On 10/7 we decided to dash to the coast to avoid a storm that we had been monitoring for several days. The west Channel Island anchorages offer limited shelter, so we made a 43-mile sail to Oxnard, waited two days for the weather to pass, reprovisioned and left on 10/9 to make our way back to the eastern Channel Island of Santa Catalina. With the next storm approaching, all boats were asked to evacuate the north shore, so we headed to the wonderfully protected mooring bay of Catalina Harbor.
Santa Catalina Island is a very popular cruiser destination, yet there are no options for boat slips. Instead, the harbors surrounding Santa Catalina utilize the Catalina Mooring System. Typically, a mooring ball floats on the surface and is secured by an anchorage below. Upon approaching the mooring, a loop is lifted through the ball and secured to the bow, replicating a bow anchorage. Such an anchorage secures the boat's position, but also allows a swinging arc in the event of wind and tide shifts. In order to fit many more boats into a smaller space, the Catalina Mooring System utilizes a bow and stern loop, each anchored below. Since boats resist swinging with this system, the relatively small Catalina harbors can pack in hundreds of boats. Catalina Harbor offers 100 moorings, while Avalon Harbor hosts 360!
While in Catalina Harbor, we spent a few days hiking and watching fish jump all around our boat. Not by coincidence, there was also an abundance of pelicans in the bay who seemed to enjoy the jumping fish as well.
On 10/13 the wind settled and we sailed around the eastern end of Santa Catalina to the town of Avalon. It took a moment to adjust to the arrival of such a popular tourist destination. Leaving a Carnival cruise ship to starboard as we approached the mooring was a first on this trip.
Our Avalon stay was brief, as we departed the harbor just after midnight in order to make our San Diego arrival in daylight. The night sail went well as we once again weaved our way through container ships staged offshore. As daylight came upon us, we were greeted by military warnings and communications via our VHF radio from a warship and an aircraft carrier nearby. Helicopters and fighter jets flew overhead as we approached the 5-mile channel which enters the San Diego Bay. In addition to hosting over 7,000 private boats, the San Diego Bay has a significant military presence.
Channels are often dredged and marked by channel buoys. Upon entering a channel, red buoys line the right side of the channel while green buoys line the left. "Red Right Return" is a common memory phrase to keep boaters inside the channel. As we were making our way into the San Diego channel, a Naval warship turned and entered directly behind us. We quickly sized up the warship, checked the channel depth on our depth sounder and chart plotter and decided that "Go Left of Green to Get Outta the Way" would have a better end result that adhering to "Red Right Return!"
Our stay in San Diego has been a nice blend of work and relaxation, as we have had the opportunity to enjoy San Diego while preparing for our Mexican entry.
I would like to end this post with several notes of thanks. Thanks again to Lisa for being such a helpful crew member from Santa Barbara to the Channel Islands and on to San Diego. Thanks go to Janet who came to visit and helped once again with our bulk provisioning. Thank you to Doug and Kristy for the invaluable use of their car and for also allowing us to use their home as our San Diego shipping address to which we mailed more than a dozen packages from the time we left San Francisco, including replacement engine parts, cruisers guides, a Central America Navionics memory card and much more. Finally, thanks goes to Sue who came to visit, drove Ned around to help with the days-long process of securing our Mexican Temporary Import Permit, went on a day sail and offered to be crew on our next 900-mile leg along the Baja Peninsula to La Paz. As a special bonus, ¡Sue habla español!
And thanks go to you as well for following us!
Adiós for now.
Just got back from Mexico. We climbed Pico de Orizaba and celebrated Dias de Los Muertos in Puebla and Mexico City. Everyone was wearing a mask and temperatures were checked in most restaurants. I was impressed too.
Thanks for the enviable update. Safe passage to MX and Happy dia de los Muertos!