Channel islands voyage - Part one

Posted aug 28 mid voyage, from Catalina island . Twin Harbors

For over a year now, whenever I mentioned to experienced sailors about my desires to sail to Mexico , they have almost all suggested that a good way to practice and prepare for voyaging in the wilds of Mexico would be to voyage to the Channel Islands here in California. Sort of like a “final exam” for me to make sure that I and my boat was ready for extended voyaging in Mexico. After completing several major upgrades on No Bad Days such as finally printing her name on each side (Yeah!!), replacing the new wire rigging, installing the new propane burner, the new dinghy, the new winch on the bow for cranking in the anchor, and a locker cover over the fuel tank in the cockpit, and after a few voyages out to Catalina Island, I decided to go for the Channel Islands.

The Channel Islands are a string of several islands off the coast of Oxnard and Santa Barbara on the mainland, about 65 miles northwest of Catalina. Technically, Catalina and San Clemente islands are part of the “Channel islands” proper but in the last few years the Channel Islands National Park has been formed and includes the islands Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, Santa Barbara. These islands have in the past been the scene of cattle and sheep ranching, with very little permanent habitation over the years. The Chumash Indians had lived here for about 11000 years before the diseases of the European invaders decimated them, and they vacated the islands over 150 years ago. The islands are managed now as wild sanctuaries, with no one living out here, no services, no permanent residents, and hiking and camping is closely controlled by permit only. There have been huge efforts underway to bring them back to their original flora and fauna conditions. Invading species like horses, goats, pigs, rabbits and rats have all had to be exterminated for the indigenous species to recover.

These islands can have very wild weather. They lie just south of Point Conception on the mainland which is a big “weather maker” for the area, and wild storms come ripping around the point and can pound the islands, mostly during winter. There are very few trees that can survive here, and the islands are mostly steep, rocky, brushy chaparral and grassy flattop hills with steep cliffs coming right down to the waters edges. For the sailing voyager, a big part of the experience here is to stay aware of the weather predictions, and be in safe harbors when they come ripping, and prepare secure anchoring. The islands are pretty small, so it is fairly easy to pop around to the other side if a storm comes in from any particular direction. I have access to listen to the national weather service radio forecasts 24 hours a day. I am still learning how to predict weather myself, but rely heavily on the professionals.

I started my voyage on August 13, making a 2 day overnight passage to Catalina. After a day of resting and fixing a broken light up the mast (yes, up the mast, at anchor in an open bay rocking and rolling with every passing boat) , I headed out again for another 2 day passage to Santa Cruz Island. Both passages went pretty straightforward with the expected calm periods where I waited out until the wind blew again, allowing me to make headway. I kept careful navigation using both my GPS and paper charts. One weird experience was during the second day the winds calmed and the sky clouded over and was a thickness and uniformity of grey that I have never experienced before. The sky was gray and featureless, the water was gray and calm, to where the sky and the ocean seemed to have no dividing horizon. The clouds were so thick that there was no hint where the sun might be, and with no wind, it was very disconcerting to have no perception of up or down or left or right. This was as complete a sensory deprivation as I have ever experienced, even in extreme white-out conditions in the mountains. At least there I was standing on solid ground, and had the wind to experience some sensation of “that way is still that way”. As the boat shifted around, bobbing in the water, I would glance at the compass and be surprised that I had shifted a full 180 degrees and couldn’t tell that I had shifted at all. Very odd. But after a few hours the winds filled in, and following the compass and GPS I made my way successfully to Santa Cruz island where I anchored I was pretty pleased, with this being the completion of a voyage of about 100 miles ( as the crow flies) from Dana. I anchored in Smugglers Cove on the southeast side. (I suspect that back in the days of prohibition the rum runners used this protected bay to move the homemade goodies to the mainland. )

I had some friends from Salt Lake, Vivien and Fanny (direct from Singapore), who have been on a road trip along the coast and were staying in Oxnard for a few days so I sailed into town and took a slip there and spent a few days visiting with them. We went out for a short day sail in fairly rough conditions and then back in when Fanny got sick. Coming back in, Vivien did a great job learning to steer with the tiller. Fan recovered enough to enjoy a big fancy barbeque on the boat, with Vivien selecting filet mignon to grill. I wasn’t sure my little barbeque could handle anything that fancy but it turned out wonderful.

Then the next day, I bid the ladies farewell, they shoved me off the dock, and I am again out here out here at Santa Cruz island where I am today, August 20.

For the past few days there has been a pretty fierce storm pattern blowing out beyond Point Conception up north on the mainland, and hammering the outer islands, but here where I am it has stayed pretty calm, being under the protection of the point. Winds have been less than about 15 knots, and conditions on the outer islands are expected to soften over the next few days.

Standby for more to come next post