A Neptune Ranger breaking the wave barrier on the Californian Coast

Back in March of 2011 those scallywags of the US west coast, the Tsunami Rangers, issued a challenge to find, scale and take a photo at the peak of “Neptune’s Castle“, a rocky islet somewhere on the Californian coast. Some twenty years earlier the Tsunami Rangers had done the same and hadn’t been back since. I wrote a reply calling for antipodean paddlers to take up the challenge, and had quietly made approaches to local Californian paddlers about teaming up to win the quest.

It takes a good sized set of Kahunas to ride the lips of waves like this!

In September of the same year a group of Bay Area paddlers decided over tequila and marshmallows to form a team for the attempt, a team that would take it’s name from the Castle itself. Then, using satellite imagery and local knowledge, located, paddled to and scaled the peak, claiming the victory as their own. Neptune’s Rangers were born and a new chapter in extreme ocean white water was written.

You know the rock gardening is extreme when you need to scale the cliff to escape!

The team is now well and truly established and have started filming their antics for the world to see (check out their Facebook Page). Like all extreme sportspeople, they have their share of both fans and knockers, but one thing’s for sure, their antics sure make entertaining viewing!! I’ve been a fan of extreme rock gardening for some time now and it’s great to see some more teams out there enjoying these dynamic coastal areas. If you’re not convinced, stream the next video in HD, widen it out to full screen, turn the volume up and enjoy the crazy action as they get hammered by some freakish surf. All look’s like good fun to me! Cheers, FP

Images & video used with permission of Bill Vonnegut (Neptune’s Rangers)