Around the World in 80 Days
Day 63: 26 November

But for now, at eight o'clock in the morning in the Santa Barbara Channel it's a day for optimists. A peerless morning, the best on the Pacific. The sun shines from a clear blue sky, the swell has dropped, and there's a crisp, fresh breeze high up on the bridge deck.
It was in these waters, forty-six years ago, that a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired seventeen rounds in the direction of Ellwood oil field - the only direct enemy attack on continental USA this century. There are now a lot more off-shore oil rigs for them to aim at and a steady stream of tankers heading north for the Alaskan oil. The chart indicates that we are in a Traffic Separation Zone, one lane for north and one lane, further out, for south. Such zones are in operation in all the maritime traffic black spots - the English Channel, the Gulf of Suez, the Malacca Strait.
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PALIN'S GUIDES
- Series: Around the World in 80 Days
- Day: 63
- Date: 26 November
- Country/sea: Pacific Ocean
- Place: Santa Barbara Channel
- Book page no: 201
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