One of the strategies I want to employ in learning all about sailing is to cruise from Dana Point out to Catalina almost every week. The prevailing winds are from the west, and Catalina is 35 miles due west of Dana, so you can’t sail straight there. It requires much tacking and is a “beat” against the wind and the swells, making a very tough sail that would take longer than a day, requiring an over night passage and several crew along to do it safely. In order to make it over there in a day, it is common to just motor across which takes about 7-8 hours. My idea, to prevent too much motoring, is to sail up the coast and stay overnight in one of the more northern harbors up by Long Beach, then be in a position to sail down and across that west wind on a nice “beam reach” to Catalina, which from that angle can be done in a day. Coming back is a nice “downhill run” with the wind at your back all the way to Dana, easily done in a day.

My dock neighbor Mike has a new boat very similar to mine, except his has a big powerful diesel engine and like most folks these days, he tends to have very little patience for waiting for favorable conditions when he can just motor and gitterdun. He wanted to take this boat on it’s maiden voyage to Catalina this week so I went along. He had to be back for a real estate transaction so he only had 3 day window. We set out on Tuesday, motoring across, with a forecast of very strong storm winds picking up out in the channel with a small craft advisory expected by about 3 o’clock. We got a late start, about 11AM, after some last minute preparations, and after motoring for 3 hours it was obvious that we would be caught out in the channel when those winds hit and not liking that idea we turned back. The winds were brisk and we had a fun sail back into Dana. We never did see or hear of evidence that the winds were that fierce, but he and I are both old enough to be OK being better safe than sorry.

Wednesday we started out again, but earlier, off by 7, and had a good motor across. The winds were strong and sure enough right in our teeth, but were such that we could have all sails deployed along with the motor which helped us move along faster than either one alone. We pulled into Catalina about 4:00. We dropped anchor and settled in to Whites Cove, about 4 miles north of the town of Avalon. This a very nice sheltered cove on th east side of the island, about 4 miles from the town of Avalon. A friend of ours, Mike (another Mike) had been there already for several days and he and another buddy Arden welcomed us in.

As we were anchoring, the shifter linkage on Mikes boat snapped, and we spent some time figuring out a way to shift without it, which we did. Mike is always badgering me that I need a big inboard motor in my boat and I used this opportunity to remind him this was why I did not want the complexity and problem associated with them. Other Mike was also sort of stranded there with a motor that wouldn’t run right and he was facing a big repair bill or a big tow bill, one way or the other. It really reinforced my desire to develop a mindset and skill set of engineless sailing in a a small boat I can row if I have to. Mike thinks I am nuts.

While mike was puttering with the motor, I pumped up my inflatable kayak and paddled around in the bay for a while. The shore was rocky with a sandy beach over yonder, and there were several huge rocks with tunnels in them. Big cliffs soared overhead, with sparse desert plants dotting the hillsides. Reminded me of the rocky cliff-lined shores along San Carlos in Mexico.

This little bay has a private beach owned by the Balboa Yacht Club. Turns out the other Mike’s uncle Jim was there too in his boat and is a BYC member so we were invited to a big barbeque up on the beach. Very nice, fun evening. Uncle Jim was 78 and is about to sell his boat and “retire” from the sea and this was his last hurrah, with many friends and family there. He had become very wealthy from real estate and has many fun adventures and stories to tell. Sounds like he has been very generous to the kids and helped them all get going in school if they wanted and if they graduated sent them on some exotic trip anywhere in the world for the life experience.

I had forgotten my crutches so I had to limp along the beach for quite a while to get to the party. OUCH.

Back on the boat for the night was nice, but the sleeping bunks were pretty narrow. If there had been much swell rolling rocking us around in I would have fallen out on the floor, but it turned out calm.

The next morning we pulled up and sailed on down to Avalon and pulled in for fuel. We really didn’t need it but it was good excuse to see the town. It was a beautiful bay but way too over built for my taste. The bat was jammeded full of other boats tied up to mooring balls. It was a maze just threading a passage through to the other side. I far preferred the remoteness of the other bays up the coast. There was a huge old art-deco casino right on the water that I think was the ugliest building I have ever seen, and certainly looked even more out of place here in this ‘cozy” little remote bay. I guess the locals are pretty fond of it though.

We started motoring back to Dana, expecting the west winds to kick up any moment for our downhill run. They never did. We ended up motoring the whole way back. Motoring in this boat is hard because the power of the engine causes it to pull really hard to the left and requires a strong hand on the tiller at all times, and it’s very hard to hold a straight course. Lose concentration for one moment and I was 90 degrees off course! Not a very fun part of the trip. It was very hot and with no wind to cool us. In the engineless idea I think I would have just hung up the sun shade and bobbed around out there until the winds picked up, even spending the night out there if need be, and sailing on in when the winds do pick up.

A big highlight of the day was when we were surrounded by a pod of dolphins. They were feeding on a school of fish and we sailed right through them and they cavorted all around us for about 5 minutes. So very cool. They are such a magical critter. We humans seems to have a special bond with them. Mammals that live in the sea. So very cool.

We pulled into Dana about 3:30 after a really wonderful cruise. I can’t wait until I am capable of going again on my own terms and timetable. I can see myself spending weeks at a time out there. . That will be so cool. It looks like you could spend years exploring all the coves and bays on Catalina

One of the strategies I want to employ in learning all about sailing is to cruise from Dana Point out to Catalina almost every week. The prevailing winds are from the west, and Catalina is 35 miles due west of Dana, so you can’t sail straight there. It requires much tacking back and forth with the wind, and is a real hard “beat” against the wind and the swells, making a very tough sail that would take longer than a day, requiring an over night passage and several crew along to do it safely. In order to make it over there in a day, it is common to just motor across which takes about 7-8 hours. My idea, to prevent too much if any motoring, is to sail up the coast and stay overnight in one of the more northern harbors up by Long Beach, then be in a position to sail down and across that west wind on a nice “beam reach” to Catalina, which from that angle can be done in a day. Coming back is a nice “downhill run” with the wind at your back all the way to Dana, easily done in a day.

My dock neighbor Mike has a new (old) boat very similar to mine, except his has a big powerful diesel engine and like most folks these days, he tends to have very little patience for waiting for favorable conditions when he can just motor where and when he wants to go, and "gitterdun". He is a great guy and we have good fun together, but we do tease erach other a bit about our sailing philosophies. He wanted to take this boat on it’s maiden voyage to Catalina this week so I went along. He had to be back for a real estate transaction so he only had 3 day window. We set out on Tuesday, motoring across, with a forecast of very strong storm winds picking up out in the channel with a small craft advisory expected by about 3 o’clock. We got a late start, about 11AM, after some last minute preparations, and after motoring for 3 hours it was obvious that we would be caught out in the channel when those winds hit and not liking that idea we turned back. The winds were brisk and we had a fun sail back into Dana. We never did see or hear of evidence that the winds were that fierce, but he and I are both old enough to be OK being better safe than sorry.

Wednesday we started out again, but earlier, off by 7, and had a good motor across. The winds were strong and sure enough right in our teeth, but were such that we could have all sails deployed along with the motor which helped us move along faster than either one alone. We arrived at Catalina about 4:00. We dropped anchor and settled in to Whites Cove, about 4 miles north of the town of Avalon. This a very nice sheltered cove on the east side of the island, about 4 miles from the town of Avalon. A friend of ours, Mike (another Mike) had been there already for several days and he and another buddy Arden welcomed us in.

As we were anchoring, the shifter linkage on Mikes boat engine snapped, and we spent some time figuring out a way to shift without it, which we did. Mike is always badgering me that I need a big inboard motor in my boat and I used this opportunity to remind him this was yet another reason why I did not want the complexity and problem associated with them. Other Mike was also sort of stranded there with a motor that wouldn’t run right and he was facing a big repair bill or a big tow bill, one way or the other. It really reinforced my desire to develop a mindset and skill set of engineless sailing in a a small boat I can row I have to. Mike thinks I am nuts.

While Mike was puttering with the motor, I pumped up my inflatable kayak and paddled around in the bay for a while. The shore was rocky with a sandy beach over yonder, and there were several huge rocks with tunnels in them. Big cliffs soared overhead, with sparse desert plants dotting the hillsides. Reminded me of the rocky cliff-lined shores along San Carlos in Mexico.

This little bay has a private beach owned by the Balboa Yacht Club. Turns out the other Mike’s uncle Jim was there too in his boat and is a BYC member so we were invited to a big barbeque up on the beach. Very nice, fun evening. Uncle Jim was 78 and is about to sell his boat and “retire” from the sea and this was his last hurrah, with many friends and family there. He had become very wealthy from real estate and has many fun adventures and stories to tell. Sounds like he has been very generous to the kids and helped them all get going in school if they wanted and if they graduated sent them on some exotic trip anywhere in the world for the life experience.

I had forgotten my crutches so I had to limp along the beach for quite a while to get to the party. OUCH. (yes, foot still hurting, but getting better every day)

Back on the boat for the night was nice, but the sleeping bunks were pretty narrow. If there had been much swell rolling in and rocking us around I would have fallen out on the floor, but it turned out calm.

The next morning we pulled up anchor and sailed on down to Avalon and pulled in for fuel. We really didn’t need it but it was good excuse to see the town. It was a beautiful bay but way too over built for my taste. The bay was jammeded full of other boats tied up to mooring balls. It was a maze just threading a passage through to the other side. I far preferred the remoteness of the other bays up the coast. There was a huge old art-deco casino bult 70 years ago right on the waterfront that I think was the ugliest building I have ever seen, and certainly looked even more out of place here in this ‘cozy” little remote bay. I guess the locals are pretty fond of it though.

We started motoring back to Dana, expecting the west winds to kick up any moment for our downhill run. They never did. We ended up motoring the whole way back. Motoring in this boat is hard because the power of the engine causes it to pull really hard to the left and requires a strong hand on the tiller at all times, and it’s very hard to hold a straight course. Lose concentration for one moment and I was 90 degrees off course! Not a very fun part of the trip. It was very hot and with no wind to cool us. In the engineless idea I think I would have just hung up the sun shade and bobbed around out there until the winds picked up, even spending the night out there if need be, and sailing on in when the winds do pick up.

A big highlight of the day was when we were surrounded by a pod of dolphins. They were feeding on a school of fish and we sailed right through them and they cavorted all around us for about 5 minutes. They are such a magical critter. We humans seems to have a special bond with them. Mammals that live in the sea. So very cool.

We pulled into Dana about 3:30 after a really wonderful cruise. I can’t wait until I am capable of going again on my own terms and timetable. I can see myself spending weeks at a time out there. . That will be so cool. It looks like you could spend years exploring all the coves and bays on Catalina