NEPTUNE’S RANGERS THE HUNT FOR NEPTUNE’S CASTLE

Along California’s Northern Pacific coastline, waves crash into secret coves and spray ricochets off sea-stacks carved by wind and water. For Neptune’s Rangers and others participating in the growing sport of ‘rock gardening,’ a blend of whitewater kayaking and ocean exploration, this is a paddling playground. Bill Vonnegut introduces the intrepid paddlers who call this place home, and tells the tale of the legacy they carry.

Words: Bill Vonnegut Photography: Jesse Yuan, Roger Aguirro Smith, Bill Vonnegut, Cass Kalinski

On a bright August morning in 2011, as the swells generated by distant storms twined their way over and through the rocks and reefs on the Big Sur coast, the bright colors of plastic kayaks could be spotted in stark relief to the crystal blue water and grey-black cliffs. Here, a group of friends from the San Francisco Bay area known as Neptune’s Rangers surfed and dipped, exploring the endless inlets and passages formed by giant rock formations that block the impact of the breaking waves, but still leave paddlers exposed to the energy of the ocean. The Rangers were on a treasure hunt of sorts, for a message in a bottle left on top of a sea-stack named "Neptune's Castle" by Eric Soares 25 years earlier. WE ARE ALWAYS ON…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Paddle World 2017

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