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Happy to get off Aldebaran (that little speck at anchor in the background), Pygmy Mammoth admitted to being a little sea sick.
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The Pygmy Mammoth made it to Santa Barbara Island!
We were greeted with the following sign:
"Due to the federal government shutdown, this facility is closed."
Anarchy is not my forte, but after 11hrs of sailing, I wasn't about to turn back. I climbed the ladder to the rudimentary dock, the only landing on the island.
I first heard the news as we fueled Aldebaran in the harbor, just prior to departure: "Does this mean the IRS is also closed?" laughed the fuel dock attendant. We were raising sail ten minutes later, salt spray on our eyes, laying rest our worries about societal collapse.
A warm welcome from one of our nation's most inaccessible National Parks
The bureaucratic beast would rear up its head soon enough -- we were still applying for access to the Navy-controlled San Clemente and San Nicolas islands. But this caught me off guard. A beloved National Park, closed, after all this effort!
"What do you think about all this?" I spoke aloud to the island, now solidly under my feet.
A memory came to me. Do you know that book about how Nature comes back when humans are gone? That possibility is fertile in this isolated chunk of land. But is that what the island wants? Should we be good stewards of the land; is our restoration work bringing real benefit?
Spectacular and controversial programs have occurred in each of the eight channel islands, with varying levels of success and challenges. I hoped to learn the deeper Why and How of Restoration, by visiting them in my sailboat; ultimately, to appreciate these fantastic islands and to see what they teach us about the art of dealing with change.
Was there anyone on this island to discuss this question, or would I just keep talking to myself?
After walking up the hill, I found two people.
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