On a clear night, the well lit oil rigs offshore from Carpenteria stand out like Christmas trees. But this night was foggy, and I felt it was meant for me.
I launched through the surf at Carpenteria on Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 8:00 PM, which was around sunset. With the fog, I couldn’t see the sun going down. After launching it quickly became dark. There wasn’t much to see. All night long, I never saw the moon or stars. I couldn’t even see the swells or waves. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. My red LED light was shining on the compass on my front deck. The bioluminescence in the water, stirred up by my bow wave and paddle strokes, was such a bright neon bluish green, it almost hurt my eyes to look at it. The bioluminescence also showed fish scattering. I could hear dolphins feeding on the fish but never saw them. A pup sea lion followed me for a while and I could see its bioluminescent trail going under and around me.
After two hours of paddling, I should’ve been at the first oil rig, “C.” But I couldn’t hear or see anything. For the first time in 10 years, I turned on my GPS. It showed that I flew right by the oil rig and was nearly 2 miles past it. The mistake cost me an hour. Off course, offshore, and in the dark and fog, not to mention solo, I had to focus on keeping my cool.
Soon oil rig “C” appeared and being in its light was comforting. Oil rigs “C,” “B,” “A,” and Hillhouse are only about ½ mile apart, and shortly after leaving one, the next one would appear as a faint glow through the fog.
After those four oil rigs, it was time to leave the comfort of the lights and venture back into the dark abyss for another 3 nautical miles. Seven nautical miles offshore, oil rig Habitat was the farthest out I’d be for the night.
Then it was another 3 nautical miles back towards shore for the remaining three oil rigs, Henry, Houchin, and Hogan, also about ½ mile apart.
Once I left Hogan, the fog had lifted enough that I could see lights on the coast 4 nautical miles away. I landed through the surf at Carpenteria at 2:45 AM.
It was a fine piece of sea kayaking and a night I will never forget.
By 4:00 AM I was situated with all my gear put away, and I slept for two hours in my truck before driving to Goleta to finish off one more oil rig by itself and not far offshore. The 1.5 hour round trip paddle to oil rig Holly and back was uneventful, except for all the oil I had to paddle through. Supposedly, the oil is natural seepage, but it’s been debated.
I left Hondo at about noon for the 7 nautical mile crossing back to Gaviota State Beach. But along the way, I was attacked by a 15-foot great white shark. Fortunately, I was still able to make it back, finishing the 24 nautical mile loop in 7 hours. Here’s the link to the shark attack report.
