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The Avila Life Aquatic

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Story and Photos by Camas Frank

There’s an old tradition on the Central Coast, at least once a year, print journalists and photographers with some time on their hands scramble to get themselves a berth on a whale watching expedition (the TV guys are usually on too quick a turnaround).

Usually there’s a local Capitan or tour company willing to oblige, but with luck the stars align for a more interesting endeavour.

With an editorship at the Coast News to justify, this reporter went scouting for South County stories between issues last month and was promptly sent the Facebook link, and recommendation, to seek out Central Coast Sailing Charters and Capt. Mark Kocina.

True to reputation, “Capt. Mark” is worth keeping in the Rolodex, although the emphasis on finding whales might be a deal breaker for those looking for a packaged experience.

Indeed the charter company’s website asks folks not to book if they’ll be disappointed not to see the mammals up close,“Our tours are a complete ocean/sailing experience that offer an abundance of wildlife viewing opportunities. The whales are a wonderful addition to our tours and we do see them on most tours but they are wild animals that are free to roam where they wish….”

Starting off from the Harford Pier at Port San Luis for a 10:30 a.m., 2 ½ hour tour on the 44 ft. S/V Spirit on Aug. 11 however, the humpbacks were already out in force. Feeding between the breakwaters that mark the harbor and Shell Beach, at least four of the creatures, including a mother and calf pair, swept up as many anchovies as they could manage while traveling south.

 

 

“We’re doing it in reverse order today,” explained Kocina after taking a poll on the six member tour group’s priorities for the day. “I believe in some sort of karma. We’re already lucky to have four whales inside the breakwater. I’ve learned over the years that if we pass up the opportunity we may not find them later.”

Paying customers aboard the Spirit were three Mountain View tech-types on a Pismo retreat, a couple in from New England visiting family here. Not exactly Gilligan’s band, but the Capt. did recruit those willing to perform some minor on deck tasks, including lessons on proper procedure to tack into the wind.

A sailor at heart, Kocina has also become an educator in his own right. Nearly a decade ago he sailed from the Virgin Islands with his family for his wife to take a position in marine biology at Cal Poly. The University’s pier in Avila, a former oil delivery platform, was the perfect spot for her to take up study of sea sponges in a changing environment.

The couple traveled with their then four year-old daughter, sold the boat that had been home, and settled on land.  While a house might be a better home for a teenager, Kocina stayed on the water, spending the years before going into business in Avila, as a skipper in a Monterey Bay program called Science Under Sail.

“When are to the port to start a business six years ago my friends said, ‘Hey, there’s no infrastructure,’” he said, noting that slow improvements have been made even in that time, although development of a multi-million dollar marina is probably a distant, Coastal Commission prohibited pipe dream. Besides, it works the way it is now.

Few people can picture the little town as it once was, the second busiest port on the West Coast, with the Harford Pier twice the length and the Inn playing host to sailors off the big clipper ships.

As Kocina gathered history and local knowledge from the working fishermen, who he said, “are the real ‘Salt of the Earth’ that really make their living out here,”  the family invested in a new company, buying the Spirit, a sturdy craft built in 1985 and designed to take a family around the world.

“It’s much different than a life aboard a boat in the Virgin Islands,” he said, with a twinkle of memory lighting his eye remembering the warm waters, “I used to dive in every morning to start the day. You wouldn’t want to do that here.”

Never-the-less, the Central Coast is rich with year round wildlife opportunities, private sailing adventures and special charters that the public wouldn’t even ordinarily think about.

“We’re full time all year round but this is the busy season for sure.  We have the power boat tour as well and this year is the first that we’ve offered rafting tours,” he said. “But there are a lot of private family tours and we do ash scattering at sea as well.”

For information about sailing tours “Capt. Mark”can be reached at 540-4667 or by email at: [email protected]. Ocean rafting adventures can be booked with Capt. Michael Brink at 705- 8681.

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