Zuniga Shoal, San Diego (Anchorage)

The anchorage is outside the harbor and is usually sheltered from the prevailing NW winds and swells by Point Loma. It would save me about 1hr the next morning if I stayed here before my passage across the US border to Ensenada in Mexico. As I was approaching the anchorage I passed a big dark grey nuclear submarine slowly motoring out of San Diego harbor. I stayed as far away as the channel would allow, but the coast guard still came racing over in his powerboat with machine guns on the bow, lights flashing to warn me to stay away from the sub or face the wrath of the Navy.

The anchorage at Zuniga shoals, San Diego

 I rounded the submerged pier at Zuniga shoal that must have claimed many boats over the years as huge rocks lurked just a few feet below the surface, but tempted you with an easy shortcut to the anchorage. I dropped the hook in 12 feet of water next to about 6 other boats and settled in for the nite, it seemed like a great place until the wind swung around 180 deg to the south at 1am and blew 20knots for the rest of the nite. The swells and wind chop built until it was truly miserable and I left as soon as the sun rose to spend the last nite in the US back at Glorietta bay where it was nice and calm.

Police Docks, Shelter Island, San Diego

On Saturday I called the Police Docks and they had a space available for me. I quickly hauled anchor at La Playa and motored the short distance to Shelter Island. View Map. I did all the paperwork at the office and then tied up at my new slip.


View Larger Map

Its so weird to be in a dock again. I realized I haven't been at a dock since Alamitos Bay back in August. This was the first time since then I would have access to a hose and shore power. I gave the boat a good cleaning to remove 2 months of salt buildup and then plugged in shore power and turned all the electric items on including the AC. It felt good for a while, but was a little claustrophobic being so close to other boats and the shore after being out on my own floating island for so long.

Since this really is the last US stop before you leave the country I met lots of other people in sailboats doing last minute jobs before they left for Baja. Its like a club meeting where people who have had the exact same dream as you, get together to swap stories. Everyone had had the same issues as me, years of planning and preparation and then solving last minute problems before finally casting off. Luckily since I had left 3 months ago, I had more time to fully test out the boat and get things fixed before I cross the border. If you don't get the work done now, its a long way to go before you can find any sort of marine related store down south in Mexico.

The only things I have left to do now are to refill my primary propane tank (gas cooker) and install the dinghy equipment I bought. I will do my last food provisioning trip when I get back from my trip home.

My first Mexican stop will be Ensenada which is only about 60 miles past the border. I will get all my visas and immigration paperwork done there as its an official port of entry for Mexico. I will also top off my fuel tanks for the long 750nm trip down Baja. I'm quite pleased about my fuel usage (considering the lack of wind on this trip) as that means I only put fuel in the boat once since leaving San Francisco 3 months ago and that was only 30 gallons. The tank says 2/3 full right now but its not very accurate. I'm guessing it needs around 20 gallons to fill it back up. If the wind dies at nite on the trip down Baja, I will want to motor to keep my progress up if I see a bad weather forecast.

A few people at the docks are preparing to do the Baja Haha rally which is sponsored by Latitude38, a monthly magazine about sailing on the west coast. I have been reading the magazine for years and considered doing the Baha Haha rally as it would mean sharing the long trip down Baja with lots of other sailors, as many as 200 are signed up. After some thought I decided not to do the Haha as they only stop in 2 places on the Baja coast and they do not allow single handers to do the event. I may try and be anchored at Turtle Bay or Mag Bay when they come thro.

I flew back to San Fran the next day and  was home for Ali and Lisa's birthdays. When I returned to the boat the weather had turned and it started raining! I found a few leaks in the boat and plugged them up before leaving the docks to get my last fill up at the fuel docks.

I got to the fuel docks about 10am just before it really started to pour down. The guys let me stay for a few hours as business was so quiet. I had only been the second customer that day and only one other person pulled up in the next 4 hours. He estimated 75% of all boats in the marina were for sale with the downturn in the economy. I dont think its that bad but it was very quiet!

I loaded up on my last batch of groceries and then decided to head for the Zuniga shoals just outside the main harbor and anchor there for my last day before heading south. This would save me a few hours going back and forth within the harbor. I dropped anchor just before dark.

La Playa, San Diego Harbor (anchor)

La Playa is a small bay behind shelter Island on San Diego Bay. View Map.You can only anchor over the weekends , but its nicely situated off a quiet residential area.


View Larger Map

The Anchorage at La Playa

I'm booked to fly home in a few days and I'm still looking for somewhere to keep the boat for 8 days. I cant leave it anchored anywhere so it means finding a slip. There are lots of marinas around, but they are are all full and with the Baja Haha sail rally (200 boats) starting in a few weeks all the available spots seem to be taken. I'm counting on getting a spot at the police docks nearby, but they are full at the moment. The girl at the office thinks a space may open up tomorrow, so I'm ready to move at a moments notice.

Homes overlooking the bay

 I took the dinghy to shore to try and find a Spectra dealership that is nearby. Spectra make my watermaker and I need a new carbon filter for my trip as they only last 6 months. Shelter Island has so many boat related businesses, you could have a boat designed, built and commissioned just on one road! I picked up my filter and then found a store called the 'Dinghy Doctor'. He had all the weird pieces I need for my dinghy including wheels (to beach the dinghy), planing fins and a new motor hoist. I loaded all the stuff onto the little bike and wobbled back to the pier where I had left the dinghy only to find the gate locked. Luckily, after a while, someone was leaving the dock and opened the gate for me. If I had been any later I would have to swim back to the boat.

Glorietta Bay, San Diego Harbor (anchor)

To get from Mission Bay to San Diego Bay you have to go about a mile out into the ocean to skirt the biggest kelp forest I have ever seen. It seems very popular for fisherman though as dodging the endless crab pot floats, (some the size of beer bottles and painted black!) made it a tough trip to relax on. I had to motor a portion of this passage as there was no wind (again) and you don't want to snag a crab pot float as getting a 100ft of poly line melted and knotted around the prop would be a miserable job to repair.

Huge kelp forest over a mile offshore. Pt Loma in the distance.

Finally some wind picked up as I rounded Point Loma (View Map) and I managed kill the engine and casually drift into the bay under sail power.

Pt Loma, the southern most point in the US

 San Diego Bay is also home to the US Navy. Warships, submarines, helicopters and lots of restricted areas. This little aircraft carrier was docked off the city front. It made me wonder why so much of our money and resources are tied up in protecting ourselves from 'other' people. Of all the problems in the world, we are most scared of ourselves. I had never really thought about that until I saw this monster machine that had been purposely constructed to annihilate other humans.

Imagine this headed your way on a foggy night, its the size of a small city!

Below is a map of San Diego Bay. You can see part of Mission bay at the very top where I was anchored before (see last post). I'm now anchored at Glorietta Bay (blue dot) on the Coronado Peninsula. View Map. The Mexican border is the solid line at the bottom of the map

Map of San Diego Bay. Mexican border at the bottom.

I had only been here a few hours when some people I had met at a Newport Beach raftup came by. They invited me to yet another party on a friends boat nearby. Lots of great people and I picked up a few tips about traveling in Mexico. I slept well that nite. Certainly a fun group who like to party, probably 90% of all the alcohol I have consumed on this trip has been with that one group! I would have to toughen up my constitution if was stay around here for much longer or I'm going to fall out the dinghy soon on the way back to the boat.

Anchored opposite the golf course at Glorietta Bay.

 The next day after a long lie-in, I dropped the dinghy in the water and pulled it up on the beach 100ft away on the golf course. I cycled around Coronado for a while and then had lunch at an Il Fornaio restaurant right on the waterfront overlooking the downtown San Diego. That meal was the most I had spent on one dinner since I left San Francisco. It was ok (I had the lasagna), but I have really been enjoying making my own food lately and the whole restaurant thing just hasn't been so appealing as of late and now seems to be a waste of money, I think its mainly because I have the time to make my own food, just as I like it. Before, when I've been in a rush, a restaurant has been convenient as it will get you something decent without much effort. I bet my view will change when Ive been out in the wilderness for a few months!

View from Coronado Island overlooking downtown San Diego

I went for a few bike rides around Coronado island and spent some time looking around the Coronado hotel. I had stopped here years back for lunch with the family on a car trip around California. If you ever visit San Diego, this is the place to stay.

The Hotel Del Coronado

I even got the bike fixed. Both wheels had been taco'd when I got run over at Dana Point and Ive been looking around for some 20" alloy wheels. The rear wheel was unusual as it had a 6 speed block and most 20" wheels are single speed on BMX bikes. Anyway I found a bike shop in downtown Coronado and they had both wheels in stock for less than I could order them online. They even let me use their workshop to swap out the axles and the gears onto the new wheels. I hadn't had a chance to do bike work like that since I was about 14! The 'new' bike is going better than ever.


That weekend I was scheduled to move the boat up to another anchorage in San Diego Bay at La Playa. It is close to the police docks where you do your immigration paperwork on your return to the US and they have slips you can rent for up to 10 days. I'm hoping to get to use those so I can leave the boat somewhere secure and fly home next week.

The wind was very favorable and I was able to sail the whole way out of Glorietta bay and up the San Diego harbor. I was busy tacking back and forth up the channel and apparently I got too close for comfort for a Navy warship coming down the channel.

Navy Warship 104

 I was over 1/4 mile of his bow when I was directly ahead of him but the next thing I hear on the VHF 16 is ..
"This is Navy Warship 104, Navy Warship 104 calling sailing vessel Sea 42"
Oh crap! I looked back and took the picture above and realized maybe I had left it a little too close.
I responded on the radio and we switched to channel 12. Some small gray Navy support boats were buzzing around the warship and one was headed towards me. What have I got myself into now? They probably think I'm a terrorist and my boat is loaded with bombs.
The Navy radio operator was polite but firm. He wanted a larger perimeter around his ship and I was to stay away. I apologized and confirmed his request. I looked back and the support boats had turned away. That was a little too much excitement for one day.

Great sailing conditions up the San Diego harbor

I turned into La Playa (top left on above map) behind Shelter island and dropped the hook glad I'm not peeling potatoes in a Navy prison.

Mission Bay, San Diego (anchor)

I'm close to the border! I can smell the salsa in the distance. Well I'm not planning on visiting any of the border towns like Tijuana but will make my first stop Ensenada which looks about a days sail south.

Anyway for now I'm in the final, most southerly US city on this leg of the trip. From a boaters perspective, San Diego is split into 2 areas, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay, split by the San Diego river.

Mission Bay, San Diego. Im anchored at the blue dot, bottom left.

 Mission bay is a huge man made area dredged from mud flats back in the 50's. Most of it is accessed under a freeway bridge which is too low for my mast, but there is a general anchorage area before the bridge called Mariners Basin where I can stay for three days. View Map.

Sea42 anchored just off the beach

There are no docks or piers nearby, but I can drag the dinghy up the beach and cycle into town. Right next to the anchorage is a large park and Sea World, the huge Zoo with Orca the killer whale.

Sunset at Mission Bay

This part of San Diego has a distinctly different feel to it than the other towns in southern California that I have visited. It's very laid back and noticeably less pretentious, without the L.A. rat-race / 'look at me' atmosphere.

I couldn't resist taking a peek at this boat at the far end of the bay, his anchor and rode was still attached but it cant have set well as he must have dragged onto the beach and is now stuck in this interesting position.

Ive never seen a fin keel boat balance so well.

Looks like its been here a while....

I took a few bike rides around the area and found a great coffee shop near the harbor that was very laid back. I chatted with the owner for a while about the town and living near the border of Mexico.

Coffee shop making good use of old surfboards

Along the beach front is surfer paradise. Endless surf shops, hippie hangout bars and this park with an artificial wave machine.

On my last day I took my longest bike ride so far and made it all the way north to La Jolla which is like the Beverley Hills of San Diego. Beautiful homes right on the beach front some with their own private bay.

The sea front at La Jolla

interesting trees at the park

 I want to fly home in a few weeks as it's birthday season at home soon and I can catch 2 birthdays in 7 days if I time it right. I've got the flight booked, all I need to do now is find a home for the boat. I can only stay here for 3 days, but in San Diego bay they have a number of places you can anchor specially set up for transients like me headed for Mexico. You even have to prove your not local to use the main anchorage. It will be great to get out of 'civilization' soon and anchor where I want without someone sticking there hand out for money or putting restrictions on how long I can stay.

I called up the harbor police and got 3 back-to-back 3 day permits at Glorietta Bay with is on the very exlusive Coronado Peninsula. Ill be right near the center of town which will be nice. I then have another permit for 'La Playa' cove for the next weekend. Hopefully by then I will be able to sort something out for the week I fly home. Looks promising though....

Dana Point (anchored)

I decided to cast off from the mooring balls at Newport Beach around 2pm after going ashore to get some food shopping done and load some data on the iPad at Starbucks on Balboa Island.

I picked up the iPad when I flew home last week and I got to admit that Im really liking it. I got it mainly because my old Dell ships computer had a memory problem and I needed a new laptop to replace it. Navionics has all the latest Pacific charts on the iPad in hi-res and the 3G Ipad model has a GPS chip in it, so that sealed the deal. I soon found out that it's also a ton of fun and can do so much more (that is as soon as I wrestled it from the kids and then my wife). Anyway I managed to get it away from home and have it with me on the boat and I'm now typing this blog on the iPad and saving having to go ashore to use the Internet. You still can't upload pictures to the blog using an iPhone/iPad, but other than that the iPad is really easy to type on, actually easier than my notebook pc. I ended up buying the ATT data plan for $25 a month and that makes it more usable than justr WiFi only, at least while Im still in the US.

What I did do with my old laptop is remove the bad memory chip, it now has 1GB instead of 2GB and I loaded windows 7 on it. I wanted to keep the laptop as I have a cool long range WiFi USB card and antenna that I use to pick up networks at long range. I have the Engenius EUB9603H (from amazon $40 shipped) and combine that with a Hawking directional antenna. The omni directional antenna that comes with the Engenius is good, but the Hawking antenna does even better, but requires the boat to be still (not swinging on the anchor) as it's directional.

I chose Windows 7 because it includes a cool feature that allows me to share the network I have found with other devices on the boat, like iPhones/ipads that have WiFi. It's called the 'miniport virtual adaptor' software and it's easily setup using the tools that come with the Engenius device. I first scan the harbor for a remote open network and connect to it. I then start the virtual access point on windows 7 to create a new wireless network on the boat, I name the SSID 'Sea42' and then everyone on the boat can connect to it and the internet using the WiFi from their own devices. It's often slow, but it's enough to catch up on email etc.

I could only find 'pay to use' WiFi connections at Dana Point so I'm using the 3G on the Ipad and Starbucks WiFi to write this.


Ipad at the Nav Station




















It took me about 4 hrs to get here, but I sailed the whole way and the wind was light and astern. I anchored in the north section near the tall ships and the museum which is very nice to look out on.

Anchored at Dana Point

I've been here nearly a week now as I ran into a little trouble, well actually, someone else ran into me when I was riding the bike to the coffee-shop one morning. The poor little folding bike now has two permanently folded wheels. I was scooting along the sidewalk and someone drove out of a parking lot and onto the road without looking and I got stuck under the front of his car. I ended up having to go to the hospital to make sure nothing was broken in my right ankle that got squashed. It all fine (nothing broken) but I'm wearing a splint and hobbling around for a few days until I can walk properly again. It was quite a scene as I did no more damage than if I had fallen off a ladder or something but since it was a road accident I had two firetrucks turn up with sirens, a group of locals helping me off the road, two different cop cars and a ride in an ambulance. Even though I only had a cut leg, they wanted to put a neck brace on me and I had to officially decline its use. I finally got back to the boat later that afternoon after a taxi ride from the hospital and the longest hop of my life to the pier and down the boat ramp. Moving around the boat is ok though as I can use all the handholds.

I was hoping to be in San Diego by now but I dont mind staying here a few more days as its been such a great anchorage and its been sunny and in the 80/90 range every day. Its so calm, its like anchoring in a swimming pool. Ive managed to get  few chores done around the boat and dove in the water to scrub the hull and check the zincs. One of the big projects Im doing is to put in a salt water wash down system so I can clean the decks and hose of the anchor and chain when its covered in mud (nearly always). Ive got the pump and pipe work installed already and should have it finished today.


I'm anchored next to the replica of Henry Dana's ship





















Dana Pt is one of off my favorite ports so far, the anchorage is really protected and I'm right next to 2 wooden masted tall ships. There is a nautical museum, a beach and park behind me and a bunch of shops/restaurants in the marina complex. You can stay up to 5 days for free, but the harbor patrol are letting me stay a little longer because of my accident. The main town and shops are up quite a steep long hill, but its a good workout on the bike.

Lots of history here with the tall ships and museum depicting life when California was just starting out. The town is named after Henry Dana who was crew on a 1800's tall ship that collected cow hides from the coastal Rancho's like this and took them back to the East Coast via Cape Horn. I read his book '2 Years before the mast' which has fascinating descriptions of life in early California and as crew on wooden ship before the era of the Gold Rush. Read the Wikipedia entry here.

looking down across the harbor from the cliff top.

I'm meeting more people sailing south for the winter as I get nearer to San Diego. When I turned up here the yacht next to me was skippered by a Welshman called Mike. He had recently retired and flown to California to buy a boat and start his trip to Mexico and beyond.We got to spend some time swapping sailing stories over a few drinks. Im sure we will meet up down south at some point.

This morning I tuned in the shortwave SSB radio to one of the many cruisers 'nets' around the world that covers the Pacific area from California to Mexico. I had been meaning to test my shortwave radio transmit power ever since I installed the Icom 802 radio last year, and I finally got my chance. The net starts at 7am each morning and I happened to be up early so I tuned in and listened to the initial weather report which is followed by a roll call where each boat can check in and give its location and report on local conditions. Its all run by volunteers and its a nice safety net that allows each boat to keep an eye on one other and make sure no one gets lost in the ocean. I didn't expect anyone to hear me but my radio worked and the operator in Mexico got my call sign and boat name and checked me in. I then heard another San Francisco sailor (on a Catalina 470) I knew check in and I got to talk to him on another frequency. I didnt really think my radio would work that well, but its nice to know I didn't mess up the installation that much. I even managed to pick up an Australian news program. I feel pretty confident that I can now contact civilization where ever I end up.

Another interesting thing here is the number of SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard?) users here. This looks like the next big craze to replace surfing/windsurfing/kayaks/canoes etc. I have seen dozens of people of all ages doing it here. People doing it with dogs, kids on board and even one guy with a bottle of champagne and glass on his board while he paddled across the harbor. This morning a group of people were doing aerobic classes on their paddle boards in the middle of the harbor.

A stand up paddleboarder (SUP) with his dog onboard.

I'll be moving on to San Diego in the next few days. I'm hoping for some co-operating wind but I'm not very optimistic. It 's been blowing at most 10knots at in the afternoon for a few hours, but thats its.

Newport Beach (mooring ball)

I've been a bit lazy getting these blog posts up mainly since I haven't been very far since my last entry. I needed to get home for a few days, and put the boat on a mooring ball at Newport harbor, it's just a few hundred feet from the boardwalk and near the shops. I had met a local boater called Mike the previous week at the anchorage here when he was having a 6 boat raftup and party with friends from the Balboa Yacht Club. He was very helpful in getting me to shore (and a ride to the airport!) so I didn't have to leave the dinghy unattended for 5 days while I flew home. Thanks again to Mike, his family and friends for giving me a great time that weekend and taking the time to show me around the area.

it was a nice change to get home for a few days and catch up on lost time with the family and friends. It was weird at first wearing something else than shorts and t-shirts! A few things needed fixing round the house and I needed to pick up a few spares for the boat I had ordered online so it was a very productive trip.

I got back to the boat yesterday to find everything ok except it was covered in pelican poop. Not small dots like regular birds but like a pack of dogs with wings had flown by and dumped 100 balls of melting vanilla ice-cream over the boat. Aagh, it's so nice to be back. Cleaning that up kept me busy for at least a few hours.

I've been working on a single handers MOB (Man Over Board) solution for a few years now and think I have my best solution so far. I just picked up the last bits on the trip home. If your sailing on your own and go over the side more than a couple of miles from shore it normally means the end, you have about a hour or so depending on the temp of the water and then hyperthermia sets in. Just enough time to watch the boat sail off into the sunset and remind yourself what an idiot you were to let something like that happen. It's bad enough if you crew onboard as they have to know someone has gone over the side to help you, but on your own it's nearly impossible to survive without help.

I've put together a decent size package of items that fits in a REI bum bag that fits around your waist. In it I have my personal EPIRB (calls emergency services via satellite), a waterproof VHF radio with GPS and DSC. A knife, strobe light, whistle, horn and a powerful laser pointer with a 20 mile range. With that gear I at least have a fighting chance to get rescued which is a huge improvement over no chance. I have no intention of ever using it, but I now feel a little safer on those night passages. I just have to be very diligent and remember to put it on! But I should be also wearing my harness which prevents me going over the side in the first place, so that means I have to screw up to use my MOB bag. Oh well....

I'm planning on tidying up and then heading to Dana Point tomorrow. After that I have just a few more stops until it's time to cross the border and head for the tropics!

Newport Beach anchorage - revisited

After 8 days anchored at Catalina I sailed back to Newport beach to the spot I was at a few weeks back. The weather was out of the south and made my cove at Catalina very uncomfortable as it was now fully exposed. Ive also been thinking of flying home for a few days to help Ali with some chores at home so being back on the mainland made sense. You are only meant to use the anchorage 5 days a month and I was here just 8 days ago, but it is a new month now! So far the harbor patrol guys haven't said anything so I guess I'm fine for now.

Its a ghost town here compared to just a week ago. After labor day this place just shuts down! I really like it a lot now its quieter. Ive been unplugged from the grid for nearly a month now, I'm feeling quite confident in the boat systems working well once I'm in Mexico. In fact I could use much more water/electric than I have been rationing myself as I appear to have plenty in reserve. Also the food stores last a long time with just one person on the boat.

I was chatting about 'dropping out of the system' with a sailor who returned from the sea of Cortez last year and he mentioned that when your out in the wilds of Mexico a interesting goal is to try for a whole month not to spend any money or use the internet. It seems simple at first, but when you think about it for a while you realize that it will be challenging and require some major adjustments in behavior. Normally that challenge would be hard to do for one day while in the US!

Time is running out fast now before I can cross the border into Mexican waters. I have a few more places I want to visit on the way down and I need to time in San Diego to get all my paperwork and visas in order. I need to stay above latitude 24 until November, but that still gives me over 500 miles of Baja coastline to explore before I get that far south.

Whites Cove (Catalina) - revisited

After my 5 days was up at the free anchorage at Newport Beach I decided to head back to Catalina as I had really enjoyed it there. I have been suprised how well the boat systems are working without being connected to any power or water supplies. I have been totally self sufficient for a while now. In fact its been a problem that Im not running the water maker enough and that means extra cleaning of the reverse osmosis system that desalinates the seawater ( read about Osmosis on Wikipedia, its very interesting and explains alot about how salt is such a huge factor in our lives and everything on the planet) As you can tell I have had way too much free time!

I stayed at Catalina for another 8 days. I cant really put my finger on anything specific that I did, but now that kind of thing is worrying me less and less. Actually I did spend some time creating a device to stop the rocking motion of the boat due to swells when at anchor. As I had the time I spent a while looking at some commercial ideas and the science behind what makes the boat rock from side to side, sometimes quite violently if the swell frequency is right. Its mostly to do with the harmonics of the hull and its relationship with the swell hitting it, even if the swell are little ripples they can make it very uncomfortable if they are at the exact frequency that adds to the motion of each movement. There are some commercial product you can buy that are just big dampers that you put over the side of the rail in an attempt to slow down the rocking but they can get quite large and take up a lot of storage space. I read one post from a science major that described the theory and it gave me some ideas to try out. It gave me some work to do for a few days and it could make life at exposed anchorages more comfortable.

I ended up finding the best solution being a heavy duty milk crate (The traditional one full of holes) suspended about a foot below the water from the end of the boom. The boom swung out to side to face the oncoming swells. I normally use 2 anchors (fore and aft) to force the boat to face out to sea into the oncoming swells, but you always get other swells refracting of the cliffs or from other boat traffic passing by. Big tankers, sometimes miles away can be the worst.

Under the milk crate I attached about 20lbs of heavy chain to keep it weighted down. On top, after much experimentation I ended up using a plastic cutting mat (from the galley) that is the same size as the bottom of the milk crate. It is loosely zip tied on one end and then has a bungee cord across the top of it. What this does is to allow the crate to rapidly sink into the water, but as the crate rises the plastic mat closes all the holes in the milk crate like a large valve and has to move a large volume of water to rise. I experimented with different types of valves and larger crate sizes, but found all that was important was to slightly modify the boat harmonics to be asymmetrical to have the best effect. It didn't stop the rocking/flopping of the boat entirely but it reduced it significantly and was very simple. I'm sure all this sounds ridiculous so I will post a picture when I next use it.

 If you have ever seen that famous video of a large bridge falling apart from swaying around in the wind, its the same principle. Watch the youtube video.

My thanks go out to Vons in Avalon (Safeway in SoCal) for letting me use various crates to use in my tests. Avalon was about 20 mins away in the dinghy and I could get intermittent Internet access on my IPhone to look stuff up.

Eel Cove (Catalina)

There is an area at the North-West end of Catalina called Emerald Bay that is renown for its clear water and great diving. I had been at Whites cove for a while and decided to try it out. It was about an hour North of were I was and there was no wind so I motored slowly up the coast. As I was going past the Isthmus at 2 harbors I decided to look around to see if there are in fact any places you can anchor there as it seems all the good places are taken with mooring balls. The wind was howling thro the Isthmus as it often does in the afternoons and all the places with no mooring balls were in 100ft+ of water making it a risky proposition. I continued up the coast towards Emerald Bay and noticed a great secluded bay big enough for one boat just after the Isthmus around the Eel Cove area.

Anchored in my own bay surrounded by a kelp forest.

Emerald bay was just around the corner so I took the dinghy to take a look. It has some unusual rock formations and very clear water.

Emerald bay rocks

good water visibility

Back at my private cove I was reveling in how perfect it was, I had the place to myself, the water was so clear I could see both anchors in the sand and it was reasonably calm. I snorkeled around a little, made dinner and got ready for a good nites rest.

Calm, clear water in my own cove, but it changed later that night!

Unfortunately the weather was changing and a new front was bring more wind and bigger swell to the area. Because of my location it got rolly quite quickly, then to make it much worse I found out my cove was the hot area for commercial fisherman during the night. About 1/2 mile offshore a dozen large trawlers with bright lights start churning up the water and firing cannons to scare off the birds from all the fish scraps. It was miserable with the boat rocking violently from side to side and all the lights flashing on and off. Anyway, by the morning I had had enough and sailed 30nm east over to Newport Beach on the mainland.

Whites Cove (Catalina)

I had a smooth sail across the channel in 15knots of wind and arrived in under 3 hrs. I was close hauled the whole way as I need to make as much windward progress as possible and got to really test the pointing ability of the new jib. I was headed for an area on the central east coast of Catalina called Long Point which was as far north as I could get in one tack. There is a recommended anchorage called Whites Cove in the lee of this point that looked just what I was looking for. Just like any good location on Catalina, all the best places are taken with mooring balls but there are a few spots left to anchor if you take the time to scope out the bay.

Whites Cove looking North, Sea42 on the right.

Most of the mooring balls are in the south of the bay

I set 2 anchors so the bow pointed out to sea and ended up being pretty comfortable being protected by the headlands and Long Point to the north. This is the most comfortable open water anchorage I have found so far. Its quite deep water at over 50ft, but the holding is good and the water visibility is great.

View of Catalina from the cockpit. I spent a lot of time sitting here!

I really like it here. The water is very clear and there is plenty of fish to see around the kelp forests near the rocks. Its quiet and if I need anything I can be in Avalon in 15 minutes assuming the waters flat and I can go full speed in the dinghy (25 knots). If its even slightly rough it takes a lot longer but the view on the way beneath the cliffs is pretty spectacular.

As I had the big outboard on the dinghy, I spent some time exploring the local coast and found a few camping spots on beaches that can only be reached by boat. Its very wild and untouched here. I had a big flying fish zoom by me one day while in the dinghy.

After a few days just sitting back and enjoying the view I decided to hike up the mountains to get a good view of the bay. Its been pretty warm so I set off early around 7am to avoid the heat. I didn't really know where I was going but I saw a few small trails in the distance and figured I cant be the first to try. I packed the radio and some supplies into my backpack in case I got into trouble...

view over the bay a few hundred feet up the mountain

A little higher, getting tired now .....

Top of the mountain, the boats are little dots now, and its getting hot.

This was about as far as I have hiked in a very long time. I looked around for some shade for a rest and tucked in behind some bushes to have lunch and some much needed water. There had not been much of a trail up to this point but I could see what looked like a dirt road in the distance and figured I could use that to get back. A few miles down the dirt road I was on a point over looking the bay near the boat but there the road ended, guarded by a huge bison!

The only other person I met all day. Quite friendly it turned out.

I just have to get down this small hill and I'm home!

I should have just gone back the way I came, but it seemed a very long way back and its wasn't an easy climb. Going up is always easier that going down and now I'm so close there must be some trails near the coast right???

I started down the cliff and soon realized if was just a mass of Cactus and dried out brambles. Anyway to make it short I spent hours retracing my tracks and ended up climbing down a creek bed and going over a steep cliff before I reached the shore. So I'm at the shore just a half mile from the boat, it should be easy from now I'm thinking. I clambered over the rocky beach and made it around a headland with the waves crashing all around me, just one more cove to go and I'm back. The only problem is that the last cove is surrounded by steep cliffs a hundred feet high and I cant get around the rocky point. I tried climbing out holding onto dried out roots and plants but had to give up before I started a rockslide,

I climb down this cliff and end up being stuck in this bay, No way out!

I went back down to the shore line and sat on a big rock on the waters edge (see arrow on picture above). I could leave all my gear here and try and swim for the boat, but then how could I land the dinghy in this rocky surf to pick my gear up? I thought about calling the coast guard when a kayaker came around the point. I called out and explained my strange situation. I ended up jumping off the rock onto the kayak and getting a ride back to the beach. Next time I get a trail map!

I dragged myself back to the boat and drank more that one beer after that.

A few days later I decided to take the dinghy ride 3 miles down the coast to Avalon, It was a little bit choppy so I couldn't go full speed but its a beautiful trip skirting the kelp forests at the bottom of huge cliffs. About 20 mins later I pull into Avalon and tie up the dinghy at the pier. Culture shock! Millions of tourists everywhere. It was overwhelming at first seeing so many people after being alone for a while, but I soon got used to it and sought out a coffee shop.

The beach area at Avalon

Avalon is a pretty town on the southern end of Catalina. Its the only real town on Catalina and has a good mix of shops and restaurants.

View of Avalon Harbor from the coffee shop. Electric golf carts to get around town

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View over Avalon Harbor

The Casino Building is the big landmark of Avalon.

I spent some time exploring the small town. The island has an unusual history as its privately owned by the Wrigley family (of chewing gum fame) who lease parts of the island to various organizations. Read about it here. I ended up going to Avalon a few times to get access to the internet and get supplies.

Alamitos Bay (Long Beach)

It was time for the family to get home so before we left Catalina I called around looking for a slip in the Long Beach area and found a slip at Alamitos Harbor. Its in a great location with Long Beach airport (LGB) just a few miles away with direct access to San Fran via Jet Blue which I could use next week to go home and help Sophie start High School. Ali and the kids stayed one more night and then started their trip back to the car parked at Santa Barbara Marina using the local train system.

One of the many parks around the bay

Over the next few days I got a chance to explore the local area on the bike and found all my favorite stores, get some laundry done and even located a Trader Joe's to stock up on chocolate. There is a nice downtown area that runs parallel to the beach on 2nd St, plenty to do and see.

I flew home for 5 days and then was back on the boat Tuesday. Its was quite depressing flying home in 50 minutes over the distance it had taken me 6 weeks to sail, the plane even starting braking over Monterey bay for landing at SFO, it took me 2 weeks to get that far ... Arghh....

Flying over Alamitos Bay, I can see the boat down there!

Everything was looking good when I got back to the boat, so I planned a trip back to Catalina. I wanted to find a quiet anchorage where I could fish, swim and do a little exploring of the island. The next day I stocked up on food and fuel and left Alamitos.

Two Harbors, Catalina Island

We reached Catalina just before sunset and tied up to a mooring ball just 3 rows back from the beach. Two Harbors is a great vacation destination for boaters, one pier, one restaurant, one bar and a general store. It reminds me of some of the places you can visit in the BVI's, but its on the west coast. Next to Avalon, its the most popular yacht destination on the west coast and for good reasons.

The water around Catalina is very clear and there are plenty of fish to catch, you start with bread bait, catch a few mackerel, chop them up for bait and then start reeling in lunch. Within a few hours we had enough sea bass to feed all of us. We hoped to catch some halibut, but no luck this time.

View from the hammock....

You can only get ashore by dinghy (or swim). By the end of the week, the kids mastered starting the outboard and could get ashore by themselves to get ice-cream etc.

Two harbors bay

I intended to scuba dive and windsurf here, but I never managed to muster the energy. Its really a pathetic
excuse but you can really unwind here and its hard to get anything done. I did go snorkeling on the last day and later that day Sophie tried it for the first time, after a initial hesitation she really got into it and I literally had to fish her out of the water.

Cat Harbor on the west side of the Isthmus

Ventura

The family drove down to Santa Barbara Saturday and we spent two more nights to explore the town and some time Sunday to drive around Montecito while we had the car. We visited 3 open houses and found Montecito to be very much like Hillsborough in its style and feel with the exception of Cacti everywhere  instead of Oak and Eucalyptus trees. Sophie found 3 Yoghurt shops in Downtown Santa Barbara and found one that allowed you to take any amount of yoghurt and toppings and then just pay by weight, even Dad liked the taste.
Tuesday morning we got an early lunch and cast off for Ventura harbor about 25nm to the south. We wanted to make our way to Catalina Island and decided to do it in a few steps until Ali and the kids got their sea legs.
We pulled into Ventura about 6pm but not until we caught our first fish! We had put out a second trolling line on the stern pulpit that had a purple cedar plug I had bought on Sterns Wharf. I didn't expect to catch anything after zero luck with my squid lure, but within an hour of putting out the cedar plug we pulled in a 3ft long Pacific Barracuda! It was the biggest we had ever caught. After consultiung the fishing book and finding it edible, we quickly filleted it on the dock at Ventura and pan fried it for dinner.

Our first trolling fish, a Barracuda!

I was hoping to spend some more time at Ventura as its a nice looking port with some great restaurants, but we decided the next morning to push onto Catalina as the kids only have a week before they need to be back home. We left shortly after breakfast the next morning initially thinking to stop at Marina Del Ray, but after consulting the charts and the distances, we decided to do one long passage and make it to Catalina by nightfall. I had decided to do all our trips during daylight with the kids as they are not up to doing watches yet and also the winds in SoCal drop away to nothing overnight and make for a very rolly passage. Luckily there are plenty of ports in this area allowing us to make port by nightfall.

Santa Barbara Pier

I had to move out of the Santa Barbara marina for 2 days while a Yacht racing event took over. I decided to anchor south of Stearns Wharf pier and scoped out a spot in the dinghy that seemed protected from the swells and wind. I ended up tucked in as close to the Pier as possible but had to stay at least 300ft away as per the local regs. I could get my space back in the marina on Friday afternoon and then Ali and the kids should be here on Saturday morning.

Anchored behind Stearns Wharf Pier

The anchorage worked out well, during the day when the wind and the swell were in the same direction it was very mellow, but as soon as the thermal winds dropped at nite the boat swung around to the south and rolled like crazy (around 2am!) Getting a good sleep was tough, but I'm getting better at sleeping thro it now. I set a stern anchor with the Danforth I have in the bow locker and tried holding the boat into the swell, this worked well, but then a moderate south wind kicked in the next nite and I had wind waves smashing into the hull that sounded like someone hitting the boat with a hammer. Tying up back in the calm marina seemed very appealing now, plus setting and retrieving 2 anchors took a lot of time and I have to sleep with the anchor watch alarm on which usually goes off as the wind shifts.

The start of the yacht race

Friday morning I took the dingy out to watch the start of yacht race. A lot of the boats were custom built, over 65ft and kitted out with carbon fiber masts and booms, some serious cash being spent on a fun race. They were all fully crewed and it was pretty impressive watching the teamwork involved in tacking and gybing, certainly more graceful (and faster) than when I do it alone.

After the race I hauled anchor and got my spot back in the marina, the end tie on Q dock, I then headed down to Brophy's bar that overlooks the marina.to get some lunch. I'd tried to go a few times before but it was always packed and had a long waiting list. It was packed again but managed to get a spot at the bar. The food and service was great and I got chatting with a few of the locals. Put this place on your todo list if you ever visit Santa Barbara, its a real gem.

Great view from the bar at Brophys

I've found a closer coffee shop (HotSpots) near the pier so I managed to update the blog. I have ordered a new long range USB WiFi antenna which has a built in access point so I can then share any connection I find with other laptops and IPhones. Its the Engenius EUB9603H which was recommended by Allan from s/v Follow You, Follow Me' who I met on the docks the other day, which reminds me I also bought his boat bikes from him and some charts for the south Pacific. He is on the return journey to Redwood city from New Zealand and used to have the slip directly behind me at Bair Island Marina, it was real coincidence to run into him. We spent a few hours talking about his trip and all the experiences he and his wife had had with their boat, which included being towed in the south Pacific when their rudder fell off.

Anyway, the bikes have worked out great as they really extend the distance I can travel when I stop somewhere. When I'm done they fold up really small and go in a bag. They don't weigh much and they are built specifically for storing on boats with (mostly) Aluminum and stainless steel and seem to resist rusting in a very salty environment that would destroy most bikes in a few months.

I've been riding all over Santa Barbara and even found a Trader Joes. The rack on the back fits a 12 pack box of Corona perfectly, I got a few comments on my way back to the boat with that! Having the bike reminds me of getting my first motorbike when I was 16 and the freedom it gave me.

Port Runner Aluminum folding bike, my new ride!

HotSpots coffee shop on State Street

Cool skate park next to the beach. Time to be a teenager again!

The family should be here in the morning and we will hang out here for a few days and then head for Two Harbors at Catalina Island via Ventura Harbor and Marina Del Ray if the weather holds. Ali will be driving here in the car and I want to drive around the area and explore Montecito a few miles down the road.