My brother Paul is taking a dive class, and this day was his first dive in the ocean. It was an opportunity to spend some time with Paul and to go on a kayak photography expedition. I had been up and down this part of the coast before,, and now I could go back and photograph some of the designer homes on the cliff tops and rocks. When Paul's class got into the water to do some preliminary snorkeling, I headed south in my kayak. I only went a mile and a half, to Timber Cove and back, and I have described the sights in a previous journal entry. One new sight: While paddling around a rock in the cove just north of Timber Cove, I suddenly passed into an area of very strong fish-based-guano smell. I looked up at the rock next to me, and there was the source of the smell: Two harbor seals sleeping on the rock. I was only 2 meters from the closest one, and they didn't wake up as I went by. I would probably not have noticed them if I hadn't smelled them first, and they didn't wake up at the sound of my paddling. I kept paddling, hoping to get away before they woke up and got upset. I got 10 or 20 meters away, and looking over my shoulder, I saw that one of them was awake and looking at me. A little farther away, I looked again, and it had jumped off the rock. Too late buddy, if I had been an Eskimo, you would already be on your way to becoming a pair of warm fir slippers.
I paddled back to Stillwater Cove, and Paul was getting ready for the first dive with the tank. I waited around until they got into the water, and then paddled north for a mile to Ocean Cove. By the time I got back, the dive was over, and Paul and I shared an early lunch. Paul was going to go on another dive after lunch, but I decided not to hang around. I had just seen all the nearby sights by kayak, and to see something new I would have to paddle over a mile in any direction. I also ran out of film in my camera, and since I had seen this area several times now, I could drive somewhere else in the afternoon.