True North October 3-28: Port to Port Along the Southern California Coast

 

October 3-18 Alamitos Bay & Long Beach, Newport Beach & Balboa Island, Dana Point, Oceanside

It's been a continuous stream of sunny coastal So Cal ports 'o call since we left Catalina Island. At Alamitos Bay we were fortunate to find TLC Electric through a recommendation. They came quickly, checked our ailing house batteries, determined they were ancient and replaced them, all in less than a half day. 

Never before seen on True North - Full Charge from new batteries

We had a fun catch-up visit with our niece, Christine, and Michael, and met the intrepid cruisers Lisa and Lief on Finistera, experienced sailors with suggestions for great places to stop along Mexico's coast, and leaving shortly for their own new adventures in Panama.

Newport Beach and Balboa Island were quite colorful. Large houses and smaller cottage-like homes with tiny sandy beach-fronts lined the waterways. Instead of docks at each house, boats were tied to moorings along the waterfront beach, bow and stern, and hundreds more resident boats at moorings in the center of the harbor. 

"Backyards" on Balboa Island

Unique to this area were the resident “Duffy” boats. We saw them everywhere and thought they were public water taxis but, no. These little 16-footers with a canvas roof, clear vinyl sides and 8 to 10 seats inside cruise the waterways with friends and neighbors, especially at sunset and quite possibly with a martini or two. A blast from the past included an evening out with Bo and Florence from Anne's New Mexico road warrior days. Note: no red wine was even consumed.

Anticipation at reaching Dana Point was building, being a fan of author and sailor Henry Dana.

Anne with Henry Dana

Dozens of sailboats under full sail played in the wind just outside the harbor with the famous high cliffs in the background. There was a long entry into the harbor with a palm lined breakwater, all very neat and inviting. We settled into one of the very narrow slips for several days while hiking the high trails and along the same cliffs from which Dana and his fellow sailors threw the animal hides below to be carted out to their ship for transport back to Boston. A replica of Dana's brig Pilgrim resides at the dock in front of the Ocean Institute.

Dana Point Marina with Pilgrim square rigger

It was a festive marina and one of our favorites! A mariachi band played from just across the fairway against a golden sunset. People were hanging out on their boats, kids were swimming. Our slip neighbors were a fun couple living aboard a 32' sailboat. They had sailed with their young kids, now grown, for several years in the Caribbean, and were almost more excited about our coming adventure than us! My brother John visited from nearby Carlsbad and brought us a “boatload” of gear that we had ordered online and had sent to his house, including a watermaker and solar panel...new projects.

John playing Santa

We stole a break before digging in to see Mission San Juan Capistrano with John. Sorry to report that the swallows left when the mission walls were last stabilized. Meanwhile, two other Ha-Ha boats arrived at Dana Point: Dawn Treader from Olympia and Sunshine from B.C..

Dana Point to Oceanside was easy-going at 3-4 knots, jib only for a most enjoyable day on the water. We spotted several pods of bottle-nosed dolphins along the way but they were too busy fishing to visit with us. We were graciously given space at the guest dock of the Oceanside YC by the friendly Port Captain David and Commodore Karie, as well as invited to the YC Monday night pot luck chili dinner. 

Surfers on beach in Oceanside

While in Oceanside we made the acquaintance of Dan Feltham, sailor and author of the e-book Tradewinds Calling which we read along the way – good stories from sailing in the South Pacific! We had corresponded with Dan a few times regarding which marinas might be good stops along the coast. Then, back to our projects! For some background, we already have a small manual watermaker for emergencies and had decided against adding an electric watermaker until meeting Lief and Lisa at Alimitos Bay. They gave us a dose of reality: it isn't likely that we will pull up to a dock with a hose connected to potable water at many of our stops in Mexico, and carting 5-gallon water jugs through the streets to that potable source and back to fill a 90 gallon tank painted an unpleasant picture. Both my brother John, and cousin Paul, newly relocated to Oceanside, supported the project by taking us to and from hardware stores to find the right fittings.

Gregg working on watermaker plumbing

San Diego! Last stop before the Ha-Ha! All good projects and final provisioning come to an end in San Diego...ready or not! We chose to stay at Harbor Island and were assigned to D dock at Cabrillo Isle Marina. We quickly found yellow Ha-Ha flags on a few other boats, three of which we had met earlier. More Ha-Ha boats arrived along with an array of projects...new mainsail for Cool Change, dodger for Ebenezer III, rigging check, new anchor rode for Winterhawk, haul out for Sunshine, shorten the anchor chain for Paragon, and for us? Final hook-up of the watermaker, wiring for a solar panel, and a head repair. Or an attempt at a head repair.  Don't ask.  On the dock, excitement was high in between frequent visits to West Marine. For us, visits with Gregg's old grade school pal, Tim, provided a respite from the stress of repairs.  It was fun to catch up after twenty years, and Tim was a very gracious host.

We left our projects for a few hours when my brother John, sister Mary, and brother-in-law Tom arrived (with dinghy wheels, another project!) to tour two tall ships on the waterfront, including Star of India and a replica of HMS Surprise.

Anne, Mary, Tom, John

Reiko, Mary, Anne

None of us dared to climb the futtock shrouds! Later, we picked up our friend and crew of one, David from Albuquerque, and continued on to Carlsbad for a family bon voyage at John and Reiko's. It was awesome to have our family participating in our adventure by visiting for this terrific send-off: Al and Holly, John and Reiko (beautiful meal!), Mary and Tom, Christine and Michael, Gabe, cousin Paul and son, Michael...with a champagne toast to us! The following evening, John, Reiko, Mary and Tom brought some of the incredible party treats to the boat for an impromptu dinner aboard.

The big Baja Ha-Ha Halloween departure bash proved to separate the uber-creative from the rest of us mere clever mortals. We may not be brave enough to publish a photo of our costume as it bordered on the ridiculous. But what the heck:

David, Theresa and John from Cool Change, and Gregg

Winterhawk crew does it right, winning group costume

Now, with just hours until departure, our schedule for the morning looks like this: Between 0930 and 0945, all 164 boats gather for the kick-off parade at 1000. At 1100, the America's Cup starting gun begins Baja Ha-Ha XX. Feel free to follow our track while at sea by clicking on the link at the upper right, “2013 Route”. We'll update with pictures from the past three weeks and with events of the passage after we get to Cabo!

True North September 26 to October 2: Santa Catalina Island

We left one Paradise for another as we sailed from Marina del Rey with a steady 15-20 kt wind all the way to Catalina Island. And of course sunny blue sky. What a glorious day! More dolphins. We sailed around to the west side of the island and tucked into Cat Harbor at the Isthmus. 

Entering Cat Harbor

The harbor master quickly motored over to us to assign a mooring and guide us through the process: pick up the mooring pole and bring it aboard while quickly finding the bow hawser and securing it to the bow cleat, then follow the spreader line to the stern hawser and doing the same. The important part is to make sure the weighted spreader line lies on the bottom and doesn't get tangled in the prop. We later watched a party boat in Avalon make many frustrating dives before untangling their prop so they could leave. We quickly inflated the dinghy and rode to shore to check out Two Harbors... nice! Palm trees are soul-soothing!

Hiking the high points is always on the list of things to do. We found two such pleasant hikes and managed to do both during the hottest part of the day. The isthmus is a half mile wide, connecting Catalina (Cat) Harbor with Isthmus Cove. Together they make up Two Harbors. There are supposedly bison on the island, however we did not see the bison, only their - ahh - leavings.

The Isthmus (Two Harbors):  Isthmus Cove on left, Cat Harbor on right

The Cat Harbor side is very peaceful, just a harbor full of boats; nothing much else. Isthmus Cove, however, has a restaurant, bar, grocery store, showers, swaying palm trees and lots of music! It's the party side and easily accessible by a short walk across the isthmus from where we were moored. We had a nice dinner there.  If visiting, do not forget the ultimate tourist trap, the "Buffalo Milk" cocktail!

"Buffalo Milk"

Our next stop was the more well-known Avalon calling to us. Located on the SE side of the island, we first motored (no wind), then sailed into our mooring by noon. What a busy yet picturesque sight!

Avalon Harbor with distinctive round Casino

The moorings are about 30' apart – over 200 of them! Sailboats, motor yachts large and small and sport fishing boats all across the harbor, set against a palm lined esplanade and rising hillside of mostly stucco houses. 

Touring Avalon

The striking circular casino stands out along one end – it's not a gambling casino but an elaborate art deco entertainment area with a theater, and a ballroom on the upper level with colorful Tiffany lights. 

The famous Art Deco Mermaid
 at the Casino

A weekend in Avalon on warm, sunny day meant that people were hanging out on their boats in swimming suits, something Pacific NW cruisers never do or see. Ferries bring hundreds of people over from the mainland but the place to be is on the water on a boat. Boaters reading, soaking up sun and views, mingling, bow to stern... your party is my party! Para-sailers, snorkelers, divers, swimmers, kayakers... Despite what might seem like mass confusion, we found it quite pleasant to soak it all in and it wasn't noisy as it might seem from the description. 

Quiet time in a busy place

There were several dive/snorkel sites nearby. We took the dinghy over to the Avalon Underwater Park to snorkel and search in particular for “Oscar”, a thirty year-old resident garibaldi fish. We never found him but the clear water and kelp beds were loaded with different colorful schools of fish and many bright orange garibaldi. On our last afternoon in Avalon, the surge pushed Gregg into a ragged dock edge. We ended our evening with a short walk to the emergency room for ten stitches in his left leg. No water sports for the next two weeks. 

We motored just an hour north of Avalon for one more night on the island and anchored at Moonstone Cove. Imagine! Each passing cove presented views more scenic that the one before. This idyllic little waterfront is used by the Newport Beach Club. We couldn't go to shore but sure enjoyed looking at it.

Newport Beach Yacht Club, Moonstone Cove

Very peaceful! We took the dinghy over to Henrock Reef and Cove from there so I could do some snorkeling. Gregg kept the dinghy nearby with a book as the water was off limits for his stitches for now. 

Gregg nurses his stitches while Anne snorkels

Immediately on entering the water I saw a halibut beneath the dinghy...darn, no fishing license – or any way to catch the thing!  The next surprise was a new fish to me. It was almost hidden against the light sandy bottom as it, too, was a light sand color - a shovelnose guitarfish. Then there was a round stingray, also the color of the sand so it almost went unnoticed. The usual bright orange garibaldi were there and many schools of a medium sized striped fish that I couldn't identify. During the night, five fish boats were anchored just beyond the moorings with bright lights...they probably got that halibut!  Their engines started around 2 AM and all were gone in the morning when we got up. The forecast for Santa Ana winds and large steep waves in the next few days added to our reluctant resolve to leave the island for the mainland that day.

True North September 19 to September 25: Marina Del Rey

September 19 began early with a 0615 departure since we had about 70 miles to travel to our next stop, Marina Del Rey. As there was little wind we motored all day arriving at the Del Rey Yacht Club just near dark at 1930. 

Invictus in the main channel, Marina del Rey

This was an especially fun family stop. Our slip in the guest moorage was just two slips away from my brother Al's boat, Starlight Express! 

True North next to North Star and Starlight Express

After several visits here over the years, it was very fun to pull into a neighboring slip. Our nephew Gabe was staying overnight on Starlight Express that evening and stopped by to say hello before heading back to study. 

Al and Gabe

The next day we rode with him to Pasadena to meet family and to celebrate our niece Abby's twenty-fourth birthday with dinner at Pops, specializing in decadent s'mores and champagne. 

Holly and Abby

There was lots of visiting at DRYC, beginning with the friendly Commodore  checking in with us to chat and to ask for a burgee from our YC, the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club in Ballard.  During the day, Al was joined by several of his Coast Guard Auxiliary colleagues for a few hours of on-the-water drills. We visited with each of them and heard the stories of their most notable rescues in the area. Impressive saves!  Meanwhile, Gregg's cousin Kathy drove over from Tarzana to visit with us for the rest of the day, with a trip around the marina in Al's Boston Whaler he graciously loaned us.

Gregg and Kathy

And finally, a sumptuous buffet at the DRYC set the background for a gathering of 12 visiting family.

The family affair at Del Rey Yacht Club

By mid-afternoon, most everyone was on their way home leaving Al and Gregg to talk “boats” in depth and compare notes. Most fortunate for us! Al was very helpful in finding marine maintenance sources for us and with trips to/from West Marine. An important maintenance item since before our arrival had been to check out a potential problem with our batteries losing their charge. As luck would have it, Al had a marine electrician already scheduled for Monday morning to come to his boat and arranged for us to be added to the schedule. We tore up the aft cabin for battery access as the batteries are inconveniently located under the bed with a sealed wood cover. Long story short: the three house batteries weren't holding the charge and needed to be replaced. We were unable to find three new batteries in the time we had left in Marina del Rey, so postponed the battery upgrade to the next stop. 

The ailing "house" battery bank

However we did take our boat over towards the fuel dock for an oil change, where we were directed into the slip between two 200' yachts.  The manager told us were were in Larry Ellison's slip, as his boat was at the America's Cup where he watched his Oracle boats win the cup!

True North in Larry Ellison's slip

When we finally had some free time, we walked along the shoreline at Venice Beach and Santa Monica. 

Venice Beach

True North September 16 to September 19: Santa Barbara

After a week of poking around many beautiful coves and scenic hiking trails, it was time to leave the Channel Islands. We woke up to sun and sailed from Pelican Bay on Santa Cruz Island directly to Santa Barbara with 13-17 kts wind and 6-6.75 kts boat speed with a single reefed main and full jib. 

Our "neighbor" departs Pelican Bay

Entering Santa Barbara Harbor on a busy, sunny Sunday afternoon means threading your way through a maze of paddle boarders and kayakers criss-crossing every which way, oblivious to  big boats coming through the fairways. On arrival, we got a slip assignment at Marina 4. The dock was full of friendly people stopping by to introduce themselves and say hello, including our slip neighbor Paul to port on “Vesper”, a beautifully maintained older boat with pastel green accents, who offered to drive us into town as needed. 

Moonrise over Vesper

Tall palm trees lined the walkway at the head of the docks and surrounding the sandy beach, with the charming streets of Santa Barbara just on the other side. The large and busy Stearns Pier extends into the sea between the beach and the harbor, with shops, restaurants, and an aquarium.

Beach, anchorage, and Stearns Pier

After a day of soaking in the nearby marina sights and catching up on a few boat chores, we walked all over to explore the quaint downtown. Mission Santa Barbara was on our personal itinerary which we found after a short bus ride up to the top of a hill in a peaceful residential neighborhood. The interior walls of this mission were quite different from others we had seen. They were painted in colorful desert hues of sand, peach, and sky blue. On the way back through downtown, we stopped to check out the menu of an inviting outdoor Italian pizza patio and stayed. Nice!

Santa Barbara Mission

We had saved a visit to the waterfront Mariner's Museum for our last day in Santa Barbara only to find it closed on Wednesdays. Besides going to the museum, we had wanted to buy a couple of books about early life on the Channel Islands that had been recommended to us. There was a woman just inside the locked door of the museum who, after we knocked gently, kindly let us in to the museum store to buy the books, and then also inside the main area of the museum for a brief chance to see their recently acquired prized possession, a very large and splendid Fresnel lens. 

The Fresnel lens in the Museum

We really enjoyed Santa Barbara, and were impressed with how busy and vibrant the harbor was.  There were tour boats, boat, kayak, and paddle-board rentals, restaurants, the museum, and yes, even a West Marine store in which to deposit your savings.  And always - smiling, happy people out to mess around in boats!