Blazing a Trail of Water : Enthusiasts Navigate Red Tape to Map Land and Sea Routes Through Channel Islands

Imagine a hiking trail, winding through the wilderness, alive with birds and other wildlife, but devoid of people.

Now imagine that trail on the water and imagine yourself paddling a kayak instead of walking.

If you can grasp that idea, then you can understand the concept of water trails, says Joanne Turner, an Orange County kayak enthusiast whose dream is to establish a trail through California’s Channel Islands National Park.

As a first step in that direction, Turner is raising funds to create a paddling and hiking map of the park’s Santa Rosa Island, which is located about 30 nautical miles off the coast from Santa Barbara. Money raised from a raffle of kayaking gear and clothing will be turned over to the Channel Islands National Park Service to develop a map indicating areas off-limits to kayakers and pointing out sites of interest.

The goal, says Bill Faulkner, park ranger, “is develop a map of Santa Rosa that we can give to both hikers and kayakers--a kind of topographical map that would allow them to plot their progress.”

The map is essential, according to Faulkner, because of the extremely sensitive habitat. “There will be restrictions to circumnavigating the island,” he says, “and the park is in the process of deciding right now how that would be managed. This is something that is in the process of happening. It’s brand new.”

Water trails may be new to the Channel Islands, but extensive trails already exist in Maine, Washington and Minnesota, according to David Lillard, director of a national trails program for the American Hiking Society in Washington, D.C.

“Most trails are on land,” Lillard says. “Trails are basically linear and go from one place to another. A water trail is the same kind of travel that you might do on foot, but you are on the water. For example, you could canoe from lake to lake, then camp on land when you get there.”

The society, which held its first National Trails Day on June 5, is trying to interest people in using and maintaining hiking and water trails all over the country, according to Lillard.

“We are pushing the boundaries of the idea of trails,” he says. “There are urban trails, suburban trails, not just trails in the wilderness and not just trails on land. The idea of the water trails is very important.”

Even without official water trails, boaters have been visiting the Channel Islands for years. All five islands--including Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara--in the northern chain of Channel Islands are open to boaters.

But landing on the islands is prohibited without prior approval by the park service or, in the case of Santa Cruz, by private landowners. Santa Cruz Island, although within the park’s boundary, is privately owned, and 90% of the island belongs to the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, which has its own rules about visiting.

In addition, each island has restricted areas and closed seasons to protect endangered and threatened species, and camping and hiking are permitted only in designated locations. These restrictions, although necessary, make establishing a Channel Islands water trail extremely difficult, according to Turner, who points out that often it is not possible to find a place to set up camp after a hard day’s paddling.

That’s why Turner would like to see a water trail linking the four major islands, excluding Santa Barbara, which is too remote for easy access.

Even without Santa Barbara Island, a kayak tour of the four remaining islands presents a challenge to even the most skilled paddlers, Turner points out. To paddle the four-island chain, leaving the mainland from Point Conception and returning at Oxnard, kayakers would have to cover about 100 nautical miles.

Turner made the journey in 1989 when she helped lead a group of paddlers, accompanied by an 80-foot support vessel. The group paddled about 30 nautical miles from Point Conception to San Miguel Island, the most remote of the four islands, then returned via Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa. But because of landing and camping restrictions, particularly on Santa Cruz, paddlers had to spend their nights on the support boat.

Once a water trail is established in the area, a support vessel won’t be necessary, Turner points out, because by then she hopes that every island will have designated landing and camping areas for kayakers.

Theoretically, boaters would go from Point Conception to San Miguel Island, then island-hop all the way to Anacapa, returning to the mainland by paddling about 12 nautical miles from Anacapa to Oxnard. Distances between the four islands range from four to seven nautical miles. “I would hope that eventually this would become a kayak trail, a boat trail with legitimate access so that paddlers can go as paddlers,” Turner says. “But I have a long time frame because I know this takes time.”

Faulkner concedes that one day something like that might be possible. “The ultimate trail would be to do the entire chain,” he says.

Faulkner, who took up kayaking himself about a year ago, circumnavigated Santa Rosa last year with Turner and about 20 other paddlers, including five park employees. The trip was so successful that the park service is going to allow Turner to conduct another tour this October for about 15 paddlers. The group will travel to and from Santa Rosa by powerboat, bringing their kayaks and camping gear with them.

Even though Faulkner has seen all the islands numerous times, he says the kayak tour made him look at things with new appreciation.

“You are traveling under your own power in a primitive wilderness environment,” he says. “It is hard to find a place where you can do that. And Santa Rosa is nice.

“First of all because it is so big and you have a real diverse coastline. There are giant cliffs, rock gardens, sea caves, long sandy beaches, large sand dunes--scenic vistas wherever you look,” he says. “It is what I consider a quality wilderness experience. Something you might have to drive up to Alaska to see and here we have it in our own back yard.”

Doug Schwartz, Turner’s fellow paddler and business partner, says that Santa Rosa Island offers world-class paddling, rivaling such places as Fiji, Costa Rica and New Zealand. “It is just as wonderful as these other places,” says Schwartz, who has paddled all over the world. “Kayaking out there is exquisite.”

But both Schwartz and Turner, who together own Southwind Kayak Center in Irvine, point out that paddling in the Channel Islands is not for the inexperienced.

“It is windy, choppy and there are strong currents,” he says. “Even though it looks calm, it can be very deceiving. In a matter of a few hours the winds can whip up to 15 or 20 knots and become quite dangerous.”

For paddling in the islands or anywhere else, Schwartz says you need good boat-handling and seamanship skills.

The best time to paddle in the islands is in the fall, according to Turner. “That’s when it’s calmest,” she says.

No matter when you go, Turner reminds boaters to be aware of park restrictions and to treat the islands with care. “The islands are highly sensitive--and highly is underlined and in italics,” she says.

That means that kayakers must keep their distance from marine mammals and birds, according to park ranger Faulkner. “Not only campers can disturb wildlife, but coming too close to birds can make them fly, which means they use energy that they would have used for hunting. If I walked by and they flew, that might not be a big deal, but if the frequency of disturbance goes on it could have an impact.”

As more kayakers begin to visit the islands, Faulkner says the park service will continue to monitor the impact they have on the area’s wildlife.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act says that marine mammals should not be harassed. And if an animal changes its behavior in any way because of your presence then that is harassment. Right now we are reviewing these concerns.”

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For non-paddlers. You don’t have to have a kayak to tour the Channel Islands. Island Packers in Ventura is the authorized concessionaire for trips to the islands. The company operates four boats, ranging from 50 to 65 feet, and offers tours to Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara. Prices range from $21 for a trip to Anacapa to $90 for a trip to San Miguel. For information call (805) 642-7688.

Information about landing and camping permits for the Channel Islands is available by calling Channel Islands National Park at (805) 658-5700.

Information about Santa Cruz Island is available by calling the Nature Conservancy at (805) 962-9111 or by writing the Nature Conservancy, 213 Stearns, Santa Barbara, 93101.

You can also get information about visiting the east end of Santa Cruz Island, which is under joint private and park ownership, by calling Island Adventures at (805) 646-2513.

Camping is available on the east end of the island, along with guided kayak tours, according to Jaret Owens, who holds the lease for that area. Also on the east end is Scorpion Ranch, where guests can stay for $55 a night. To arrange trips to Santa Cruz’s east end call Island Packers at (805) 642-7688.

“You don’ have to be a kayaker or hiker to enjoy the island,” says Owens, who has spent most of the past 20 years on Santa Cruz Island. “It is like stepping back in time.”

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Women racers. An Orange County-based sailing organization is putting together an all-woman crew to race in this year’s Transpacific Yacht Race, which will start June 30 off Point Fermin. Eight women, chosen by the Women’s Ocean Racing Sailing Assn., will sail a Cal-40 named Antara in the 2,200- nautical mile race to Hawaii.

The crew will include Lori Barnes from Fountain Valley, Betsy Crowfoot from Tustin, Shirley Doell from San Diego, Bonnie Gibson from Costa Mesa, Terry Monson from Diamond Bar, Flora Obayashi and Amanda Russell, both from Huntington Beach, and Debra Rigas from Bothwell, Wash.

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For children. Boating activities for children will be offered this summer in Newport Beach and Dana Point by the Girl Scout Council of Orange County. Splish Splash Day Camp, for boys and girls in the fourth through seventh grades, will be held at Newport Dunes beginning June 28. Boating instruction, also beginning on June 28, will be offered at both Newport Dunes and at the Dana Point Youth and Group Facility. For information call (714) 979-7900.