Catalina Island - Playground for Rich and Famous

After the no sighting of movie stars at Marina Del Ray we decided to sail to Catalina Island; the playground for the LA famous and rich.    With Greg’s nephew, Joe, in tow, our first stop was Two Harbors.    This is a boater’s camp with showers, washrooms, store, and restaurant.   We indulged in the facilities and had a tremendous hike up the big hill to have a view of both the west and east sides of the island.   This was truly cactus country and I have photos to prove it!   Joe did see a movie star up close and he smiled at us but Greg and I are not up on Hollywood and can’t recall who he was.    Oh well!!!   If you want to know, ask Joe.

The next day we had a nice anchorage at Hen Cove Bay and jumped in the water off the side of the boat.    I tried out my new snorkel and fins and scrubbed the moss off the Hydrovane rudder.

Our last day on Catalina Island revealed an island version of Las Vegas.    Avalon was packed with weekend boaters, tourists, and commerce.    Avalon Bay accommodates hundreds of boats in very close proximity with bow and stern weighted mooring buoys.    It makes for tight quarters and you better put out the fenders to ward off the neighbours.    We took the water taxi ashore and were pleasantly bored for the next 6 hours as there is nothing to do but spend money in shops, restaurants, or on tours.    We withered the time away and Joe caught the ferry home to his home in LA late afternoon.

Greg and I were up and going at 6:45 AM to try to arrive at Dana Point before the small anchorage was filled.   We found a spot and headed to the beach for the Ohana concert raising money to pay for coastal access to beaches in southern California.   In Canada we take for granted the access we generally have to the lakes and oceans.   Concert was great featuring music from Elvis Costello and Eddie Vedder but the facilities were insufficient to handle the numbers.    As a fellow festival mate yelled, “Elvis, but what are you going to do about the washroom situation!!!!”

Two Harbours 

Stumbled upon a Geo Cache.

Nice Sail.

Hen Rock Cove anchorage for the night.

Avalon on Catalina Island

Avalon is so overwhelming and exhausting.

Santa Barbara to Marina Del Ray - Where are the Movie Stars?

With the new autohelm installed, our last day in Santa Barbara was a tourist day.    We visited Santa Barbara Mission built in 1820 and largely rebuilt after the earthquake in 1925.  There are 21 Spanish missions in southern California established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order between 1769 and 1833.   The Native Americans were converted and moved to live in settlements working for the missions.   Our tour stressed the positive aspects of 'civilizing' the natives but the real story is not so positive.

Then we ended up in the Funk Zone again to enjoy wine, food, and high speed WiFi so Greg could complete some software navigation updates.

It was a nice sail to Ventura - no motoring at all.  No sea life but 4-7 oil rigs along the way. Ventura Yacht Club is a friendly small club and luckily it was the weekend so it was open.  Many yacht clubs along the coast are closed Monday and Tuesdays and definitely lack the 7 day-a-week lunch and dinner services that we have come to appreciate at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club.

We got to know some of the locals over breakfast and helped them move their boats to alternate slips.  This paid off later in the day as I joined them for Sunday afternoon appetizers and was treated to a complimentary Gin and Tonic.

Monday we slipped lines at 6:40 AM just as the sun was rising.   It was a long day - 47 miles of motoring.   It started out very lumpy and I quickly went for the sea sick meds.   It was again hazy and overcast.   We had 2 wonderful displays of up to 70 Common Dolphins feeding and frolicking, jumping high in the air.   Just as we passed them, the dolphins rammed a sea lion that was also feeding.   It gave out a big yelp and jumped half out the water.

We cruised into a very quiet Marina Del Ray.    You would expect that with 5,246 boats, there would be a few out in the water on a beautiful day as today.   We saw 3 sailboats and had no traffic to contend with entering the largest man-made small craft harbor in the world.

We signed in as guests at Del Ray Yacht Club.   This is great as most Yacht Clubs accept us on reciprocal privileges and give us from 1 - 3 nights free stay.  They all have showers, laundry, and some food services.

We met Greg's nephew, Joe, and Paola for a lovely dinner.  

Yesterday was a much needed grocery shopping day.    We were down to drinking horrid coffee from some instant packages that were more than 2 years old and left over from the Vic-Maui Race.   The cream and milk had turned sour.   Yuck!!!!      After the grocery trek we sat by the Yacht Club pool and we prepared a lovely boat dinner.

Santa Barbara homes.

Santa Barbara homes.

Santa Barbara Mission.

Ventura Beach - Note the smoke from the Santa Barbara fire.

Ventura early morning.

Leaving Ventura at sunrise.

Dolphin display.

Entering Marina Del Ray.    Venice beach.

Marina Del Ray - boats as far as the eye can see.

Yumm.    Boat cooked dinner.    Grilled veggies, mango salsa, and tuna that Greg caught.

A week in Santa Barbara

We are starting to feel a bit indulgent spending a whole week in Santa Barbara.   But why not?    The marina is nice and close to restaurants, shopping, sights, and West Marine.   Mexican food, wine tasting, a bike tour of the wine country, and sightseeing have been a pleasure.    Yesterday, Greg had a long 13 hour work day installing the new auto helm.   I avoided the chaos of boat tool hell by finding a Barre 3 class, which is a mix of yoga, bar, and strengthening exercises.

We are still having issues with storing everything on the boat.   The starboard quarter berth is filled with the freezer, food bins and Greg's golf clubs.    The port quarter berth usually contains sails and loose clothes, and other misc items that Greg chucks in there.    There isn't enough room for my clothes in the cabinets that Greg built so I have a few bags with more clothes, toiletries, yoga mat, computer, and magazines laying in the port upper berth.   When at anchor or at a dock we sleep in the fore peak.   If we sail overnight, we would sleep in the salon settees for more comfort and fast easy access to the cockpit.  Under every berth or settee is a storage locker filled with Greg's tools.  We have 2 inflatable kayaks tucked under the fore peak berth.   The dingy has been living on deck the past few weeks but on longer passages it would be deflated and dumped in the fore peak (our sleeping quarters.. Ugh!).     Sounds like chaos but when we are underway everything is held snug in its spot and nothing crashes about.   Well, we once did neglect to stow the coffee french press and that was the end of it.

Trimming, grinding, and keeping a good eye on the spinnaker.

Yeah!    Santa Barbara!!!

Santa Barbara Marina.

Area 5.1 Wine tasting and catching a bit of Rio 2016.

Los Agaves Mexican Restaurant.   

Santa Barbara Courthouse.

Santa Barbara Courthouse.

Santa Barbara Courthouse.

Watching the Wednesday Night races from the Yacht Club.

 Santa Barbara Marina.

Bike tour of the Santa Barbara Wine Country with William's bike tour.

Things get a bit messy when Greg is doing boat chores.