作者微信号：sunsetset
For the sake of living and a few pieces of money, I had to put my wishes aside and lose myself in the mundane life day after day, yet my childhood heart still remains, recalling the vows made to oneself years ago, still seeking the chance to return to my original state. It could be said "Despite years of striving, I return with a young heart"
Thus, I slowly started to make plans based on my current situation. One of the dreams I had always wanted to realize, without needing too much strength, was to sail a sailboat aimlessly across the sea, going to places where few or none had ever been before, for there are always mysterious chants calling out to me.
To realize this large plan, I had to first attain several small goals to develop myself. One of the small objectives was to kayak along the California coast, farther than ever before.
After a considerable amount of time spent preparing, and seeing that the weather is nice this week, I took a week off from work, departing from Monterey and heading toward the south, depending on the weather conditions and how far I can go. I planned for three scenarios:
Plan A: Depart from Monterey, go to Santa Rosa Island through Point Conception, then to San Clemente Island and fish for yellowfin tuna there. Finally, return home through Los Angeles. Total distance is about 300 nautical miles.
Plan B: Depart from Monterey, if the weather in Santa Rosa Island or San Clemente Island is bad, go straight to Los Angeles via Point Conception and return home. Total distance is about 200 nautical miles.
Plan C: Depart from Monterey, if bad weather occurs at Point Conception, return home through Avila Beach. Total distance is about 120 nautical miles.
The arrow is already drawn and ready to be released. This is an extremely exciting moment.
I woke up at four in the morning, arrived at the departure point, Pebble Beach in Monterey, at six, which is also where I landed my kayak last time.
早上四点起床，六点到达出发地： Monterey 的 Pebble Beach，也就是上次我 Kayak 上岸的地方
I set off. My wife took a photo of me from a distance when I am leaving. This time I am still in the bay. There was no wind, and the sail had not been opened yet.
出发了。离岸一段距离时，老婆给拍的一张照片。当时还在湾内，无风，帆还没有打开
This was the weather forecast at the time, with a wind speed of 13 miles per hour and waves 8 feet high with a 9-second interval. My limit for what I could tolerate was a wind speed of 25 miles per hour and 8-foot waves.
这是当时的风浪天气预报，十三英里每小时的风速，八英尺间隔为九秒的海浪。我可忍受的极限为二十五英里每小时的风速，八英尺间隔为九秒的海浪
After leaving the bay, the wind and waves gradually increased
出了海湾后，风浪渐渐地变大了起来。
Where the land protrudes into the sea, the waves are often larger. The arrow in this picture points to Point Sur Lighthouse, which is a very dangerous place. There are many reefs on the seabed in such places, and huge waves can occur without warning when there is no wind. In addition to the wind and the waves, the surging waves of the sea can cause unpredictable and irregular waves to appear. It is no wonder that a lighthouse stands tall here to remind sailors in the pre-GPS era to stay away.
往往突出于海里的陆地处，那儿的风浪较大，以下这图中的箭头处，名叫 Point Sur Lighthouse， 就是个很危险的地方，这种地方海底的礁石很多，无风会起巨浪，再加上风与大海的涌浪，巨浪会毫无规律，没有预兆地出现，也难怪这儿高高地耸立着一座灯塔，给没有 GPS 时代的航海家们用，提醒他们要远离
The waves because larger when approaching Point Sur Lighthouse
快到Point Sur Lighthouse 了，浪大了起来
The sea surface here was extremely turbulent.
这儿的海面极不平静
At that time, I thought I couldn't pass this area and would probably capsize. But I couldn't turn back. I decided to harden my heart and go through this checkpoint.
I almost cried out loud when I entered this gate of hell. This silent cry expressed both extreme tension and fear in my heart, I hoped that nature would understand that I didn't come here to challenge or offend him on purpose. I just came here and wanted to pass through.
This silent cry also brought some faint excitement and pleasure. Sometimes, only when you decide to risk your life to do something, then you can better understand yourself and better understand nature, and integrate with it.
Maybe nature only want to show his power. The waterway I passed through only had huge swell waves but no breaking waves. The swell waves were relatively not scary, and the kayak floated on it like on a roller coaster. Although it was thrilling, it did not capsize. Breaking waves, also known as whitecaps, were different. When the wave surged forward and upward suddenly, rising several meters high and then broke, the vertical sea water rushing downward could easily flip the kayak. At that time when I was passing the dangerous area, huge breaking waves several meters high rose around me. They were like a galloping herd of horses, rushing past me with a roaring sound. If they hit me, my kayak would disappear like a small leaf in the rolling sea. Nature seemed to be showing its power and sovereignty, but he didn't want to let me sink here.
When I was sure that I had passed the most dangerous place and my heart finally relaxed, I found my palm was wetted by sweat, and couple tip nail marks deep print on the skin.
But now, I do understand more about why people would worship river gods and sea gods. It's because humans are really nothing compared to nature. For me, such an adventurous experience has another purpose, which is to open my heart and let nature judge me. Let the clean wind and pure water of nature wash away the stains and sins I may have in the secular society. Through this adventure, I can examine my own heart and seek redemption.
This was the path I took at the time, passing through an extremely dangerous place. If someone asked me whether I wanted to experience it again, No! No! No! I absolutely don't want to take my life on such a risky adventure again, unless it's a day with smaller waves and wind.
这就是当时我经过的路径，穿过了一个极其危险的地方。如果有人问我还想经历一遍吗？不！不！不！绝对不想再经历一次，除非选在风浪更小的天，我不想再拿自己的生命去冒险
The gate of hell was getting farther and farther away. Generally speaking, the more dangerous a place is, the more beautiful the scenery is. Perhaps this is deliberately arranged by God for the sake of justice: if you put in effort and overcome difficulties, you will see more beautiful scenery.
Such dialectical examples are everywhere in life. The more delicious something is, the worse it is for our body. For example the fried foods, good to eat but not good for healthy. There are countless such examples in our life.
鬼门关越来越远。一般来说，越危险的地方，风景越美丽，也许这是上帝故意这样安排的，为的是公正：付出了努力，克服了困难，你就会看到更美的风景。
这样的辩证例子，生活中不是到处可见？越是好吃的东西，对身体越不好，如油炸的喷香食物，这样的例子数不胜数
Continue to go to south
经过灯塔处，一路南行，还有几处也比较凶险，会无症兆地突然起巨浪
It was already evening, and I had to find a place to anchor and rest. There are large beach waves on the California coastline throughout the year, which are not suitable for kayaking to land. I can only anchor in the sea and spend the night.
已是傍晚，要找地下锚休息了
加州的海岸线上，一年四季都有很大的沙滩浪，不适合 Kayak 靠岸，只能在海中下锚过夜
This was the anchor point I found in advance on Google Maps. The map showed here was calm and peaceful. But when I arrived here, I found that its not. Maps are maps, reality is reality, they are two different things. Isn't this uncertainty the beauty of travel? Otherwise, if everything is arranged and certain, a lot of fun will be lost.
这是我事先在 Google 地图上找好的下锚点，图中显示这儿有个小拐湾，拐湾处风平浪静，然到达此处才发现，这个小拐湾早已不见，地图是地图，实际是实际，是两码事
So I could only anchor in the open sea without any shelter. Under the swaying kayak, I cooked dinner in the sunset.
于是，只能在外海，在无遮挡处下锚过夜。夕阳下，于不停摇晃的 Kayak 上煮晚饭
After dinner, I looked up and saw the half of the sky glowing red under the setting sun. At this moment, everything was so peaceful. Mother Nature showed her ultimate beauty, and I seemed to have this sky, this sea, and this beautiful color.
吃完晚饭，抬头望，如血残阳，映红了半边天。
此时此刻，是如此平静，我似乎也拥有了这块天，这片海，这无边无际的波光潋滟
I woke up at 1 a.m. and couldn't sleep anymore. So I pull back the anchor and set off under the silver moonlight.
睡到半夜一点，醒了，再也睡不着了，于是在银色月光下，起锚前行
After a while, the fog thickened, and the moon and stars disappeared completely. There were many reefs here, and it was very dangerous to travel in the dark. In addition, I was also feeling drowsy, so I anchored near the shore to sleep again.
Anchoring overnight is also dangerous. The first pin point in the picture below is where I anchored for the first time. The anchor was firmly grabed the seabed, and the kayak did not move. The second pin point in the picture below is where I anchored for the second time. The drifting curve shows that the anchor was not well grabed to the seabed, and the kayak moved with the wind, waves, and currents. Fortunately, it did not move towards the shore, otherwise the kayak would have been easily smashed by the reef near the shore. Also, fortunately, I set an alarm clock before sleeping, which went off every half an hour and woke me up before any accident happened. After waking up, I didn't linger and quickly left.
行了一会，雾气增浓，月亮与星星全消失不见，这儿礁石较多，在黑夜中行驶是很危险的，再加上我又犯困，于是又再靠岸边下锚睡觉
下锚过夜也有危险，下图中第一个针点是我第一次下锚的地方，下锚后，锚扎得牢，Kayak不会移动，下图中第二个针点是我第二次下锚的地方，那漂移的曲线说明锚在海底扎得不牢，Kayak 随风浪与海流移动了，幸亏不是往岸边移，否则 Kayak 会很易被岸边的礁石打碎。
也幸亏我在睡之前，设了个闹钟，半小时闹一次，在出事前让我醒来。醒来后我不再停留，连夜离开
Not long after leaving, the sky gradually brightened. The morning was damp and the weather was cold and overcast.
离开不一会，天也渐渐亮了。早上湿气重，天阴冷
Sometimes there was no wind, and I had to rely solely on human power to move forward without using the sail.
有时无风，只能全靠人力前行
While sailing, I also cooked lunch.
一边航行，一边煮起了午饭
当然鱼杆也不能空着，一路南行一路拖钓，可惜拖钓了一天一夜，一个咬口也没有
I used these two kinds of bait to fish, but the fish didn't bite. Was it because there were no fish, or was it because the bait was not right, and the fish didn't like it?
就是用的这两种拖钓鱼饵，是无鱼，还是鱼饵不对，鱼不喜欢吃?
1) Anchoring near the shore and then returning to the farther offshore area wastes a lot of time and energy.
2) Anchoring is not safe because the kayak can drift and there is a risk of capsizing in sleep.
3) The main reason is, I wanted to try being adrift in the sea without any anchor or landing. I often watched documentaries and movies about sea disasters, but I couldn't experience the helplessness when drifting in the sea. If I had the opportunity, I would like to experience it myself. Although the experience I am trying to have is completely different from what would happen in a real disaster, such as now I have water, food, GPS, compass, and the confidence that I can seek help from Marine Rescue team at anytime, but in a real sea disaster, they might not have any of these. However, in any case, I can feel somewhat the despair of those who experienced it.
The sea was very cold. I wore many layers of sweaters inside a semi-dry suit, but still couldn't withstand the bone-chilling dampness and coldness. So I wore a raincoat outside, and a clothes that can reflect heat back into the body for low-temperature emergency on top of the raincoat, but I still felt cold.
第二天，全天阴，经过一天的航行，又到了傍晚，这次不准备去近岸下锚过夜，因为：
- 去近岸下锚过夜后，又要回离岸远的地方航行，折折返返的浪费时间与精力
- 下锚也不安全，会漂移，在睡梦中有翻 Kayak 的危险
- 这是最重要一点，就是我想试试在海中无岸可靠，无锚可下，只能在海中不停地漂是种什么感觉。以前经常看海难事故，海难电影，感觉都是隔靴搔痒，体验不到当时在海中无助地漂的感觉，有机会最好自己去真实去体验一下。尽管景况完全不同，我现在有水有食物，有GPS，有指南针，更有随时可靠岸求助的底气，但多多少少可感觉到一点当时的那些人的景况的
海中非常阴冷，我在 Semi Dry Suit 里面穿了许多层毛衣，还是顶不住这彻骨的潮湿，阴冷，于是外面再穿雨衣，雨衣外再加穿防低温急救用的能反射热能回体内的衣服，但还是觉得冷
I also wrapped my legs in this clothing. I think my current danger is that if I fall into the water, I will definitely die whether or not I have a PLB (satellite positioning emergency device). Although I am wearing a dry suit, I am still shivering with cold on the kayak. If I fall into the water, I definitely won't be able to support myself for an hour, and even if the ocean rescue team receives my distress signal, they will have to go through some procedures before flying over, which will take more than an hour to reach me. Therefore, to stay alive, I must not capsize the kayak for whatever reason.
双腿也用这种防低温急救衣料裹起来。
我觉得我现在的危险是，无论我有没有 PLB (卫星定位急救器)，一旦我落水，必死无疑。因为尽管我穿了 Dry Suit， 但在 Kayak 上还冷得直发抖，如果我在水中肯定支撑不了一小时，而海洋急救队就是收到我求救信号，尽快飞过来也必超一小时
所以要保命，无论如何不能翻 Kayak， 不能落水
This is the position map at 8:30 pm, and I am about five nautical miles away from the shore.
After drifting for days and nights, several things are very important and must be done correctly to have a chance of survival. One of them is how to rest and sleep. Humans have physiological limits, and when they are extremely tired, they may fall asleep unconsciously. If you sleep too long and let the kayak drift on the sea without control, it's like a blind man riding a blind horse, many dangerous things can happen, such as colliding with passing cargo ships, hitting reefs, encountering big waves, being attacked by sharks, being overturned by whales, and so on. Unexpected things can happen in the sea at any time. To avoid losing control during sleep and causing danger, you must actively make yourself rest, quickly fall asleep, and wake up quickly. Sleep can last for several minutes or be as short as a few seconds. Fragmenting large blocks of sleep time into small portion, that will make the trip safe on sea. With good rest can boost spirits and make you feel energized when you wake up. Only by resting and sleeping well, then you can drift for several days and nights in the sea.
After checking the weather forecast, the winds and waves at Point Conception will be quite strong in a few days, so I decided to take Plan C and go ashore at Avila and go home. I will come back to Avila and try to fish for tuna in those islands when I have the opportunity in the future.
看了天气预报，在 Point Condeption 处，过几天的风浪不小，所以决定采取计划C，在 Avila 上岸回家，等今后有机会再从 Avila 下水，去群岛试钓金枪鱼
While on the way to Avila, I was fishing for Halibut, but I didn't catch any. Instead, I caught two big rockfish, which I wasn't interested in, so I released them.
在去 Avila 的途中拖钓 Halibut， Halibut 没钓到，倒是钓到了两条大红斑，我对此鱼无兴趣，放生了
I arrived at Avila Beach. This is a photo my wife took of me on the shore (I notified my wife in advance, and she came to pick me up by car).
到达了 Avila 海滩。这是老婆在岸上给我拍的照 (事先通知了老婆，老婆早早开车过来接我)
This is vedio
再来个视频吧
This is the sea route along the California coast that I passed through. The yellow section is the path I took this time, which is 120 nautical miles, or 138 miles, I completed it in three days and two nights. But my final destination is endless.
Epilogue:
During this solo drift, I received lots of support from NCKA (Northern California Kayak Angler). They care of my safety and tracked me all the way to confirm that I landed safely before they were relieved. I am very grateful for their care. After I returned home, they also wanted to raise more than $400 fund to buy me a satellite positioning tracking device that can send and receive message via satellite, so that when I go on another adventure in the future, I can report my situation and location in a timely manner no matter where I am. I am very grateful for their care and support. I have only been in the group for half a year, and most of the people in the group we never meet face to face, what they said and did really touched me. Although I can't accept physical objects, I do like to accept their goodwill.
Once again, thank all the NCKA's members who showed me kindness.
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后记：这次独漂，受到了 NCKA (北加州 Kayak 钓鱼群) 的支持与关心，他们很关心我行程的安全，一路跟踪，
