On September 30, we picked up a new crew member in Santa Barbara when Ned's friend Lisa arrived. While in Santa Barbara we completed a few boat projects, which included changing our impeller, replacing one of three fuel filters and removing and cleaning our sea water strainer. We added 50 gallons of diesel fuel to our 110-gallon fuel tank (our first fill up since we left Port Townsend) and topped off our 85-gallon fresh water tank.
Reprovisioning generally involves a hike to the nearest grocery store with the largest backpacks we have. It was nice to have a third backpack this time around, though we did not ask Lisa to carry ALL the canned goods.
On October 2, we crossed the cargo shipping lanes once again and sailed away from cell and internet service toward the Channel Islands.
The Channel Islands are an eight-island archipelago off the coast of Southern California. Five of the eight islands comprise Channel Islands National Park. Of the five National Park islands, we sailed to and visited San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz.
Charlie's Charts, our go-to Cruisers Guide to anchorages in the Channel Islands, contains intimidating text such as, "These waters are no place for the inexperienced" and "Many circumnavigators have said upon their return that the toughest part of their trip was Cruising the Channel Islands." With this, we were cautious and focussed to say the least.
Each of the National Park islands we visited was unique in terms of history, habitat and features. To simplify, I have introduced each Island below with a short description. I've also included photos and captions to help capture our Channel Island cruising experience. As always, thanks for following us
Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz was our first stop in the park. Our anchorage in Fry's Harbor was crowded and narrow. Each boat utilized a bow and stern anchoring technique that kept each vessel in a set position regardless of current, wind and tide changes.
Seventy-six percent of Santa Cruz is owned by The Nature Conservancy; the remainder is National Park land. Our "land time" on Santa Cruz was less than the other islands, as The Nature Conservancy is making great effort to keep the island wild.
We did explore the island for a short distance and wandered among impressive scrub oak and Catalina mahogany trees. We also found hitchhikers on our anchor chains that included mollusks and starfish.
San Miguel Island
Our next stop was San Miguel Island. This westernmost island receives the brunt of the northwesterly winds, fog and severe weather from the open ocean. The National Parks brochure indicates that, "Submerged rocks, rough seas and risky landings make the nearly 28-mile San Miguel coastline a mariner's nightmare."
The marine life, however, thrives. Each year more than 100,000 seals and sea lions breed and haul out on San Miguel. San Miguel is also one of only four worldwide breeding grounds for the Northern Elephant Seal. Due to seal hunting in the 19th century, Elephant Seals could no longer be found by 1884. In 1892, a group of 8 were found on a remote island off Baja California by a collector for the Smithsonian Institution who killed 7 of them. Fortunately, around 100 survived elsewhere and the protected population has now grown to 20,000. The adult male Elephant Seal reaches a weight of 7,900 pounds.
We anchored at Cuyler Harbor and luckily nailed our dinghy landing and departure on and off the beach while the seals watched nearby with expressions of boredom and disappointment. We were fortunate to receive a brief tour from Sean, the solo Park Ranger who is occasionally on site.
While anchored in Cuyler Harbor, we were also treated to an incredible electrical storm to the east, which we watched beyond our stern from the cockpit. We learned later that Stella J was trying to make her way east in the midst of this same storm. Tanya and James found it to be neither incredible nor a treat.
Santa Rosa Island
Of the three National Park islands we visited, Santa Rosa had the most impressive network of hiking trails. Santa Rosa also has the most recent history of private to National Park acquisition.
In 1980, Santa Rosa was added to Channel Islands National Park, but it was not until 2011 that the last private property agreement ended. For the past 10 years, Santa Rosa has been on the road to recovery to reclaim its natural biological habitat. In the early 1800's up to 80,000 sheep were introduced, decimating most of the native vegetation. Santa Rosa also endured the introduction of domestic cattle, horses, and pigs. Deer and elk were brought to the island for commercial hunting. With the change to National Park status, pigs were removed in the early 1990's, followed by cattle in 1998 and the deer and elk in 2012.
We anchored in Bechers Bay, paying close attention to the vast array of kelp beds along the shore. Our access to the island was via a massive pier that we saw no one else use over the three days we were at anchor. The climb from the dinghy to the pier is complicated by the profusion of mussels on the ladder - shoes are highly recommended.
Initially, the island has the feel of a cattle ranch ghost town. We walked onto the island expecting to find a Ranger Station, only to find a solo contractor working on a roof who looked over at us, stopped nailing and said, "You folks look lost or confused." Perhaps our land navigation skills are fading.
Gorgeous! Glad you survived the danger. Question- are you not legally allowed to eat the hitch hikers, or is that a choice? (just curious)