October 24, 2014

After nearly a week in idyllic Catalina Harbor, it was time to move on.  I wanted to revisit Emerald Bay on the other side of Catalina and use it as my jumping off point to head to Marina del Rey to be with Carol and host her friends for a day on Circadian.  The three nights and two days in Marina del Rey were packed with activity:  cleaning and prepping the boat, shopping for provisions, gear and party goodies, and getting it all ready for Sunday’s gathering.  Just about everyone invited showed up, and most stayed longer than I had expected they would.  Must have had a good time!  I was so busy being a host, I didn't even get a chance to snap any pics.  

My departure Monday morning was delayed about 30 minutes due to a clogged holding tank vent and three pretty young ladies who wanted to use Circadian as a backdrop for a fashion shoot.  Of course I obliged.

It was an easy motorsail back to Emerald Bay, and when I arrived I discovered some Ventura Harbor neighbors already anchored there on their boat Lanikai.  Having just dropped two hundred bucks for four days of mooring/berthing, I decided to anchor (for free) about 200 feet from where I had previously taken a mooring.  Well, there was little wind and a lot of swirling currents that perfectly positioned the boat for maximum rolling.  Not a good night for sleeping.  I got so desperate that I improvised a crosswise berth, which made at least intermittent sleep possible.  Moreover, I discovered the spinnaker halyard was fouled on the jib furler.  But there was nothing I could do about it when it was too rolly to climb the mast.  It didn’t matter much because there was so little wind I expected to be motorsailing anyway.  Still, I was glad to leave when the sun rose and head for hopefully smoother pastures at Santa Barbara Island. 

Staying in touch along the way with Lanikai (which it turns out is the correct spelling) and encountering a pod of dolphins made the Santa Barbara Island passage more fun.  Unfortunately, it was only slightly smoother at Santa Barbara Island.  Nonetheless, I made a quick, but still foolhardy, trip up the mast to see what the problem was.  Turned out the halyard had wedged itself into a notch on the furler bracket.  I pulled it out, but didn’t want to risk staying at the top of the mast long enough to fully clear the foul.  Better to leave it for the dock where I can be belayed.   Being 46 miles offshore and essentially uninhabited, the night sky at Santa Barbara Island can be amazing.  And it was.  It looked like a star chart.  I clearly saw stars and constellations I had long since forgotten were up there.  Beautiful!!  However, since the landing for the island was damaged by recent hurricane swells and closed, and the anchorage rolly, I left the next morning for Santa Cruz Island almost as eagerly as I had left Emerald Bay the night before.  It turned out to be a very frustrating departure.  Every line that could foul, did.  Every knob that could refuse to turn, did.  Every knuckle that could be scraped or banged, was.  But it was an easy passage motorsailing, and Smugglers Cove was beautiful, calm and empty.  The water was so clear I could see the anchor chain lying on the bottom 25 feet below.  Although delightful, I decided the prudent thing would be to head back to Ventura the next day because the weather would be changing.  A mild Santa Ana condition would create some wind from the south and east, then it would be quickly displaced by a trough moving through, causing the wind to come out of the west.  Well, even though no strong winds were forecast, it’s impossible to find a cove on Santa Cruz that is sheltered from winds from all those directions.  I wanted good sleep, so headed home the next morning.  About three miles off the coast I encountered a humpback whale, fortunately at a safe distance.  Always a thrill!  I don’t think the guy on a sailboat on a reciprocal course even saw the beast right in front of him.  Geez!

Ninety minutes later, securely tied up at my slip, I realized once again how much I love this place.  Home sweet home! 

Although this little cruise turned out to be a bit more of a shakedown cruise than I had intended, it was good.  It’s good to find out what needs to be done to have things work more smoothly and reliably.  And there were no major issues.  Still, I now have a new list of “to-do’s” that includes new and rearranged running rigging, chafing gear on the anchor snubber, securing the dinghy better, simplifying setting up the flopper-stopper, placing winch handle holders, cleaning out the aft lazarette, and more.   While I might run out of money, I won’t run out of projects any time soon!