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Catalina Island
Catalina Island, CA
Exploring the Island
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| Start of a great hike |
We met up with several new
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| Trail we followed |
boat friends of ours while on Catalina Island. In Avalon Harbor, there are moorings for hundreds of boats. Since we
were late in the season, it was not as crazy as it can be, but there were still several boats. The moorings have both a front and back
anchor under the water with a line attached between them so that you can both bow and stern tie. It is the only way they
could so effectively turn the harbor into a marine parking lot and fit SO many people! It really is incredible.
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| Tomas with lizzard |
There were trails all around the island that could be taken. This rowdy crowd contained the couples from the sailboats
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| Rose, Michael & Eric checking out scenery |
Merlin's Magic (son Tomas on left with
the lizzard), Tillicum, Pelican and Grasal. Eric was in tow to keep all out of (read: IN) trouble. One thing this gang did not have to worry about much on this
journey was being hit by a car. Everyone on the island drives golf carts! There are truck golf carts... 2, 4 or 6-seater golf carts... red ones, green ones, you name
it! It is pretty bizarre. We weren't sure if this was the rule, a means of evading some island import tax, or if it just worked out to be a fashionable trend. After
all, we are still in California! (Hike photos courtesy of Pelican)
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Eric Turns 28!!!
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| Eric's 3rd birthday?!? |
It turned out that within a two-week span, Jean from Grasal (left), Anne from Merlin's Magic (middle), Robert from Tillicum
and our very own Eric (right) were celebrating birthdays. We decided to take care of all in one fell swoop by having a
joint birthday celebration out at a Mexican restaurant. Eric's birthday was actually took place back in Santa Barbara, but he didn't
seem to mind having margarita a few days late. It turns out that this certainly worked out to his advantage. We celebrated
in Santa Barbara, had fun in Catalina with a bunch of friends, and also had a cake at another time back on the boat with our
friends from Waking Dream. He really knows how to milk it! But, it only happens once a year, so why not?
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Many Fish, One Pelican & a Dream
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We found out while in Catalina
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| Michael, Sara & Angela getting ready to snorkel |
that a friend of ours Sara, from the boat Pelican, had never been snorkeling before. Now this is something that we couldn't
let slide. The first thing we did was suit her up and throw her in the water.
Okay, actually we let her get suited up herself and
willingly join us in the dinghy (left) for a trip out to a little bay. But we could have!
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| Sara's first snorkel experience ever! |
Once Sara got in the water (right), she immediately fell in love with it. In fact, it was harder to convince here to get out of the water
than it was to get her in.
We are really looking forward to snorkeling with her further south. This WAS really beautiful,
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| Two Siegel's in wetsuits! |
full of kelp forests and little fish, but we
know that there is even more clearer, warmer, fishier water ahead the further south we go. We can't wait!
After several snorkeling trips, we also had a chance to dive with Waking Dream. Due to all the kelp in the area, we decided the hookah might be
a tangled nightmare of hoses and opted for good old tank diving. It was incredible to be able to look up through the kelp forest to the surface
above. While snorkeling, you get the amazing vantage point of being at the top, as if hovering amidst the tops of giant trees. While diving, it
feels as if you are grounded again... a little person walking underneath the forest canopy. However, the leaves on the kelp are HUGE down below, some
up to six feet long and 2 feet wide. It really is quite a site!
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© 2002 Eric & Angela Siegel, OurDotCom
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