Santa Barbara

Tuesday, October 11

After rolling at anchor all night, we were anxious to secure one of the very few visitor slips in the marina. Some of Santa Barbara’s docks are under construction making it a tight fit for transients. Before 9 we pulled up at the Harbormaster’s office, right next to West Marine! While we waited, a uniformed marina worker strode up to the boat and popped a florazine dye tablet into each of our heads. We never flush overboard in marinas, but this was the first time we’d seen anything but the honor system in use. Confirming warnings that the relaxed approach to cruisers would change in Southern California, the amount of registration paperwork increased as well. Security in the marina required the use of a gate card for every entrance, even the on-dock bathrooms.

Even from the marina we could see that we had really arrived in Southern California. The beachfront walk is planted with palm trees. To us they look unreal and out of place. Everyone exercising on the walk seemed tall blond and athletic. The only other tall trees are eucalyptus.

We visited the Maritime Museum, also on the dock, and enjoyed the large exhibit on deep sea diving equipment lots of which was used in the oil drilling business, by the Seals and for wreck salvage. Their Channel Island restoration video and the good reports on the recovery of the sea bass, brown pelican and other island populations is encouraging. Strangely these droughty islands had been used for sheep and cattle ranching which destroyed vegetation and allowed some nasty foreign species like rats to take over. Now where these have been removed the former natives are returning nicely.

For dinner we found ourselves cheating a little, eating at Brophy’s overlooking the marina. They make the best clam chowder since Joe Knowles! Afterward we watched fisherman unloading huge nets full of spiny urchins into bins on the dock.