looked back toward Anacapa Island and could see from afar the large 40-foot high rock arch, a favorite subject for many photographers.  As the northern Channel Islands faded in the distance, we settled in for the long 9-hour cruise to Catalina Island - no land in sight, just the beautiful blue sea.  Over the course of our cruise, Leonard checked the fuel injection pump to see if diesel was leaking from the “weep hole,” hopeful that the earlier fix was successful.  After a number of visits to the engine room, Leonard came back with the bad news.  “Houston, we have a problem.”  He had confirmed that a small amount of diesel fuel was still weeping which meant the earlier plug solution was not the right solution!  Looks like our visit to Catalina might be shorter than anticipated.  We arrived at the village of Two Harbors in Isthmus Cove on Catalina Island around 5:30pm with the plan to stay for three or four days and then head east to the greater Los Angeles area to begin our repair and maintenance issues once again.

Blue Whale

Dolphin

Fast Moving Dolphin

Playful Dolphins