TORPEDO/ELECTRIC RAY
CHANNEL ISLANDS VS SANTA BARBARA
Channel Islands
Harbor, is situated just 11 miles from the east end of Anacapa
Island,Consequently much of the sea urchin fleet fished down the coast,
Deer creek, Leo Carrillo, County Line then Anacapa Island, depending on the weather conditions.Coastal diving did not have the appeal diving at the islands had , especially during Red Tide. The ocean was less than inviting when those red tides showed
up down the coast. It was even more spooky when the electric rays
that populated much of the coastal bottom would hover around. Those
rays did not care to move out of the way, like most of the other sea
life, and the thought of getting shocked by one was not a pleasant
thought while struggling to find sea urchins. Those rays would just hover and I kept them in the corner of my eye. If my attention was distracted, I would regain focus only to find them hovering a little closer. Several times, I am a little embarrassed to admit I found a big boulder and dropped it on top of them. Did not kill them but ruined their world for a minute.
One
memorable trip, I was discussing with another diver who claimed to be ex-Underwater Demolition Team, about the 60 volt shock of electricity the
rays could produce. He decided he just did not believe that harmless
looking ray could really shock a diver. I thought it was ridiculous
for him to doubt the fact since all the marine literature available
clearly confirmed that indeed the rays could produce the electric
shock sufficient to incapacitate a diver for a few seconds.
As it
turned out ironically and appropriately, on the following jump, we just happen to be descending down on opposite sides of the
anchor line about the same time and lo and behold, what should appear
than my nemesis the bothersome electric ray just below the doubting
diver! I looked over at him and he looked at me as he extended his
hand out and contacted the ray. I laughed so hard I spit my
regulator out, as he jerked spastically as the 60 volts ran through
his arm.
He was
extremely embarrassed afterward and me an Gary had another good laugh
or two telling the tale at the unloading dock.
Thankfully
the Red tides did not occur that often, but I still preferred the
islands, because the diving conditions were just better.........
As time
went on the local urchin beds were getting thin and some of the
Channel Islands boats were venturing to the outer Islands. On those
further trips it became more practical and cheaper on fuel, to unload
in Santa Barbara. Unloading in Santa Barbara was a little bit
different than unloading in Channel Islands.
Channel
Islands boats simply had one crew member operate the hoist, and the
truck driver from the processor would hold the line attached to the
end of the hoist, and swing the load over truck when it reached the
appropriate height, then climb onto the truck and pull the barrel
knot under the bag of urchins and so on. It also was not too
difficult to operate the hoist and swing the crane around as well and
much of the time that is how it went. The truck driver would write
down the weights on the fish ticket and usually the boat owner would
keep track of the weights as well. When the urchins were unloaded the
total was added up fish ticket signed, slam dunk.
Once we
started unloading in Santa Barbara, we came to find that there was a
broker, Wes Carpenter. Wes would unload all the boats fill out the
fish tickets, as well as pass out the checks from the different
processors as well. He would get a percentage for this service...I
think it was ¾ of a cent per pound.
Some of the
processors were not willing to pay Wes for unloading the Channel
Islands based boats they bought from, as when unloading in Channel
Islands there was no “broker” that unloaded the boats,so one of
the 3 hoists was relinquished for unloading those boats. Now Wes had
a pretty good relationship with the buyers and he was able to make
some pretty lucrative deals. He did not seem to put out that a few
out of town operations were not going along with his program, during
his heyday he was doing pretty well. If anyone gave him a hard time
he could make unloading your sea urchins an ordeal as he controlled
the 3 hoists and he directed the truck traffic so rarely did anyone
cross him. Besides that Wes was generally a likable guy and he and
his helpers made it easier to offload, and after a long day diving
that was appreciated by many.
There were
times during the heyday of the urchin harvest when the processors
became oversupplied and had to restrict the tonnage they received so
they could catch up processing the supply on-hand. Wes would relay
this to the boats and there was a lot of politics involved with which
boats could work certain days and which boats could not work those
days.
Some of the
divers were disgruntled from the arbitrary system that restricted
days they could dive. One in particular was about to do something
about it in a big way. The urchin business was about to get a big
shake-up that generally was good for the business as a whole,
although there were some did not appreciate the change for different
reasons, but they were in the minority as far as I know.
Andres was
originally from Spain. He spoke with an accent, and he was serious
about diving for sea urchins. Generally friendly, he was among the
many unique characters that populated the urchin diving fleet.
Andres did not like being told which days he could work and which
days he could not, especially by Wes Carpenter.
Andres had
a brother that entered the scene and he started talking to us about
buying urchins. He suggested that we rate the quality of our urchins
1-10. He went on to say that by being honest about our quality he
would be able to guarantee us a better price in the market. Well
shortly after that, Andres acquired a large vessel he would use as a
pick-up boat. He said that anyone that sells to him could offload on
the pick-up boat, so as not to have to run the urchins to Santa
Barbara and then keep on working, and saving on fuel as well. Andreas
was able to locate some investors that put up a substantial sum of
money to open a processing plant. I heard he had some family back in
Spain that were wealthy, but he was very persuasive and convincing.
I agreed with Greg owner of the Vista Clara, my current vessel du
jour, to sell our urchins to Andres. It worked out well for us. I
remember getting a lot more for our urchins than we were getting,
though sometimes the checks were a little late in coming.
If my
memory serves me, Andres was able to buy quite a bit of market share
for 4 or 5 years. Wes Carpenters world was shaken up, that was
clear. The offloading operation got quite hectic and complicated.
The boats were in a line depending on when they arrived in the
Harbor, but the processors trucks would want to off load all their
boats before they drove the truck off the pier. The jockeying around
the other trucks, just to wait for another boat, and go thru that
process again was a practice of patience. Remaining calm in that
morass of trucks and boats was a challenge. Once when a truck driver
disappeared when it was our turn to offload I jumped in the drivers
seat and was preparing to move it out of the way, when the driver
showed up he could see the displeasure, on my face and said nothing.
Andres'
fall was as swift as his rise. All of a sudden he disappeared owing
quite a bit of money, as his business venture went belly up. I saw
him in Santa Barbara harbor several years later. He was walking, by
Marina 2 with a fancy suit on. I almost did not recognize him, when
I did he got a big smile on his face and said something to the effect
that he lost 1 million dollars. He bounced back and restored his old
boat Josephina, with all the bells and whistles you would want on a
dive boat. I was getting my boat together at that time and he would
stop by and help me with advice and information, cause he knew I was
a diver for 20 years before I became an owner. He maintained his
sense of humor through it all, and I had to admire the guy. He
tragically succumbed in a diving accident, a few years back. Rest in
Peace Andres
s.
