October 8: Cat Harbor Cruise

I left Ventura Harbor on Saturday at the crack of dawn so I could make it to Cat Harbor before dark.  Although I knew my friends Curt and Mary planned to be at Cat Harbor sometime that weekend, we ended up arriving at the harbor entrance within feet of each other.  No planning or coordination involved!   I ended up having to anchor in a tight spot, which probably would have been okay had the winds been the ten knots forecast.  I was awakened at 3 am by gusts hitting 28 knots and nearby yachts large and small blowing all over the place.  There was also a treacherous underwater rock a few feet off my stern.  I knew I was going to be up the rest of the night keeping an anxious watch.  I was doing okay until an inexperienced crew on a nearby 35 footer decided to leave in the dark and hooked onto my chain in the process.  They swung down on me of course, so now my anchor was holding both boats.  The extra load brought us onto the rock with an occasional sickening thud.  Meanwhile, I directed the process of taking the load off their anchor so I could unhook it while their crew worked at keeping the boats from banging together. Eventually I got it cleared and they took off.  While that was a major relief, I still had a huge megayacht 20 feet upwind and the nasty rock directly astern while the wind continued to gust from different directions.  I determined to try to hold out until daybreak, an hour or two away.   With my system full of adrenalin, it wasn’t hard.  As soon as I could see, I upped anchor and, after re-anchoring three more times without feeling secure, I decided a mooring was worth the money at this point.  Ended up in a very quiet, smooth spot where I caught up on my sleep and finally was able to relax and enjoy.  I did take the time to do a quick dive to inspect the bottom of the keel and rudder to make sure there was no serious damage.  While it was only a very quick look, I saw only missing paint, no big gouges or misaligned rudder.  I’ll have my regular diver do a more thorough inspection, though.

With the drama and trauma out of the way, it was all about kicking back, relaxing, being with friends and enjoying nature.  Not much to the little 'town' of Two Harbors, but if you look carefully, there's always something to see.  

Carol will be arriving tomorrow on the ferry, which is good since my friends left this morning.  Ahhh….the life!!