Point Reyes National Seashore is like the Serengeti of the Pacific Coast.  Abundant sea life including whales, sharks, elephants seals, sea lions, are complemented by an abundant bird population featuring bald eagles and osprey, a healthy elk population and the occasional black bear.  At only 90 minutes from San Francisco, it’s much easier to get to than hopping on a flight to Africa.

I found out several hours later they were searching for a missing swimmer. That the Coast Guard's continued use of the term 'reported' shark attack was directly related to the very unusual detail that there was no trace of the man left behind; nothing to verify the circumstances. But we all knew.

1966, after a chance encounter with Timothy Leary, John Hardcastle left his pursuit of a pre-med degree at Harvard and returned to the west coast. What would have been a straight and narrow career path, his life now an open opportunity. John would eventually land in the bay area and, after some more traditional means of employment, notably skiing instructor and real estate agent, found himself self-employed in the burgeoning black market of the cannabis trade.

Chuck didn't choose his first line of work. It chose him. As a 12-year old, Chuck and his buddies would regularly fish in the lagoon for perch and bullheads. As Chuck tells it, his now neighbor Josh Churchman, who's 10 years Chuck's senior, would routinely cruise by on his 16ft skiff on his way out to the open sea. And return with a treasure trove of a catch: salmon, halibut, and rockfish.

I’d known about the Humboldt Bay jetties near Eureka for years. Magnets for big wave surfing, fishing, and simply wave watching, a winter doesn’t pass without at least one or two tragic stories making the news wire. Sneaker waves, like Sirens, quietly approaching to pull distracted souls into the sea.

There are about 35,000 sea snail hunters who free dive (no tanks only breath hold) the California's coast. At the end of 2017, the last time abalone season was open (their populations dropped sharply that year - more on this later), more than 65 divers had lost their lives over the previous 20 years.

The United States has over 1,000 Lighthouses. Michigan has the most. Go figure. But save the most remote, the hardest to build, and some of most storied for Northern California. The Lost Coast in Humboldt County is punctuated by two lighthouses. Three miles from the northern point stands Punta Gorda Lighthouse and at the Southern end, at Shelter Cove, the Cape Mendocino Lighthouse.

They say curiosity killed the cat.  But I’m guessing that was a pretty fulfilled cat.  And hopefully that wasn’t his 9th life.  Curiosity is a cornerstone of exploration.  For this dispatch, I came for the lighthouse but left with an old oyster company, a quad of pelicans, a grey heron, and Mt. Vision Road.