Leaving Catalina Island and San Diego

The sail from Catalina to San Diego was 90 nm. The weather was beautiful, the wind was light but moved us along at a 4 knot pace.  Here are some shots as we left Catalina Island.

Bev at the helm.

The sunsets are often very stunning!

The winds died down during the evening hours.  This was OK, as we were trying to slow down as we did not want to enter San Diego in the nighttime.  For much of the night there was a beautiful almost full moon shinning on the water.

Dan was excited to enter the harbor where he first learned to sail.  We motored along the navy base, & submarine ports to Shelter Island and the Harbor Police Dock.  It was Sunday and not a sole was around to check us in at the public dock.  But there were a lot of police boats around.

Malo finds a slip, however we had to go on line to see which ones were not reserved.  

We are located at the San Diego Harbor Police Dock.




Here is the view from Shelter Island Shoreline, where there is a nice walking path.

Much to our delight, Cinderella was anchored in the harbor.  We met up for dinner with our old friends that we met in Eureka, California - Ava and Pajo. Ava's sister had just moved to San Diego so we all got to visit. It was great fun to hear their stories.

Our second morning was filled with much excitement and upset when our neighbors had to move to a slip on the other side of ours.  I did not have a good feeling about them moving next to our boat so I put out some extra fenders and suggested to Dan that we help catch their lines.  Dan had one of their lines, but somehow the captain changed his mind, and went back out to straighten his approach, then lost control of what he was doing, and clipped our anchor which was on the bow (luckily just some chipped paint) and then went fast across to the opposite side and rammed right into a large, new cabin cruiser.  The crash was unbelievable and I thought for sure a hole was punctured in the boat.  Guard rails were broken and bent and I am sure some other damage done.  No one was hurt, but it was very upsetting for the driver and the owners of the boat.  Reports were filed by the Harbor Police, but they did nothing to help the guy get into his slip.

Dan had me dig through the V-birth to get our long lines and we would line him across to the slip he was supposed to be in.  He had me free up my SUP board to use it to take the line across, but one other nice person offered to help with his canoe - Steven.   He paddled the lines across from one peer to the opposite side.

If you look at the rails on the cabin cruiser, you can see how bent they are from the collision.

Dan took the bow line, Steven and I took the stern line and together we safely pulled him across without any mishaps

We secured him in his new slip as you can imagine how upset the captain was.  He was pretty shook up.  It was quite the morning for all involved.

Dan and I took our bikes and did many small errands such as shopping, picking up some boat supplies and our Mexican Navigation Chart we had ordered from Downwind Marine.  Later I rode another 10 miles to find an auto store to get LED lights, as we needed to repair our running light on the port side.

I am so amazed with how many boat projects there always are.  Today, I rode another 10 miles doing more errands one of which was to The Dinghy Doctor to pick up zincs for the outboard motor.



When I came back, our friends Eva and Pajo were at our dock, as they were on their way to Mexico and needed to fill up with water at the Harbor Police Dock.

Pajo borrowed Dan's folding bike and rode to West Marine to buy an anchor which he rode back with in his backpack.   They had the terrible experience of Harbor Police cutting their anchor lines while they were anchored in Del Rey and then towing their boat away.  They lost two anchors this way.  Apparently this is a common practice in Del Rey, as they do not want people anchored in the harbor, so they cut their anchors.  It does not seem right!

Cinderella takes off with their electric motor!  Off to Mexico!

Our last day in San Diego was a very busy one.  Several highlights happened.  My Swedish cousin Annika Garnolf was in San Diego and came by with her family for a wonderful visit.  Her two daughters spoke excellent English as did Annika and her partner Robert.  It was very special for me to see them and have them visit our boat.  Unfortunately their oldest daughter was a little under the weather with a sore throat.  My grandmother and her grandmother where sisters, so I think that makes us second cousins.  I will have to make a trip to Sweden, to visit them and of course her parents, Gunilla and Ingvar!

Dan wanted to take a ride in the dinghy to check out the areas where he used to sail when he was a young boy.  It was nice to see all the Navy boats and the sky line of San Diego from the water .  Dan enjoyed telling stories of his youth again as we motored along.  It was a tough ride for me on the return trip as the waves and wind had increased a lot.

This evening, Patrick Murphy and his girl friend Taren picked us up and we went out for pizza and a beer.  It was great fun to learn what these two are up to.  Patrick is the youngest son of one of my best friends from Connecticut. - Marian.  They are very happy with their move our west.

It was fun to hook up with them and learn about what is going on for them and how much they enjoy San Diego.

What a full day we've had. I am pretty beat.  Tomorrow late morning is when we plan on heading in Mexico.

Exploring Catalina Island

We have stayed at Isthmus Cove in Twin Harbors on Catalina Island for 3 nights.  The wind is going to pick up on Saturday, so we will take advantage of that for our 24 hours sail to San Diego - with hopefully leaving in tomorrow.

Malo is safely tied up on a mooring ball.  

We put the dinghy in and used it to row around the harbor in, as well as get back and forth to shore. Here Dan is inflating the dinghy on the deck.

One morning Dan and I took a long row along the  shore.  The dinghy rowed quite well so we were both pleased - especially me, as I would much rather row than use a motor.

There were some cool looking shallow caves along the shore.  The water was clear.

The morning views were very nice off  the stern of our boat.

There were many trails on the island. The terrain is rather steep.  I choose to hike one trail that was 2.5 miles long.  It was very steep, gave incredible views, but I needed to careful not to slip.  I really would've liked to have my hiking poles, but they did not make the trip. Here are some photos of that hike. This shows the two harbors which is why they call it Twin Harbor.

The resort type village has a restaurant, bar, showers, laundry etc, rentals of kayaks, bikes etc and even offer safari trips to see the buffalo that are on the Island (apparently brought over for a film in the early 1900's and just left here).  

Dan and I took a walk on another day, when it was sunny and what a difference the light made for the  photos.  

  

This is another cove called July 4th Cove.

I enjoyed rowing and I took the SUP board out and even went for a swim a few times.

Malo moored in the sunset.

Resting Birds

Tomorrow we will head out to San Diego for a 90 mile sail which will take us at least 24 hours, as the winds will be light.

Sailing From Monterey Bay to Catalina Island

Malo has had a tune-up in Monterey Bay California.  Her engines are running again, her bottom keel damage has been repaired and her crew, being Dan and Bev, were more than ready for some sailing.  After all that is what we were planning to do. Thinking positively and proactively I put a scopolamine patch on to prevent sea-sickness and it worked.

We woke up to a foggy harbor but that was not going to deter us, as long as the engine started.  With much gratitude to our mechanic Kevin and the Monterey Boatyard staff, Malo started on the first try.
Malo is sitting in the "ways."  (The dock where the boats are taken in and out via the travel lift.)

 

We motored out slowly, passing the Coast Guard dock and tied up fishing boats.  There were a number of small fishing boats in the harbor that we kept a watchful eye on.

As you can see in the picture below, it was a very calm morning and our visibility was limited.  We motored for a little while.

Eventually the fog lifted, the breeze picked up and we raised the sails.

Dan did a little reading, while I did some helming.

The weather was damp and a little cool.  I had to get dressed warmly.  Our boat has an open cock pit and the helm has little protection.  We prefer it this way, but it does mean we are more exposed than many cruising boats who like to have a closed in cock pit.

The winds were light around 8 knots, so Dan thought he would try to put the Code One sail up.  For some reason, it did not go as planned and after I had hauled the halyard up, he had me lower it again.  This is what happened to Dan and the sail, as he tried stuffing it back into the bag.  Meanwhile the winds were picking up and the rolling waves were rocking the boat. We will try it on a calmer day and in calmer conditions to get the tangles freed up.

It is difficult to show, but the winds are picking up to a solid 15 knots.

Dan takes the helm. Notice how he uses a wide stance, as the boat rolls with the swells.   

Dan also helms from the side.  This is something I am practicing to do as well.  Because Malo is such a responsive, lively boat, she reacts to every little thing.  It is more difficult for me to keep a good coarse.  All in time and with practice.

The day had been cloudy without much sun and our batteries were running a bit low. In order to keep the batteries charged sufficiently we had to start the engine and run it for two hours.  We have 3 great solar panels that provide 480 watts of power.  The energy provided is not unlimited and we must balance our usage with the amount of energy stored in our batteries.  This requires us to keep a watchful eye on our voltage gage.  We try never to go below 60% of our battery capacity.

The following items use power:  refrigerator, auto-helm, navigation instruments, bilge pumps,  lights, 12 volt chargers for our phones, InReach and fans, and mini power inverter for our lap top computers.     When we run low, we limit the use of some of these - mostly the refrigerator and auto-helm.

In the photo below, you will notice the sails are down and rolled up. But why?  We lowered the main sail in preparation for a night of sailing.  Because we are sailing with the wind and on a very broad reach, the jib alone moved us steadily along at a nice 4 - 6 knot pace.  The swells rocked the main sail so much, that it was simpler not to use it.  The boat balanced out nicely this way.

While we ran the motor to charge the batteries, the jib was flapping around so much, not providing much pull, so we rolled her up for those 2 hours of motoring.

When I am at the helm and have things under control Dan can escape to the aft cabin and read a book.

This is how I have to sleep, with industrial head phones, so the noises of which there are many, don't bother me.  Actually this was my original solution to a snorring partner and it has continued to be helpful with boat noises. I know, they are rather silly looking, but they work.  Not very comfortable when side lying, so my solution was to cut holes for the ear muffs in a solid foam pillow.  It works pretty well, and the main thing is, I can get some sleep.



We stay away from these babies!  Big freighters!

This three day passage, which just happened, is already a blur in my mind.  The days roll into one another, time just moves along at its' own pace, Malo sails along and we move along with our little routines, checking battery levels, helming, watching for whales, dolphins, napping, eating, watching the waves, the clouds and being sort of mellow. 

  We were happy when the sun finally came out, which I believe was on our third full day.  

We finally got to take our warm clothes off and settle on tees and for me, even shorts for an hour or two.  Notice how Dan can helm with his toes.

Bev at the helm!

Here I am practicing helming from the side.

We all have our little "quirks" in life and I have a few more than most.  One is: my feet sweat, then I get cold. (I suspect 7 foot surgeries have contributed to this dilemma.) My solution has been to change my socks often.  While sailing in cold weather this is even more important and eventually I have to dry out my socks.  Here is my solution:  to dry them under the dodger. (Sadly, this is only day two of the passage and I've gone through a lot of socks!)

When it is time to lower the sails, we do a maneuver called "heaving too". This allows for a temporary stalling of the boat. (I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one, but it works).

We had some very magical moments.  One that I sadly did not photograph, was at night and seeing massive bioluminescence in the water.  It was like snow on top of every wave crest, in a dark black sea.  Then the dolphins arrived!  They were glowing and left a swirly tail of luminescence as they darted back and forth and around the bow of our vessel.  It was like nothing I've ever seen before.

Dan's blog gives a nice description of this.  https://onemoretimetosail.blogspot.com

Originally we were planning on going to the Channel Islands.  We altered our plans because of the unexpected long stay in Monterey and because we heard the anchorages there were getting very rolly from the swells as the fall/winter seasons approaches.

We did pass the eastern most Channel Island which is called Anacapa Island.

We've spent 3 nights and 3 full days at sea for a total of 295nm (nautical miles) travelled.   It is early morning and we are finally approaching Catalina Island.

Calm waters! Very majestic!

The harbor master greets us and checks us in.  We are staying on a mooring ball in Isthmus Cove on Catalina Island.

Here is this quaint little village called Twin Harbors.

Malo is moored quietly in this beautiful and empty harbor.  Stay tuned for more.  We're off to explore the island.