“Sub Turf Refuge” // Captain Dave exploring the kelpy scene at the Outer Carmel Pinnacles a month or so ago with @ralphpace. The current was really flowing that day, dragging much of the would-be and wannabe canopy underwater, with skyscrapers of giant kelp and bull kelp light poles holding fast to the reef at 45 degree angles above an entirely nonplussed sub canopy of woody-stiped sea palms. The scene reminded me of wind blown cypress thickets of Big Sur, except inside out, where from afar you see a bushy hillside with slicked back foliage, disguising a calm enclave of vertical trunks that banded together to pass bluster. There are a few clues that the kelps you see are used to going with the flow—blades become smoother to reduce drag, as an example. But even with those clues and knowing the spiciness of the outer reef current situation, seeing the forest turned sideways was brain-breaking. What if the redwoods could lean?! What appeared on the surface to be a patchy piece of the water woods was in fact a thicket of algal wonder working a new angle. And if it refused to be blown away, I certainly was.