Until I figured out they were dolphin. Was out paddling this a.m. and had this fin pop up directly in front of me, kind of heading straight towards me. It looked fricken big and had my heart going all pitter-pat until two more popped up and one did a big flying walenda. Cool though- they aren't too shy. Random fins in the ocean always give me motivation to reflect and appreciate. Cruising in a pod of dolphin at seven a.m. on a saturday is about as close to god as I can think of.
Still and all- I am convinced that the mischievious little buggers know they look like sharks when they do that first popping up thing!
Well- mostly I'm too far from shore and there's no way I'll out swim or out paddle a shark- they can cover a LOT of distance pretty quick. So if it is a shark it just is what it is. You see it and accept it and try to be rational about it and you go your way and the shark goes it's way. Usually, anyhow. The odds of being attacked by a shark here are pretty slim.
This one was a shark:
The way I figure it if I can see it it knows exactly where I am, so I just kept paddling and tried to stay closer to shore, just in case.
Best ever dolphin experience. I grew up surfing around the dolphins that run from (what I've always believed to be) an oceanagraphic research platform off of Pacific Beach California to Scripps Pier. There's a LOT of bottlenosed dolphins there and I just got used to them when I was really young and my buddies and I would try to touch them- and eventually would touch them and grab them- while we sat outside the break waiting for surf. So Dolphins and I aren't total strangers.
About 4 years ago I was racing paddleboards on the open ocean and training to do the molokai crossing and so 3-4 times a week I'd make a 6 mile run from a bay south of my house to the pier right dead center of town. In the middle of that run- in part because of the currents and in part because of how the coast curves- I'd end up about a mile off shore on an 11 pound board with epoxy and graphite walls less than an eighth inch thick. It's kind of spooky out there alone and during winter the momma whales get kind of wierd about humans being too close to their calves (total assumption there- I'm no expert) and they'll flip their tails and jump uncomfortably close to you (like 50 feet away). Also there's the threat of a big tiger shark checking you out and deciding it might like to try a taste. Slim chance but it's always there at the back of your mind.
Anyhow- I'd do this same run about every other day or every third day, and I guess the dolphin(pl) just got accustomed to me because they were running right at me in a big pod of about 30 or 40 and then when they got near me they submerged- which is normal- and then they surfaced right near me and ran with me for a couple minutes, and the two closest to me were just under the water- their fins a little above water- and as I paddled my fingertips would brush their backs. I actually had to paddle with little shallow strokes they were so close and I was afraid I'd scare them off.
This happened and I was just like beaming- fricking beautiful thing to happen and I was like 90 days sober and clear headed and had that natural high that one gets when you eat really well and exercise and are just living really clean. The dolphin came up on either side of me and I was just chuckling to myself, thinking "Well okay- I guess this could happen."
How strange. That tower hadn't crossed my mind for twenty years but since I wrote that I figured i should look it up and see if I could figure out what that thing was, and lo and behold- I found it. Only it's gone now.
Man oh man Toby. I'm heading out for a morning walk along the Charles River near my house and the most dangerous thing I have to contend with is pigeons overhead. There are a few homeless guys (and women) scattered around, but they mostly want to be left alone. They do provide a good reminder of where I could be though. Great pictures, Toby. They remind me of my early sobriety when I went out to discover the city of Boston. Despite the fact that I had been living here all my life I had never really explored the city. Anyway... one afternoon I saw that they were offering free sailboat rides around Boston Harbor. I headed over and hopped aboard. About 5 minutes into our sail we were joined by three harbor porpoises. It was so cool. I took that as a sign that God was looking down and showing me that sobriety was the way for me. Thanks for the pictures and the memory. Mike in Boston
Awwwww......The wonders of our surroundings in sobriety!!!!! And most are free. How one can marvel at them and have a greater appreciation when one's head is clear. Had my own experience with a shark once...... 12in. hollowed out inside...rubber.....from SeaWorld. Kept finding water on the bathroom floor. Ugh! Til I caught, my son filling it and "dumping" it. Son found himself in a bit of "hot water". The shark went "sailing"!!!!! Never seen it again. Ha! Ha! Coooooool Pics. Like Destiny, am a bit jealous.
Wow, Toby, what an experience! I just watched Jaws about a week ago...
Fantastic pictures, thanks for posting them. The navy is trying to introduce dolphins into Puget Sound here, for security reasons. Dont know if it'll fly because of the concern for a dwindling fish population and the delicate balance the sound is experiencing right now. But we do have our Orca's....no sharks, tho. Too cold here I guess. Keep paddling, Chris
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"Never argue with an idiot... They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience..."
I've never been to either Puget Sound or Boston, but both are on my easy list. I really need to get to the East Coast and the South before I'm old and feeble.
At around 90 feet deep Puget sound has a shark called a "Six-Gill Shark". I doubt a lot of people go 90 feet down in Puget sound though. (I do have some friends that dive in the great lakes, but when I send them pictures they tell me my dives are blue while theirs are more brown.)
Now Boston, from what I've read, can be infinitely more of a challenge. Have you ever sat in one of the booths at the L Street Tavern? Just curious. I actually saw them in the special commentary on the Good Will Hunting DVD. Being Irish and having a certain appreciation for Irish literature I've ended up inadvertantly learning quite a bit about Boston(well and plus a decade ago it became "cool" to be Irish, and so we got Good Will Hunting, Mystic River, State of Grace (albiet more alluding to the Westies than the Winter Hill Gang), Sleepers (agaion more about Brooklyn) etc...) and anyhow Boston's history has a myriad of pitfalls of it's own distinct brand. I absolutely dug the book Easter Rising An Irish American Coming Up from Under By Michael Patrick MacDonald. I started out expecting one thing and ended up reading a biography that in many places could have been my own.
Anyhow- I've gotta go hit the water. It's a beautiful day and I slept til 8 (I was up til two reading the Biography of Jeff Hakman, an old world class pro surfer from the sixties and early seventies who had some troubles with Heroin but somehow managed to start Quiksilver Europe anyways. Talk about high functioning!) but anyhow I'll look for something interesting. I'm always on the prowl for my turtle friends out there, but lately they've been kinda scarce. I would really like to shoot a decent turtle shotfor my living room but that's not the kind of shot I'll get out paddling. That's the kind of thing you go specifically to shoot. And maybe with a better camera.
I've been to both the L St. Tavern and the L. St. Bathhouse Friday Night meeting. A lot of sober guys actually got cameos in the movie due to an AA member being a "consultant" for the film. I got sober in South Boston which is my wife's neighborhood. I also attended the same school (Boston Latin) that Michael Patrick MacDonald dropped out of. Both of his books hit home for me, too. I particularly got into his insights on the Boston punk scene which I was in and around a few years before him. Southie's more than just a bunch of hoods and gangsters though. It's a great community, the best in Boston excepting good old Allston- Brighton - my hometown! More barrooms per capita than almost anyplace on the planet.. Also more AA meetings - good thing. Mike
I particularly got into his insights on the Boston punk scene
Me too. That was the surprise for me- I had no idea when I picked the book up that it would have that in it.
One of my favorite albums growing up was:
Among other Eastern Seaboard, DC and Canadian punk outfits. Gang Green and Jerry's kids were skate punk staples for us along with DOA, Subhumans, Government Issue, SOA, Teen Idles, Bad Brains, etc... as well as our local southern California stuff.
So is it true the Yuppies are redevolping Boston faster than the Irish can procreate?
My husband grew up surfing everyday in southern california. Surfing is a very spiritual experience that only a few get to enjoy. Glad to see you are able to include it in your recovery.
Great post aand great pics. I'm jealous , but also inspired seeing you write about the beauty you now see around you now that you've been sober for awhile
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Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Romans 8:6 , The Message
Here's a couple old ones. I spend a lot of time in the water. That's one thing that drinking severely got in the way of. Pretty much my main reason for getting sober, really- along with a million other good reasons, two of which are at the top of the list- my daughter and son.
The boy kid and I underwater:
The girl kid underwater off on her own. Same beach, different time- she took my camera and shot a bunch of cool stuff one day when she was here.
Too funny. She went to art school for a summer after ninth grade. Scholarship to San Francisco, stayed in the dorm, did photography and figure drawing, cartooning and fashion design. I go to visit her and we have lunch at a little place in the Haight and she's scrolling through my photos of San Francisco on my digital camera and she just laughs and says "you took all the same pictures as I did." Total peas in a pod. Sure enough I went through her portfolio later that day and it was all the same stuff with mostly different perspectives.
Huge Makaha. I'm behind the camera. I didn't go out this day because I was severely hung over after seeing Elvis Costello with the Oahu Symphony Orch and then going to a jazz club and seeing Rolando Sanchez til closing. Horrible, horrible hangover that morning. Another good reason I quit. I wish I could remember every note of both performances. And I would have liked to have surfed this epic day.
I love that little camera. Waterproof, shockproof, perfect to take swimming with the kids.
beautiful kids and photography! Good reason to stay sober... your kids and the amazing water! wow... So since you want to come to the east coast we should just trade spots... you come stay at my place and while your here ill be at your place enjoying the water and dolphins!!! haha
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"Advice is what you ask for when you already know the answer but wish you didn't"
Phil! Your humor is ALWAYS appreciated! I need to get to bed. Having a bit of a funk. I scroll down this page and sure, enjoy the pictures and other posts, then I read your comments and I'm laughing so loud I'm worried I'm going to wake everyone else up in the house! Sigh--good way to conclude my reading of the board tonight. Thanks, Laura
Chased this guy around Lymans Bay this morning. Visibility was really nice outside but inside the bay it was kind of dirty and hazy, and the camera is an Olympus Stylus which is kind of limited quality-wise so the quality is pretty marginal and I had to screw around with it a lot to get rid of a lot of haze. I think if I get really close in optimum conditions I could get a decent picture. I'd really like to get a housing for my D70 and go that route, but that's a couple grand minimum. I probably just need to use the Stylus and watch my settings closely and make the effort to wear fins and a mask. At this point I'm really out there shooting for a close-up underwater shot of the dolphins, but it's really eerie when I know my board is 100 yards away and I'm looking into the periferal dark-blue at the outside limits of water visibility and I'm imagining the grey snout of a grey reef shark materializing in front of me.
Anyhow- 100 years ago this guy would have been turtle soup. Down south you'll occassionally hear about some local boys poaching one anyhow, but it's pretty radically frowned upon by pretty much everyone.
So I woke up this morning at like 6:30 and jumped out of bed, made coffee, took a healthy crap and drank my coffee while putting a fin and a coat of wax on a new paddleboard that's been hanging in the rafters for a couple months. I would have taken it out sooner except that I kind of hated what it looked like when I finally got it back from my shaper. I'd told him that I wanted something with a little more volume in the front 36" and some concave in the bottom so that I could actually surf it, but when I got it the rails and nose were all bloated and round and it looked to me like a loaf of bread. Anyhow- I hung it in my rafters above my shop and glowered at it for a few months, until my intense dislike of it's appearance faded and dimmed and finally became something that happened a while back.
So this morning I hop out of bed and throw the board on my truck and head down to this cool little bay where I launch a lot of the time and I put a couple miles in and the board just flies. Apparently the added volume throughout made it faster than fast. I was really impressed and had to mentally apologise to the board for all the shit I'd talked about it without actually taking it out.
So I get down to Lymans Bay- which is the place where I chased the turtle the other day and is what I see when I look out off of my front porch- and I caught a couple small waves. The board also surfed pretty okay for a paddleboard. It's kind of thick to be a bonafide surfboard but as far as paddleboards go it surfed alright. You cant expect much from a french roll with a fin.
So after a couple waves the surf goes flat and I'm sitting out there waiting out the lull and this girl swims by, says hi, swims out a ways and then starts swimming in towards the other side of the bay. I'm sitting there, waiting- and when you're sitting there waiting out a lull you only have a couple choices of what to do. You can dive to the bottom and swim around (but doing that a lot of times you get caught unawares by a sneak set), You can go into your head and do some thinking, or you can watch the horizon and the ocean around you and see what pops up. So I'm watching the ocean around me and what pops up but about a six foot black tip reef shark about 150 feet or so out from me. I watch it for a sec and then it goes down again. It was actually visible just long enough for me to be sure it wasn't a turtle or a Manta Ray and then it was gone. I looked in at the swimming girl and she was about 50 feet from shore quite a ways off and inside of me (I'm about 100 yards from her out by the point, she's inside the bay.) So I sit out there scanning the glassy surface of the water hoping to see a bit more but after a couple minutes I give up and by chance look over at the point to see the shark riding a little swell across the reef- just this whole top half of the shark showing under the water with the dorsal and tail fins sticking out- probably about 50-60 feet away.
I look in at the girl and over at the point (The shark is between me and the point) and I know grey sharks aren't really known for being super agressive but still, I like to give them a little space and so I turn my board and paddle in to the girl and out of courtesy tell her I saw this reef shark. She kind of freaks a little but not really and then swims all the way across the bay to this little beach that was actually pretty close to where the shark was. I see my daughter and uncle standing on the beach and so climb up on the rocks and find a safe spot for my board and go talk to them. They ask me if I saw the shark and I say yeah- but really it's not that big of a deal unless it comes super close. Still- it's always interesting to see and it always gives you a little adrenaline surge no matter how analytical you try to be about it. There's no athiests in the foxholes.
Needless to say I had to paddle right through there and two miles back to where I'd parked my truck and launched. Caught up with my friend Mark and raced him home and didn't see a fricken thing.
They always look scarier from this angle:
Spooky buggers no matter what when you're 100 yards from shore.
