After waiting what seemed like eternity I was finally able to afford my Tesoro Compadre metal detector today. It being in oxnard I hitched a ride with my mom and my sister along on their shopping trip. Being totally stoked on it I whipped it out as soon as we pulled into the target parking lot and started hunting.
First target: an active sprinkler head
My first dig yeilded an old bolt and threading, kinda cool.
I started getting a lot of hits and it took me a lot of digging to figure out it was little bits of foil strewn all throughout the soil. My next target turned out being a small piece of scrap.

I turned up the discrimination on my unit hoping to see through all the crap the little parking lot island was contaminated hit. I picked up a strong signal...very strong. I hauled up a layer of wood chips that had obviously been laid down then subsequently buried. I took a large dirt clod from under the blanket and held it over my sensor. Sure enough it rang out loud and clear.
Broke it up and there in the matrix was an obvious outline of a ring! I was so stoked I did the happy dance! At first I thought it might be broken but the main feature is divided into two parts. One side is the free mason symbol and the other looked like it once contained a stone. Inside the band "Kes" is inscribed along with "from C luister" or something to that effect. Very awesome way to start the hobby.

It took quite a while to get home what with the lunch and more shopping so I only got a couple minuets of detecting in on the property before it got dark. Did manage to find a 1971 quarter along with an electric motor and some trash metal. Overall sweet day and I cant wait for beach combing tomalz.

Solid waves, solid hunting

The tools with which to hunt

Geology

Mapping in Cuyama Badlands

Iguana King

At a resort near Akumal Mexico on the Yucatan Penensula

Que Jaws music

Savage

I did the same thing today:

Hunt, Cook, Enjoy

Hunt




Cook





Enjoy

Cliff slides

Me n Gibson in one of our favorite pastimes...Cliff mobbing!!!

 

Gibson had to do the whole thing a couple times before I finally recorded it

Hiking

 

 

WTF

Tried to go spearfishing today only to find the ocean a dark redbrown muddy mess. I traveled up the coast to find dozens of dumptrucks making round trips dumping tons and tons of soil onto goleta beach and bulldozers shoving the sediment into the rising tide.

Besides the obvious agricultural applications for the wasted loam the ecological implications for my favorite fishing spot shocked me.

Furthermore, even if they had been dumping sand or gravel which would last longer than a tide cycle or two , the introduction would cause head-ward erosion down shore of the barrier at goleta beach and deposition upshore at the cliffs.

Maybe you should consult a sedimentologist, geologist, or anybody who knows anything about longshore transport before pulling such a boneheaded public works project.

assholes, if only they could divert just one of those trucks to my garden the taxpayers money wouldn't be a complete waste.

My Desk

yea I know its bomb

I had a dream last night that I was flying over tropical wetlands and marshland in what I assume to be the Yucatan peninsula (a place I have never actually physically been). As I skimmed the surface I noticed congregations of large crabs of various species. I hunted the spidery monsters but they proved elusive, retreating under the protection of the nooks and crannies. I took aim instead for an even larger and more sedentary pray. They where football sized aquatic armadillos with sharp pointed noses and a mean disposition for attacking humans. I picked the largest from the lot (I noticed well over a half dozen in the immediate vicinity) and wrestled him into submission by forcing his head to his butt curling him into a sphere. Carrying this payload I soared back to civilization (Cancun?) and was directed to land by a police officer next to a second police officer. "Your under arrest for poaching!". I looked at her in disbelief..."no freaking way!" I exclaimed. "its a felony to bring harm to the endangered armadillo" she responded. I explained to her that they couldn't possibly be endangered I saw so many and besides I plucked the largest and therefor longest lived from the gene pool. I quickly went on to say that I only just grabbed the critter and he hadn't been out of water more than a few minuets. Based on his size he should be resilient enough to last if we replenish his moisture quickly and return him to his environment.

It sure would have been tasty though.

Round this bend lies one gnarly hill.

I went first, on my traded-homemade-crap skate I raced straight down the hill quickly building kinetic energy. I wizzed past a "Road Closed" sign which I didn' figure applied to me and my skate. Upon closer inspection at at least 2x sprinting speed (30mph) however both the road and hill terminated at a metal gate extended accross the whole pavement.

FUCK

I aimed to the left where an embankment thick with overgrowth provided the most promising bet. Before I could make it a collection of pebbles and sand collected in the low and gave my board a violent case of the shakes.

So violent was the effect of my loss of friction and so squirly was my tight truck-spaced board I completely lost control of my wheels and dove headfirst into the air.

This is what happens when you adventure people, you accept certain risks.

Being goofy footed I had my left foot back, right side forward. My epic primal instincts used my right hand to guide my roll. Unfortunately for me I connected a little to hard with the pavement initially, failing to divert the energy efficiently along the length of my arm at the beginning of the roll. I did however secure contact with the ground along my shoulder and then back wheren my backpack served loyally as a rash sheild. Then my naked left forarm suffered a semi-gnarly road rash to help me back onto my feet.
The entire event would be measured in thousanths of a second.
My skateboard continued under the cast iron gate as I cursed clutching my right wrist and walked right into thick spiderwebs.

Where my skate came to a rest.

I totally forgot to take a picture of the hill itself. Next time Im at more mesa Ill try to make it over here. This was the first time in my life ever even being on this street.

I did get a video of me bombing with gibson right after this incident.

Now let it be known: this is probly 1/5th the gnarlyness of the hill I broke my wrist at 2 minuets prior.

Santa Barbara has some great tide pools if you know where and when to look.

This one armed guy refused to let go.

Infact, he is missing a whole side

. 

Fishing and Hunting

I finally went spearfishing today and man was I rewarded for it. Conditions were beautiful and my reef was teaming. I saw two lobster hanging in a cave and within short time I nailed my lunch.

As me and my buds were heading out I decided to do some fossil hunting in the marine terrace at the beach cliffs. There in the dirt lay a perfectly intact skull complete with teeth from some poor lil critter. I'm thinking it is a baby raccoon.