Back from Pelican

We made it to Pelican and back this weekend. Light winds on the way out, and about 16 kts all the way on the way back. Took us 6 hours to get out and 4 to return. I had a really awesome time this time. The temperatures, both air and water, were more manageable, and I got to use my new wetsuit to go snorkeling a bit, which was really fun. There were tons of sea urchins, very cool anemones, a garibaldi, a dead lobster, some random indescript fish and a mollusk that I couldn't identify. And the kelp and sea weeds were really bright and colorful. I caught a sea urchin, cracked it open and ate some of the uni, so now I can say I've done that! At night we had bioluminescence, which is always beautiful to see. I'd like to dive with that someday, it would be unreal.

On the way out we saw several dolphin pods, but they were totally absorbed in hunting or whatever they were doing and didn't pay attention to us. We also saw a big pack of what I think were Risso's dolphins on the way out and a couple of them on the way back -- I think we startled the second batch. Apparently these guys mostly eat squid, and we saw them on the northern boundary of the southbound traffic zone, so that tells you where the good squid must be!

Dan dropped in a couple lures with no luck, and I dropped in my squid lure at night with no luck. We'll have to work on the right skills for fishing out there...

This time around we had the food and gear prep down a little smoother, so that went fast, and apart from a burn I accidentally gave myself, I don't think we had any mishaps. Oh, I guess we broke the boomvang boom-side attachment on the way back: it was riveted to the boom, and it just came off. Probably corroded half to death. We'll see how to get it back. For the next trip, I'd also like to get a nice compass installed. Following a course on the gps is a little frustrating, and also it has you looking the wrong way.

Didn't take many pictures this time, but here's the link to the album:

islands-05-08-2007