A battered Land Cruiser parked at the end of the long dock soon takes us past a restored 19th century ranch, complete with brick chapel, stables, and remains of a vineyard, and up a wide valley that runs along a straight-as-an-arrow fault line, splitting the island in half. “Here we are, four years into an epic drought!” Erlandson yells as Gill hits a low gear to splash through a marshy creek. The absence of grazing animals means the return of taller vegetation and woodlands that can suck moisture from the frequent sea fogs, slowly replenishing the island’s depleted water table.