GALLERIES OPEN: Thursday - Monday: 12 - 4 PM (closed Tues & Weds). Free docent tour with admission.
The Big Bight: Shipwrecks, Storms & Submerged Legends
Beneath the windswept beauty of the Santa Barbara Channel lies a dramatic history of shipwrecks, survival and seafaring ambition. Join us for this dynamic talk as maritime historian Michael D. White uncovers the forgotten disasters that scatter beneath the waters of Southern California.
Time & Location
Mar 19, 2026, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Channel Islands Maritime Museum, 3900 Bluefin Cir, Oxnard, CA 93035, USA
About the event
Known as the Bight, the coastline of Southern California , particularly the coast opposite its eight Channel Islands, has a history written both on and under those turbulent waters.
Over the years, as California's population surged and shifted southward, so did the number of ships plying that treacherous coastline with passengers and cargo of every description.
Sadly, though, so did the number of ships wrecked there along grow as chronically fickle ocean currents, uncharted rocks and reefs, deadly fog, and notorious gales conspired with questionable seamanship, collision, and overconfidence to cause disaster after disaster that cost hundreds of lives and millions of dollars in lost cargo.
The lost ships, some legendary, most long forgotten, that embroider the rugged Southern California Bight have stories worth sharing, so join us on March 19th at 6pm to dive deeper into these infamous tales.
Tickets
General Admission
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