I woke up to a loud beeping sound. My watch's alarm was going off. I looked at the time, and it was 6:00. Uuugh. I rolled over in my bed, trying to go back to sleep. Suddenly I bolted out of bed and woke Emmanuel up. How had I forgotten that we were going to the Channel Islands today?
I told Emmanuel to put on his waterproof prosthetic leg. My Dad drove us down to the Santa Barbara Harbor. As we pulled into the Marina 2 parking lot, we saw our friend Paul and his son Jacob motoring around in their dinghy. We shouted "Hey Paul!" and he looked over and waved. We ran down the dock to his boat, dodging seaweed and fish guts and trying not to get splinters along the way. When we arrived (thankfully unscathed) at Paul's slip, I introduced Emmanuel to Paul. They immediately liked each other.
As we helped load wetsuits, snorkels, fins, and fishing poles onto the boat, I saw that Emmanuel looked a little nervous. "What's wrong?" I said. He answered "I've never been on a boat before. I'm worried to go out so far." We reassured Emmanuel that there was nothing to fear.
We sped across the channel. Emmanuel instantly forgot his fears as we passed the red and green buoys covered in sea lions. When they barked at us for getting too close, Emmanuel laughed and imitated them.
A pod of dolphins appeared on the horizon. Emmanuel and I rushed out out of the cabin to see them. The playful dolphins rode in the wake of our boat and squealed with delight as they chased fish through the glassy water.
We passed seals, dolphins, and a blue shark on the way out. Emmanuel's fears returned a little after seeing the latter, but we assured him that they didn't bite.
We finally arrived at our destination. We hurried to put on our wetsuits. After I had put mine on, I helped Emmanuel put on his. We had rented it from a surf shop, and it had probably been used by too many careless tourists. The suit was corroded with salt and ripped up in places, making it impossible to get on. Emmanuel and I tugged so hard on the suit we thought it would break, but it still didn't slip over his legs. We tried pulling on it again, but it still wouldn't budge. I gave a final yank, And Emmanuel went toppling overboard! I dove in after him, and we came up gasping for breath. My dad and Paul helped us onto the deck. Emmanuel's wetsuit still sat in a heap, not on Emmanuel's body.
We were about to give up hope, when I slipped. I went down hard on my butt, but I was okay. "Sorry, the seaweed is just really slippery."
"That's it!" Emmanuel said, "we can make my wetsuit slippery with the kelp!"
So we took his wetsuit and smeared it with slimy kelp juice. It looked really disgusting, but Emmanuel was happy and proud. his wetsuit slipped right on. "Oh, it's cold." said Emmanuel.
We hopped in the ocean. The cold water seeped in through our wetsuits and chilled us.
As we looked around underwater, we saw that we were in a amazing place. Colorful fish darted around us. Long stalks of kelp swayed with the waves. Crabs and Lobsters crawled along on the rocky bottom. An octopus swam gracefully through the eel grass. A seal swam up and nuzzled the fins of a surprised Emmanuel.
A flash of red next to Emmanuel caught my attention. A lobster! "Grab it!" I told Emmanuel, but I forgot I was underwater, so I ended up almost drowning instead. Fortunately, Emmanuel understood, and he grabbed at the lobster. But before Emmanuel even closed his hands, the lobster was nowhere to be seen. It had swam away in the blink of an eye. Emmanuel came up empty handed and disappointed. I told him that catching lobsters is one of the hardest things in the world. I gave him some pointers, and after an hour of practice, Emmanuel wasn't coming up empty handed anymore.
After we got out of the water, we put on dry clothes and cast out our lines. Emmanuel caught some calico bass and rockfish, and I got whitefish and a big halibut. We came home and had a great dinner of lobster and fish tacos.
I told Emmanuel to put on his waterproof prosthetic leg. My Dad drove us down to the Santa Barbara Harbor. As we pulled into the Marina 2 parking lot, we saw our friend Paul and his son Jacob motoring around in their dinghy. We shouted "Hey Paul!" and he looked over and waved. We ran down the dock to his boat, dodging seaweed and fish guts and trying not to get splinters along the way. When we arrived (thankfully unscathed) at Paul's slip, I introduced Emmanuel to Paul. They immediately liked each other.
As we helped load wetsuits, snorkels, fins, and fishing poles onto the boat, I saw that Emmanuel looked a little nervous. "What's wrong?" I said. He answered "I've never been on a boat before. I'm worried to go out so far." We reassured Emmanuel that there was nothing to fear.
We sped across the channel. Emmanuel instantly forgot his fears as we passed the red and green buoys covered in sea lions. When they barked at us for getting too close, Emmanuel laughed and imitated them.
A pod of dolphins appeared on the horizon. Emmanuel and I rushed out out of the cabin to see them. The playful dolphins rode in the wake of our boat and squealed with delight as they chased fish through the glassy water.
We passed seals, dolphins, and a blue shark on the way out. Emmanuel's fears returned a little after seeing the latter, but we assured him that they didn't bite.
We finally arrived at our destination. We hurried to put on our wetsuits. After I had put mine on, I helped Emmanuel put on his. We had rented it from a surf shop, and it had probably been used by too many careless tourists. The suit was corroded with salt and ripped up in places, making it impossible to get on. Emmanuel and I tugged so hard on the suit we thought it would break, but it still didn't slip over his legs. We tried pulling on it again, but it still wouldn't budge. I gave a final yank, And Emmanuel went toppling overboard! I dove in after him, and we came up gasping for breath. My dad and Paul helped us onto the deck. Emmanuel's wetsuit still sat in a heap, not on Emmanuel's body.
We were about to give up hope, when I slipped. I went down hard on my butt, but I was okay. "Sorry, the seaweed is just really slippery."
"That's it!" Emmanuel said, "we can make my wetsuit slippery with the kelp!"
So we took his wetsuit and smeared it with slimy kelp juice. It looked really disgusting, but Emmanuel was happy and proud. his wetsuit slipped right on. "Oh, it's cold." said Emmanuel.
We hopped in the ocean. The cold water seeped in through our wetsuits and chilled us.
As we looked around underwater, we saw that we were in a amazing place. Colorful fish darted around us. Long stalks of kelp swayed with the waves. Crabs and Lobsters crawled along on the rocky bottom. An octopus swam gracefully through the eel grass. A seal swam up and nuzzled the fins of a surprised Emmanuel.
A flash of red next to Emmanuel caught my attention. A lobster! "Grab it!" I told Emmanuel, but I forgot I was underwater, so I ended up almost drowning instead. Fortunately, Emmanuel understood, and he grabbed at the lobster. But before Emmanuel even closed his hands, the lobster was nowhere to be seen. It had swam away in the blink of an eye. Emmanuel came up empty handed and disappointed. I told him that catching lobsters is one of the hardest things in the world. I gave him some pointers, and after an hour of practice, Emmanuel wasn't coming up empty handed anymore.
After we got out of the water, we put on dry clothes and cast out our lines. Emmanuel caught some calico bass and rockfish, and I got whitefish and a big halibut. We came home and had a great dinner of lobster and fish tacos.
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