Log Book
October 2007
October 2007
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| October 2007 |
Santa Cruz Island – Cuevo Valdez. Sam was able to resolve the water leak in Santa Barbara in only
one day, it turned out to be minor. After celebrating our 2nd anniversary early (October 1) at Brophy’s
for dinner, we headed over to Santa Cruz Island on October 2. We had a very nice sail over and
dropped the anchor at Cuevo Valdez. Then the fun started. It took us close to 2 hours to get out a
stern anchor: pump up the dinghy and get it in the water, load the outboard onto the dinghy, secure
the anchor and chain and take it out with the dinghy, drop it and winch it tight. There was one other
boat in the small anchorage, friends Eric and Emmy from Richmond. We spent a calm evening at
anchor. The next morning we decided to dinghy over to Painted Cave, one of the largest marine
caves in the world. Sam had been inside here before; there are 4 “rooms” with the last being entirely
in the dark and full of beached sea lions making a tremendous racket. Eric and Emmy joined us for this
little adventure. First we passed the cave, then turned around to go back when Eric and Emmy
located it. There was some swell but it did not appear to be too much. We rowed in to the first
room, following Eric and Emmy, then the second room, at which time they decided to let us lead the
way since we had the foresight to bring a spotlight. While we were in the third room getting ready to
turn the corner to the final room, Susie was facing forward into the dark and Sam was rowing and
facing the fading opening. Suddenly we heard a sound rather like a monstrous toilet flushing; Susie felt
the boat rise and Sam saw the surge coming towards us from the cave opening and we both declared
at the same time, “Let’s get out NOW!” We turned around with Sam rowing frantically towards the
cave opening and Susie shouting encouragement and directions, and saw Eric and Emmy already back
outside the cave – Eric must have been rowing like a possessed madman! It took us about one
exciting minute to get back to the mouth of the cave and into calmer water. We sat together for a
few minutes and collected ourselves. Sam explained how the surge came inside the cave and
gathered momentum as the walls narrowed; he said the swell he saw coming towards us when we
decided to make our escape came within 5 feet of the cave ceiling. Having had quite enough
excitement for the day, we all went back to our boats and pulled anchors, Eric and Emmy heading one
direction and Catch The Wind heading to the anchorage called Little Scorpion.
Santa Cruz Island – Little Scorpion. This was a motor boat ride over, with Susie helming and Sam
napping most of the afternoon – he really appreciated the rest after rowing at the cave and then
retrieving 200 feet of stern anchor chain and stowing it before we could leave Cuevo Valdez. We
arrived at Little Scorpion in the late afternoon on October 3, dropped the hook (no stern anchor this
time) and had a restful evening.
Oxnard. From Santa Cruz on October 4, we sailed to Oxnard and got a guest berth at Pacific
Corinthian Yacht Club. This was our first time to stay at this club; very nice facilities, including pool and
hot tub, and a very nice restaurant. We stayed one night.
Marina Del Rey. October 5 was a wild day. Sam had expected a calm but long day of motoring to
our next stop, so he told Susie she could sleep in the next morning. He started the engine about 6
AM and pulled away from the dock. Very shortly thereafter, Susie was rudely jostled awake – rolling all
over the V berth and hearing the sail being raised. She stumbles out into the main cabin to find Sam
standing at the helm with large swell behind him, the boat surfing wildly downwind and about 30 knots
of wind on the anemometer. So much for a calm ride – there was a gale warning from Point
Conception to the Mexican Border for 30 to 40 knot winds and large swells. It was a crazy ride to
MDR, and Sam had to stay on the helm because it was too much for Susie to handle. At one point we
“hove to” and Sam put in a double reef; we were not even using the jib. For about 2 hours during the
6 hour trip to MDR, we were doing 10 knots plus (speed over ground) with a double-reefed main and
no jib. In order to get into the channel at Marina Del Rey, we had to make two quick jibes, which was
not possible with the high winds and close quarters, so Sam started the engine and we did the famous
“chicken jibe” by turning back into the wind and riding up the swell, powering through the surf and
successfully bringing Catch The Wind safely into the harbor. Someone passed us in a small dinghy inside
the channel and remarked that we certainly had caught some wind that day! We tied up at Pacific
Mariner Yacht Club with good help from club members on the docks, and went up to the club house
to tell how we cheated death once again – they loved it!
We rented a car on Saturday and picked up Sam’s cousin Bobby in Bellflower, then drove over to see
the beautiful Merchant Marine Memorial at Ports O’ Call in San Pedro. Susie’s father served in the
Merchant Marines as a young man and we took lots of pictures so we can show him the memorial the
next time we see him (probably in January we will make another trip to Phoenix when Susie’s mother
will have her second knee surgery). We ate seafood and enjoyed the beautiful clear sunshine and blue
sky.
On Sunday we attended the annual City Terrace neighborhood reunion picnic (held in Temple City).
City Terrace is where Sam grew up and it is always nice for him to return and catch up with his
childhood friends and neighbors. We even met another boater, Ron Feldman, who has his power boat
at Marina Del Rey – directly across from where we had our boat tied up. Small world. It was great to
visit with him and talk about cruising.
Cabrillo Beach – San Pedro. We had a very nice trip, primarily motoring, from MDR on October 8
over to San Pedro. Off Point Fermin, we saw a lot of dolphin and sea lions and a few small whales
feeding on large schools of either sardines or anchovies. We anchored at Cabrillo Beach – three times
because it was difficult to get a good set with the 25 knot winds blowing into the anchorage known as
Hurricane Gulch – and checked in with the LA Harbor Patrol when they came by a little after dark.
Soon the wind stopped, the same as last time we anchored here. Nice quiet night.
Newport Beach. October 9 we sailed off the anchor and headed for Newport Beach. It was a great
sailing day – we put up the spinnaker for a lovely three hour run. When the wind died we motored on
into the harbor and dropped our anchor at Lido Isle.
Dana Point. The trip to Dana Point on October 10 was another motor boat ride. We tied up at the
guest dock of Dana West Yacht Club and called our friends Roger, Joan and Kimberly Allard. They are
in Dana Point going through the commissioning and provisioning of their new Nordhaven 57 for another
season of cruising. We got a tour of the new boat – nothing much on board yet and the walls and
floors still covered with corrugated cardboard – and it is absolutely beautiful. We had a nice dinner at El
Torito that night. The next day, after laundry and email, Joan picked us up and took us back to their
apartment in Laguna Beach for pizza and Mexican Train and Taboo – that Kimberly is a whiz at pushing
the buzzer if you say the wrong word! We hugged them bye and wished them a quick job of getting
the boat ready for their upcoming cruise.
Oceanside. October 12 we got to sail several hours before the wind died and we had to start the
“iron spinnaker” to get in to Oceanside about 4:30 PM. We tied up at the Oceanside Yacht Club guest
dock and had a nice dinner up at the club with new friends.
Mission Bay. We decided to go in to Mission Bay so that we could arrive at the police dock in San
Diego before 11 AM on Sunday morning That is the check out time and if we were to get a berth
there that was our best chance. We dropped the hook in Mission Bay the afternoon of October 13, a
Saturday. On the way Susie saw a whale about 20 feet away from the starboard side of the boat –
very exciting close encounter. We found a few other boats in the anchorage, one in particular was
right next to us (150 feet) with a couple who were having a very good time drinking. We watched as
she tried to learn in an inebriated state how to operate the dinghy with the outboard, before dark.
There was a lot of yelling and name calling before she finally got the dinghy back to the mother ship,
so that then he could get in and go ashore – it is now after dark – for Cokes. About the time we
were heading for bed, we hear the woman calling for her husband and sounding very upset because
he had not returned. We hear him holler back that he is trying to swim for the dinghy and it is drifting
away from him faster than he can swim. We know we will not get any rest with all this going on and
we know that neither of these people is sober enough to practice safe boating. So we put the dinghy
in the water and Sam takes off rowing with the spotlight and the radio to find this guy, while Susie
attempts to keep the woman calm with conversation. Sam found him and together they found his
dinghy and he got back to his boat OK. Turns out he had gone ashore for Cokes, landed the dinghy
but didn’t pull it up far enough on to the beach and didn’t use an anchor. When he got back from the
store with the Cokes the dinghy was drifting away. So then this far-from-sober guy decided to try
swimming for the dinghy – with the Cokes still in his hand and without a life jacket – but of course it is
drifting away faster than he can move through the water. Finally he drops the Cokes and goes back
ashore and starts walking down the beach the way the dinghy is drifting. Then Sam shows up and
gets him into our dinghy, rows down past the end of the beach shining the spotlight to find the lost
dinghy on the rock rip-rap. The guy manages to get aboard and get his outboard started and make his
way back to his boat. Good thing the anchorage is surrounded by beach and rock so his dinghy did not
go into open water and good thing it was a very calm night with almost no wind. We knew that even
though these people were very drunk and had caused their own problems with impaired judgment, we
would not feel right if either of them had come to any harm when we were in a position to assist. And
at least things got quiet after that – we told them to stay on board and go to bed – only after we
turned down their invite to come over and party even more!
San Diego. Sunday morning October 14 we motored from Mission Bay into San Diego Harbor, hoping
to luck out and get a spot at the Harbor Police Docks. With about 180 boats signed up to the 13th
annual Baja Ha Ha expected in San Diego before October 29, we knew it might be even more difficult
than usual to do the San Diego Shuffle. And we were very fortunate to get a berth that morning to
begin our time in San Diego, where we had already pre-arranged to have a new below-decks autopilot
installed. We made many friends among this year’s Baja Ha Ha-ers and got better acquainted with the
crew of Ketching Up (Noel and Ashe with their three young sons Griffin, Wils and Cooper), whom we
had met in Santa Barbara. Roger Fitz, our friend with a boat at Southwestern Yacht Club, loaned us his
car for the duration of our stay in San Diego, so Susie was able to help some of the other boaters with
trips to the stores and chandleries.
Turns out the autopilot we ordered did not fit in the space we had, so it was returned and another
type was ordered. Of course, the original time estimates on boat work is never reliable, so after our 10
days were up at the Harbor Docks we had to find another place to put the boat. Harold of Custom
Marine Electronics, the firm installing our autopilot, is a member at Silvergate Yacht Club and he was
able to get us a slip so that the work could be completed.
Now it is October 30 – a mere 16 days after our arrival in San Diego – and although the autopilot is
installed calibrated and sea-tested we still want do a short shakedown cruise before we head to
Mexico. So while we impatiently wait for that to happen, we are using Roger’s car to run other
errands. Susie has already provisioned, so that chore is done. We are waiting for Sam’s glasses to
arrive (the first pair never arrived from Northern California Kaiser and they had to make another pair and
send them again), but we may have to go to a local Lenscrafters and have a pair made and if the
others ever arrive, they will just be his good second pair. In the meantime, we have been here in San
Diego for light rain showers, then hot weather with Santa Ana winds and catastrophic fire storms, then
nice breezy days and cool nights. Can’t complain too much about being “stuck” in San Diego. The Baja
Ha Ha boats left October 29 and we will catch up with our new friends later down in Mexico. Hopefully
we will be leaving the first week of November for this season’s Mexico cruise.
one day, it turned out to be minor. After celebrating our 2nd anniversary early (October 1) at Brophy’s
for dinner, we headed over to Santa Cruz Island on October 2. We had a very nice sail over and
dropped the anchor at Cuevo Valdez. Then the fun started. It took us close to 2 hours to get out a
stern anchor: pump up the dinghy and get it in the water, load the outboard onto the dinghy, secure
the anchor and chain and take it out with the dinghy, drop it and winch it tight. There was one other
boat in the small anchorage, friends Eric and Emmy from Richmond. We spent a calm evening at
anchor. The next morning we decided to dinghy over to Painted Cave, one of the largest marine
caves in the world. Sam had been inside here before; there are 4 “rooms” with the last being entirely
in the dark and full of beached sea lions making a tremendous racket. Eric and Emmy joined us for this
little adventure. First we passed the cave, then turned around to go back when Eric and Emmy
located it. There was some swell but it did not appear to be too much. We rowed in to the first
room, following Eric and Emmy, then the second room, at which time they decided to let us lead the
way since we had the foresight to bring a spotlight. While we were in the third room getting ready to
turn the corner to the final room, Susie was facing forward into the dark and Sam was rowing and
facing the fading opening. Suddenly we heard a sound rather like a monstrous toilet flushing; Susie felt
the boat rise and Sam saw the surge coming towards us from the cave opening and we both declared
at the same time, “Let’s get out NOW!” We turned around with Sam rowing frantically towards the
cave opening and Susie shouting encouragement and directions, and saw Eric and Emmy already back
outside the cave – Eric must have been rowing like a possessed madman! It took us about one
exciting minute to get back to the mouth of the cave and into calmer water. We sat together for a
few minutes and collected ourselves. Sam explained how the surge came inside the cave and
gathered momentum as the walls narrowed; he said the swell he saw coming towards us when we
decided to make our escape came within 5 feet of the cave ceiling. Having had quite enough
excitement for the day, we all went back to our boats and pulled anchors, Eric and Emmy heading one
direction and Catch The Wind heading to the anchorage called Little Scorpion.
Santa Cruz Island – Little Scorpion. This was a motor boat ride over, with Susie helming and Sam
napping most of the afternoon – he really appreciated the rest after rowing at the cave and then
retrieving 200 feet of stern anchor chain and stowing it before we could leave Cuevo Valdez. We
arrived at Little Scorpion in the late afternoon on October 3, dropped the hook (no stern anchor this
time) and had a restful evening.
Oxnard. From Santa Cruz on October 4, we sailed to Oxnard and got a guest berth at Pacific
Corinthian Yacht Club. This was our first time to stay at this club; very nice facilities, including pool and
hot tub, and a very nice restaurant. We stayed one night.
Marina Del Rey. October 5 was a wild day. Sam had expected a calm but long day of motoring to
our next stop, so he told Susie she could sleep in the next morning. He started the engine about 6
AM and pulled away from the dock. Very shortly thereafter, Susie was rudely jostled awake – rolling all
over the V berth and hearing the sail being raised. She stumbles out into the main cabin to find Sam
standing at the helm with large swell behind him, the boat surfing wildly downwind and about 30 knots
of wind on the anemometer. So much for a calm ride – there was a gale warning from Point
Conception to the Mexican Border for 30 to 40 knot winds and large swells. It was a crazy ride to
MDR, and Sam had to stay on the helm because it was too much for Susie to handle. At one point we
“hove to” and Sam put in a double reef; we were not even using the jib. For about 2 hours during the
6 hour trip to MDR, we were doing 10 knots plus (speed over ground) with a double-reefed main and
no jib. In order to get into the channel at Marina Del Rey, we had to make two quick jibes, which was
not possible with the high winds and close quarters, so Sam started the engine and we did the famous
“chicken jibe” by turning back into the wind and riding up the swell, powering through the surf and
successfully bringing Catch The Wind safely into the harbor. Someone passed us in a small dinghy inside
the channel and remarked that we certainly had caught some wind that day! We tied up at Pacific
Mariner Yacht Club with good help from club members on the docks, and went up to the club house
to tell how we cheated death once again – they loved it!
We rented a car on Saturday and picked up Sam’s cousin Bobby in Bellflower, then drove over to see
the beautiful Merchant Marine Memorial at Ports O’ Call in San Pedro. Susie’s father served in the
Merchant Marines as a young man and we took lots of pictures so we can show him the memorial the
next time we see him (probably in January we will make another trip to Phoenix when Susie’s mother
will have her second knee surgery). We ate seafood and enjoyed the beautiful clear sunshine and blue
sky.
On Sunday we attended the annual City Terrace neighborhood reunion picnic (held in Temple City).
City Terrace is where Sam grew up and it is always nice for him to return and catch up with his
childhood friends and neighbors. We even met another boater, Ron Feldman, who has his power boat
at Marina Del Rey – directly across from where we had our boat tied up. Small world. It was great to
visit with him and talk about cruising.
Cabrillo Beach – San Pedro. We had a very nice trip, primarily motoring, from MDR on October 8
over to San Pedro. Off Point Fermin, we saw a lot of dolphin and sea lions and a few small whales
feeding on large schools of either sardines or anchovies. We anchored at Cabrillo Beach – three times
because it was difficult to get a good set with the 25 knot winds blowing into the anchorage known as
Hurricane Gulch – and checked in with the LA Harbor Patrol when they came by a little after dark.
Soon the wind stopped, the same as last time we anchored here. Nice quiet night.
Newport Beach. October 9 we sailed off the anchor and headed for Newport Beach. It was a great
sailing day – we put up the spinnaker for a lovely three hour run. When the wind died we motored on
into the harbor and dropped our anchor at Lido Isle.
Dana Point. The trip to Dana Point on October 10 was another motor boat ride. We tied up at the
guest dock of Dana West Yacht Club and called our friends Roger, Joan and Kimberly Allard. They are
in Dana Point going through the commissioning and provisioning of their new Nordhaven 57 for another
season of cruising. We got a tour of the new boat – nothing much on board yet and the walls and
floors still covered with corrugated cardboard – and it is absolutely beautiful. We had a nice dinner at El
Torito that night. The next day, after laundry and email, Joan picked us up and took us back to their
apartment in Laguna Beach for pizza and Mexican Train and Taboo – that Kimberly is a whiz at pushing
the buzzer if you say the wrong word! We hugged them bye and wished them a quick job of getting
the boat ready for their upcoming cruise.
Oceanside. October 12 we got to sail several hours before the wind died and we had to start the
“iron spinnaker” to get in to Oceanside about 4:30 PM. We tied up at the Oceanside Yacht Club guest
dock and had a nice dinner up at the club with new friends.
Mission Bay. We decided to go in to Mission Bay so that we could arrive at the police dock in San
Diego before 11 AM on Sunday morning That is the check out time and if we were to get a berth
there that was our best chance. We dropped the hook in Mission Bay the afternoon of October 13, a
Saturday. On the way Susie saw a whale about 20 feet away from the starboard side of the boat –
very exciting close encounter. We found a few other boats in the anchorage, one in particular was
right next to us (150 feet) with a couple who were having a very good time drinking. We watched as
she tried to learn in an inebriated state how to operate the dinghy with the outboard, before dark.
There was a lot of yelling and name calling before she finally got the dinghy back to the mother ship,
so that then he could get in and go ashore – it is now after dark – for Cokes. About the time we
were heading for bed, we hear the woman calling for her husband and sounding very upset because
he had not returned. We hear him holler back that he is trying to swim for the dinghy and it is drifting
away from him faster than he can swim. We know we will not get any rest with all this going on and
we know that neither of these people is sober enough to practice safe boating. So we put the dinghy
in the water and Sam takes off rowing with the spotlight and the radio to find this guy, while Susie
attempts to keep the woman calm with conversation. Sam found him and together they found his
dinghy and he got back to his boat OK. Turns out he had gone ashore for Cokes, landed the dinghy
but didn’t pull it up far enough on to the beach and didn’t use an anchor. When he got back from the
store with the Cokes the dinghy was drifting away. So then this far-from-sober guy decided to try
swimming for the dinghy – with the Cokes still in his hand and without a life jacket – but of course it is
drifting away faster than he can move through the water. Finally he drops the Cokes and goes back
ashore and starts walking down the beach the way the dinghy is drifting. Then Sam shows up and
gets him into our dinghy, rows down past the end of the beach shining the spotlight to find the lost
dinghy on the rock rip-rap. The guy manages to get aboard and get his outboard started and make his
way back to his boat. Good thing the anchorage is surrounded by beach and rock so his dinghy did not
go into open water and good thing it was a very calm night with almost no wind. We knew that even
though these people were very drunk and had caused their own problems with impaired judgment, we
would not feel right if either of them had come to any harm when we were in a position to assist. And
at least things got quiet after that – we told them to stay on board and go to bed – only after we
turned down their invite to come over and party even more!
San Diego. Sunday morning October 14 we motored from Mission Bay into San Diego Harbor, hoping
to luck out and get a spot at the Harbor Police Docks. With about 180 boats signed up to the 13th
annual Baja Ha Ha expected in San Diego before October 29, we knew it might be even more difficult
than usual to do the San Diego Shuffle. And we were very fortunate to get a berth that morning to
begin our time in San Diego, where we had already pre-arranged to have a new below-decks autopilot
installed. We made many friends among this year’s Baja Ha Ha-ers and got better acquainted with the
crew of Ketching Up (Noel and Ashe with their three young sons Griffin, Wils and Cooper), whom we
had met in Santa Barbara. Roger Fitz, our friend with a boat at Southwestern Yacht Club, loaned us his
car for the duration of our stay in San Diego, so Susie was able to help some of the other boaters with
trips to the stores and chandleries.
Turns out the autopilot we ordered did not fit in the space we had, so it was returned and another
type was ordered. Of course, the original time estimates on boat work is never reliable, so after our 10
days were up at the Harbor Docks we had to find another place to put the boat. Harold of Custom
Marine Electronics, the firm installing our autopilot, is a member at Silvergate Yacht Club and he was
able to get us a slip so that the work could be completed.
Now it is October 30 – a mere 16 days after our arrival in San Diego – and although the autopilot is
installed calibrated and sea-tested we still want do a short shakedown cruise before we head to
Mexico. So while we impatiently wait for that to happen, we are using Roger’s car to run other
errands. Susie has already provisioned, so that chore is done. We are waiting for Sam’s glasses to
arrive (the first pair never arrived from Northern California Kaiser and they had to make another pair and
send them again), but we may have to go to a local Lenscrafters and have a pair made and if the
others ever arrive, they will just be his good second pair. In the meantime, we have been here in San
Diego for light rain showers, then hot weather with Santa Ana winds and catastrophic fire storms, then
nice breezy days and cool nights. Can’t complain too much about being “stuck” in San Diego. The Baja
Ha Ha boats left October 29 and we will catch up with our new friends later down in Mexico. Hopefully
we will be leaving the first week of November for this season’s Mexico cruise.
| Photos for Sept and Oct 2007 |