The Many Personalities of Catalina and a Surprise for Jeff!

We arrived at Catalina Island after another light wind, smooth motor/sail. With the Santa Ana winds a bit unpredictable, we decided to anchor in Catalina Harbor on the west side of the island. This is part of Two Harbors which is well… 2 harbors. The island narrows much like an hour glass and Two Harbors is on 1 side and Catalina Harbor on the other. Yeah, a bit confusing.

After a rolly night at anchor, we grabbed a mooring the next day. In season, this harbor has room for 200 anchored boats and 115 moorings. But, there were just a handful of boats moored and only 3 had folks on them. Perfect for us! Quiet, beautiful and isolated enough for skinny dipping!

The day after we came in, our friends Peter and Tom moored over in Two Harbors. If you remember back a bit, we rafted next to them in Santa Cruz. They are a blast! With them, we did a long hike (aka Death March for those of us not accustomed to the heat) along the ridge of the island and the eastern side. Fantastic views and we did see one of the elusive and oh so cute island foxes! Ending that day with a swim off the back of the boat and back to Two Harbors for drinks with Peter and Tom.

We hung out at Catalina Harbor for 4 nights and just relaxed. Another hike along the many trails, kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling, swimming and a couple projects. We ended our last night there with nearly 4 hours of laughter with Peter and Tom. We hope to see them along our respective journeys again. Until then, it will be Facebook and Instagram to stay in touch.

Then south to the famous Avalon for a night. Catalina Island is a bit schizophrenic. The Two Harbors area is quiet and rustic. The west side of the island is remote and wild. You turn the corner to Avalon and its a bit like a Las Vegas version of the Island of Capri. The cliffy hills are stacked with beautiful white hotels and homes with red tile roofs. The harbor has a nice waterfront with shops and restaurants and 315 mooring buoys! As we are off season, only a quarter of the moorings were taken but I can’t imagine how crowded it is in summer.

These moorings are not like any we’ve ever encountered either. They have a 6’ stick on a float you grab, then pull it up to find the big hawser line with a loop. Put that on your bow cleat then pull up the attached line until you get to the stern. Put that loop on your stern cleat - if you’re under 40’. We are not. So, get a line through the loop and then back to your cleat. Sheesh! We did fine but then it’s not crowded right now. Half the fun is watching others try to do it.

The payment system is a bit wonky too. We didn’t do an online reservation as its not that busy. So you find the red harbor patrol boat, hand your credit card to them on their small boat (while rocking and rolling at the entrance to the harbor) and he tells you what mooring to use and kinda how to get to it. I imagine there is a giant pile of credit cards at the bottom of the entrance where the handoff has not gone quite as planned. 

AVALON IN SUMMER

One night at Avalon was enough and what we planned so we headed to Oceanside on Friday. They don’t have a lot of guest moorage and the 40’ slips were taken. Although we had made reservations a week prior, we were given the end tie of the guest docks. No problem! Well, tell the resident sea lions. As we approached, there were 4 or 5 lounging on our dock. I scared them off as we approached but when I jumped to the dock, I promptly landed in a thick slime of sea lion poop. They barked in happy revenge!  And I found that dock lines are attracted to this same poop.  There wasn’t much of a chance to keep them out of it as the dock was covered… Around this time, our friend Glenn Henderson, from Riverside Mountain Rescue, arrived to help with lines. Glenn’s boat is at the same marina. As he and Jeff tried to clean up the dock, I walked  a sandal caked with poop and scaring the sea lions that had jumped right back up on the dock) up to the harbor office. After explaining that this just wasn’t going to work, they gave us another slip in front of the local restaurant. We cast lines and motored over - nice and clean! Glenn joined us on our boat, then we went to check out his beautiful Hunter 36 and then, like most sailors and mountain rescuers; we went to Happy Hour! We discussed the ups and downs of mountain rescue, getting older and life in general. Glenn, like us, has given decades to mountain rescue and is still active. It was a terrific visit and we hope to see him down the road (maybe in Mexico or Central America).

During the week, I had told Jeff I had a surprise for him. He thought I picked up some new gadget on Amazon. What he didn’t know was that our great friends from “home”, Pete and Linda Jung, were down here visiting family. After some late night texting with Linda, they planned to come to Oceanside to see us. Thus, Jeff’s surprise. We were ready to go to West Marine by Uber and I told him the the driver, Pedro, was waiting for us in the parking lot. Yep, Pete and Linda drive up! They were our “Goober” drivers for the day and ran around with us picking up last minute things. A great lunch and visit with them and some help on boat projects. I can’t tell you how jazzed Jeff was (and me of course!) to see them. What a great treat to see loving, familiar faces! 

Tomorrow we point south to San Diego and Coronado where we’ll see my brother Charlie and his wife Darleen. A week of more last minute tasks (does it ever end?) and visits.

On course,

Fran and Jeff

Santa Cruz Island; Channel Islands National Park

Refugio Sate Park where we did our Open Water Dives

After leaving Ventura, we cruised to the north side of Santa Cruz Island and Pelican Bay Anchorage. Dolphins danced with the boat and 7 Orcas cruised by as we neared the island. In reality, these anchorages are little more than an indentation in the cliff ridden hillsides. The island is 25% National Park and the rest is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy. They have worked for years to bring the flora and fauna back to its original state. It's remote, wild and stunningly beautiful.

TNC grants permits to land and hike on the island; which we did! We are still acclimatizing to the warmer temps inland. You leave the boat in a nice breeze and head inland to the feel of the desert! Finally warm weather!! Every direction is a gorgeous vignette of desert hills, cliffs that plunge to the sea or crystal clear water.

Pelican Bay Anchorage















Little Pelican Bay; landing site for exploration








I watch the weather intently as we are pretty darn exposed at these islands. Pelican is on the north side of the island and they started predicting higher winds from that direction. So, we cruised around to the south side and made our way in to Coches Prieta anchorage. Another indentation on the coast where we had reefs, rocks and beach on 3 sides of us. Another fantastically beautiful place. For most of the first day, we had the place to ourselves. We kayaked and paddle boarded to the beach, roamed around and swam a bit (chilly 65 degrees still). Towards evening, we were joined by another sailboat that anchored for the night.

                                                          Coches Prieta Anchorage

Coches Prieta Anchorage from the cliff above

The forecasts, monitored twice daily, predicted higher and higher winds. Although on the south side of the island, we were still feeling the western swell of the Pacific. Pretty small but the incoming winds would kick that up. When they finally predicted 30 kt winds and gusting to 40 (a gale warning was issued), we said "we're outta here". After 2 nights, we left early in the morning. And, I mean early... It was 2:30am, the swell was increasing and neither of us could sleep. Now that we are accustomed to sailing at night, we just said "let's go now" and ghosted out of the anchorage in the dark. 

We pointed southeast towards Marina Del Ray on the mainland. I contacted the Del Ray Yacht Club and asked if they would honor our Roche Harbor Yacht Club with reciprocal moorage. Yep; no problem. Archie, in their office, gave us the dock space and said "it will look like another boat is in the spot but you'll fit". Ok...

Marina Del Ray is HUGE - there must be 1500 boats here. For boaters in Seattle, it looks like 3 or 4 Shilshole's. As we headed down the fairway to our slip, sure enough another boat was there. It was MAIDEN from the newly released movie about the first all female crew in the Whitbread Sailing Race. We had to carefully slip between her and a finger pier to squeeze in to a spot directly in front of the beautiful clubhouse. I tried not to be too distracted while docking but it's super cool to see Maiden.

After tying up, and explaining to Jeff about the boat, we took a look at our new neighbor. She is a sweet ride! Although built in the 80's, Maiden is beautiful and looks super fast. She is touring the world now and raising funds for the skipper's (Tracy Edwards) Girls Education charities. We watched the movie that night and I highly recommend it! From the sailing, perseverance and women's side - it's an incredible story. And, we sure like the words of wisdom from the boat's benefactor, King Hussein "Anything is Possible".

This yacht club is SWANKY! Really beautiful clubhouse, docks and the friendliest folks! It's actually hard for us to get anything done on the boat; we are right on the main dock and everyone has to stop by and chat! From the Commodore, to neighbors to a kinda wacky mechanic who talked for 2 hours; they all want to hear about us and relay their stories and advice for places to visit. Quite welcoming and fun!

We plan to be here until Saturday then head to famous Catalina Island! Thanks to everyone that has sent us advice on where to go and what to do on the island. We will definitely sample the Buffalo Milk!

IMMENSELY HAPPY

I’ve said those words twice in that many days to Jeff. The feeling of happiness, contentment and being grateful are a bit overwhelming to me at times. Usually tears well up in my eyes as I say those words to Jeff. Don’t even ask about the tears shed during night watches when emotions are about as raw as mine can get!

We’ve been in Ventura since arriving late Sunday. We came to this area to take an Open Water Diver certification course with Channel Islands Scuba. I had found them online and after talking with the owner, made the leap; signed us up for a private course! Gosh, we were lucky with the choice as Mike, the owner, and his son Laz, were terrific. 

After taking many technical rescue related courses over the years, we have a bit of a high standard for instructors. Mike is a smart guy and truly knows his stuff! Yet, he explained both theory and application in a very easy to understand manner. When it came to the actual diving part he was patient and kept it low stress and fun! I have to tell you… after being an avid swimmer my entire life, this breathing underwater stuff is FREAKY! Oh, I’ll just put this big pacifier in my mouth that should be connected with the ridiculously heavy tank of air strapped to my back; add weights to INSURE that I sink and here we go! Jeff was a master diver years ago so this was just review for him; both he and Mike were super supportive and I couldn’t have done it without them!

It was an intense 4 days of instruction (usually a 2 week course but because we were a private class we did it in a short timeframe). We were up at 5:45 am and off to either the classroom and pool or the beach for our open water dives. Mike had planned for us to do a boat dive today to finish up but mother nature had other plans. The famed Santa Ana winds came up yesterday! WOW, they are weird. The whole area got covered in a brown cloud of dust (Salpare is dirty!) and they howled all night at 30-35mph. Needless to say, the dive boat cancelled the trip to the islands today. As sailors, its easy for us to understand weather delays so we went to Refugio Beach, north of Santa Barbara, and dove the reef. 

I’m not ready to take any underwater pictures yet as I’m still focused on breathing while doing the multitude of other things needed to stay at the right depth, keep track of Mike, keep track of Jeff, equalize my ears etc… But, among other cool reef critters, we did see a giant Sea Hare. These are BIG black slugs to those of us from the Pacific Northwest. And, I mean big - this thing was about 12” tall and 18” long. Jeff just told me that the water magnifies things… but I’m telling you; it was huge!  Pic below of what these critters look like.

Now that the class is over, we head out tomorrow for the Channel Islands National Park. These islands look remote (actually only 40-50 miles off shore which used to sound like a long way but hey, we are seasoned sailors now!), unique and beautiful. This will be the first time since we left Tacoma that we can really relax, take out the dinghy, Hobie and SUP and play around. We already have our permit to Santa Cruz island which is mostly run by The Nature Conservancy. If you want more information on these unique islands:https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm

We’ll spend about a week in the islands then head to Catalina! Friends keep sending me a list of “things to do on Catalina” so we are are excited to get there, too. We’re headed to bed soon as we’re both tired from diving and packing up to leave Ventura!

On course,

Fran and Jeff

Santa Barbara Channel and WARM sunshine!

I couldn't resist an update post as we cruise along this beautiful shoreline. Its nearly flat seas; something we have not had since the start of the trip.

We left Santa Cruz at 2:30am Saturday with a plan to be just behind the strong wind and big seas and still get to Ventura Sunday evening. We did miss the wind and the seas were just a little messy the first 6 hours. After the WA and OR coast, they were not bad at all! We've sailed a bit, motor sailed a bit and motored the rest of the way.  Winds are 1 kt right now...

We rounded Pt. Concepcion just as dawn was breaking. Many refer to this area as the Cape Horn of the west coast; there have been many tragedies as currents and winds converge and create mayhem on the seas. We had 10 kts of wind and just some swells; not a big deal at all! Then a bit of rerouting around these colossal oil rigs! They look amazing at night!




























Jeff survived his first "at sea" haircut by me and were now in shorts and tank top mode! Tomorrow we meet our dive instructor for our private class and spend some moola on dive gear. The class will run Tuesday-Friday. Then it's off to the Channel Islands and Catalina for 2 1/2weeks! It will be the first time we really slow down and relax! Life is pretty darn incredible right now!

Santa Cruz and a little Sail Primer!

We are in lovely Santa Cruz and planning to leave tomorrow or Saturday for Ventura. We’ll go overnight and get there later the next day - about 200 miles total. Jeff's currently putting our tracks on our paper charts. Yes, with all the electronics we have, we still have and love paper charts!

We’ve really enjoyed the rest days here in SC. As soon as we tied up, we cleaned up the deck and took a nap. We are rafted next to Peter and Tom and their Beneteau 36. Super nice and laid back; they are headed south to Mexico too but on a longer schedule than us.

It was a long 74 hours from Coos Bay to Santa Crus with 95% of it motoring. So, you might be wondering why we motor so much and just can’t sail all the time. Trust me… I get it. When we first bought the boat, I couldn’t figure that out either. But, let me try to explain.

When a sailboat is headed in to the wind, the sail acts like a vertical (as opposed to horizontal) airplane wing. Bernouli’s Principle, the same one the that makes planes fly, is at work and moves us forward. Don’t get too hung up if you don’t get that part. The important thing is that the wind needs to come from about 40 degrees or a bit more  on either side of the bow to effectively move us this way. So, if the wind is directly in front of us (what we call “on the nose”), we have to zig zag (called tacking) back and forth while moving forward so the wind stays at 40 degrees or so on either side. Doing that, of course, adds a lot of time and mileage to a trip. Think of it this way; while walking, if you wanted to keep the wind on only 1 side of your face but still walk forward, you would zig zag back and forth. That’s tacking! But, you also see that its a longer distance you have to go to move forward. 

Now, if the wind is from the side of the boat (a beam reach, sailors call it just so they can use different words to confuse non-sailors), its the best way to move effectively forward.  Bernouli is still working for us, but there is also more of a direct push of the boat forward. Again, don’t get too bogged on this part - we just always wish for a beam reach.

Now, if I haven’t lost you yet, lets talk sailing downwind. That should be easy, right? No, of course not - this is sailing!  Wind from behind pushes the boat and the sails now work like a parachute (not like a wing). However, you need enough wind from behind to hold the sail out while moving forward at 6-7 kts.  SIDE NOTE here, KTS is the abbreviation for knots or 1 nautical mile. Its about the same as 1 standard mile. Really, its close enough for most mere mortals. So, for Salpare moving at 7 kts, we need to have at a minimum 15 kts of wind behind us to move forward at a decent speed. Add in to that equation, BIG rolling seas that flop the boat back and forth. Then the wind also has to be big enough to hold the sail out while rolling on the waves. If it isn’t, the sails “deflate” and flop, then inflate again when they fill with wind. Its really tough on the sails and reduces their lives by months and years. Its also tough on the crew who hear these loud flops back and forth…

In the “old days” and for some who are purists and do not have a motor on their sailboat, you just sailed what you were given; and sat around a long time. They had years to get across oceans. We don’t and can just fire up our fantastic 54 hp engine.

Now, getting back to our last passage. From Coos Bay to Cape Mendocino, we had ok to light winds directly on the nose - zero degrees on either side of the boat! Past Cape Mendocino, we had winds directly behind the boat; but they were only 10-15 kts. With the big seas, they were not enough to keep our sails filled. We tried once and within an hour, were back to motoring.

I hope that helps you understand sailing a bit more. It’s taken me years to figure this stuff out and I still feel like a novice! 

Next stop Ventura!

California Dreamin' is Becoming a Reality!

As I write this, we are well past Cape Mendocino in light winds and following seas. It’s pitch black ahead of us and stars cover the sky from horizon to horizon. I’m on watch and decided it was a good time to catch up on writing. Every now and then a roller swings us around and I have to grab the laptop. And, every 10 minutes or so I pick my head up, let my night vision settle in and take a look around, check all instruments etc… Visibility is unlimited so I could see the light of another boat miles and miles away. Jeff is sound asleep below me as he’ll come on watch later this morning.

Salpare cast off her lines (yes, we helped) from her weeklong weather stay in Charleston. For a small, fairly isolated fishing village, we found more than enough to do and plenty of new friends.

It seems that most who live and work on the fishing boats start their names with the letter “J”. We met and became fast friends with 3 Jerry’s and another Jeff. My Jeff fit right in… And, their critters, Boomer the Bengal cat and Hershey; chocolate lab mix. She finally decided to venture from her typical diet of bones, fish and anything else she’s fed and try the Organic Chicken Cookies I bought for her. 

The fishermen (I didn’t see any women on the boats), were some of the kindest folks we’ve come across. It was not even a thought to offer us a ride anytime to town (Coos Bay). Even yesterday morning as we readied the boat to leave, Jerry from the “Mary C”, asked us if we’d like to take a drive up to the US Coast Guard Bar Crossing viewpoint. We piled in his car and got a firsthand look at the bar conditions. 

Each day, while waiting for the weather to improve, we did project after project. Some new ones to improve our living offshore and finishing up a few that were still on “the list”. In between and every time we poked our heads out of the boat, we quickly had a group of Jerry’s and Jeff’s on the dock for friendly discussion and solving the issues of the world. Farewell Charleston and fair winds to your awesome fishing fleet!

The bar crossing was uneventful (good!) but still intimidating as surf style breakers crash only a hundred yards away on each side. We had made the decision the night before to forego the stop in San Francisco and when clear of the bar pointed south to Monterey.  

San Fran is an awesome city that we have visited a number of times. However, it has a large and busy bar crossing of its own at the entrance. We would have to anchor in a bay just north of the city and wait until the following morning to make the crossing. Its also a 2 hour bar crossing and then we would repeat all of that the next day while leaving. It’s also located at the southern edge of the “northern storm cycle area”. We want out of the gale winds and cold and like our blog says; live in the sunshine! So on to Monterey!

Seas had been pretty mixed and confused until we passed Mecca (Cape Mendocino). Literally, as we passed, the sun came out and the waves smoothed into a syrupy flow. Ahhh…. Some relief from the pitching and rolling! If you just stepped aboard now, you would think I’m crazy to say that as we are still pitching and rolling! But, its all relative, my friends.

Sea critters continue to be a thrill as we had to quickly pull the throttle back and let 2 gigantic humpbacks cross in front of us. No “Whale Crossing” sign; just a blow right off our port bow and there they were. As evening fell, we saw a few more towards the beautiful headlands of Mendocino. Never, ever, ever will I get enough of seeing these amazing animals. Its a privilege to share their waters.

Another kinda weird animal “sighting” are the “ghost birds” at night. During the day, these are just the gulls, terns and others that float and fly around Salpare. At night, they take on a ghostly appearance of pure white in lights and appear and disappear; its quite startling.

It’s late morning now as I get back to writing. We are motor sailing along - just not quite enough wind to go under sail alone. Forecast is for increasing winds through the day (to 20kts). After seeing gale after gale on the Oregon coast, I’m cautious what I wish for!