Spend enough time at sea and you’ll have some stories to tell — about things you’ve seen — wild enough stories to require an ending such as, “I swear by my tattoo!”
Here’s one. While cruising to Santa Cruz Island one crisp clear winter morning after a drenching storm had passed over us a couple of days earlier, I spied a stick jutting a couple of feet up out of the water. Knowing it was probably the top of something larger, I slowed and gave it a wide berth. As I drew close, I did a double take and just shook my head. That stick was the top piece of a very large and very fancy barely submerged wooden spiral staircase looking like it came from a Southern mansion. I swear by my tattoo. Now, I pose a fair and honest question: How did that spiral staircase get into the middle of the Santa Barbara Channel?
On another trip, we were coming back from San Miguel Island and were a long way from anywhere. I saw what appeared, at a distance, to be a lifeguard’s buoy and altered course to investigate. Sure enough, it was a lifeguard’s buoy, and the ankle strap leash was hanging straight down in the water. My crew and I were nervous about pulling up that line to see what might be attached to the leash, but to our relief it was empty. I swear by my tattoo.
A commercial fisherman friend swore off drinking one morning when — on his way to Santa Rosa Island and with about five miles yet to go — he saw what looked like the branches of a tree bobbing in the water. He moved in to investigate and questioned his sanity when he saw a huge bull elk swimming strongly toward the island. He thought about trying to help the animal, but the logistical problems and very real expectation of a possibly fatal injury changed his mind. He just swore off drinking and went on his way.
A couple of days later, the truth came out. Some of the elk were being transported from the island, and an alpha bull elk had busted the wooden cage and jumped into the sea during the channel crossing. I’m sure the elk made it. I swear by my tattoo.
While on my way to a fishing spot near the coast one morning, I couldn’t help altering course to take a closer look at what looked like a barrel cactus growing out of the sea. The closer I got, the more it looked like a cactus. When I got alongside it, I could see that it was in a barely floating planting pot. I hauled it in, and that cactus lived for some time. I swear by my tattoo.
How about you? Have you found strange things floating at sea or washed up on shore? If so, submit a comment and share your story.
Don’t forget to swear by your tattoo!
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a new nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need.
