Category: 2007 Oct Blog

Dear F&F,
Our sail from Santa Barbara Island to Catalina Island was uneventful until
we arrived at the West End of Catalina. Where we saw a 90 foot long BLUE
WHALE, 100 yards off the beach.
We took a few photos and enjoyed tagging along enroute to Cherry Cove at the
Isthmus of Catalina. We enjoyed the hiking, getting the laundry done and
generally had very nice Fall weather.
This was the week that the Santa Ana Wind event was predicted to be a
memorable one. We moved to Big Geiger Cove awaiting our friends, Mike and
Beth aboard s/v \”Scotch Mist\”. We had the cove to ourselves and went for
some wonderful long hikes.

Here we came across the Catalina Island Conservancy and Fish and Game staff
who had just trapped a Catalina Island Fox. These are endangered animals
and are currently down to about 1500 animals on the Island.
They are having an epidemic of ear cancer (of all things!) and the
Vetenarian who was with the group was cleaning out the Fox\’s ears and taking
tissue samples. Photos of this will be posted on the website.

When Mike and Beth arrived, Beth and Cindy went for a long hike and came
across several Catalina Island Buffalo. We came across these very large and
splendid beasts several times during our stay. Photos of this will be posted
on the website soon. We cut our visit short at Big Geiger Cove as the winds
were predicted to be fierce and the Southern California Wildfires began. We
moved around to Catalina Harbor in very bumpy conditions while Mike and Beth
headed back to Redondo Beach. We were moored in \”Cat Harbor\” with about 50
other boats awaiting the winds. The wind event lasted about 24 hours for us
with the last gust to 42 knots being the strongest. When the winds finally
died off, the smoke from the fires on the coast had covered every boat in
ash. At night you could see the ash raining down in the light of a
flashlight. This lasted for almost a week!

We met up again with new friends Eric & Emmy out of San Francisco who were
former caretakers of Palmyra Island, (800 miles SW of Hawaii) owned by the
Nature Conservancy. We would be loosely following each other down the
Pacific Coast. After a few days in Cat Harbor, we started to head toward
Avalon going around the \”backside\” of the Island. We took a detour into
\”Little Harbor\” and instantly fell in love. Photos will be posted….soon.
We went snorkeling, watched the ash fall from the sky and had a magic day at
this beautiful spot all to ourselves. Hiking, MORE Buffalo and a glorious
day.

The next day we motored to Avalon and saw USCG Cutter \”Blackfin\” checking on
various boats. Something was up, but we will never know what. We arrived
in Avalon, had a few great days of hiking, saw wild deer, did somemore
laundry and generally relaxed. The ash still fell and I had to wash what
looked like mud off the boat every day for a week. It was now time to get
back to the coast and continue the \”Good Bye Contractor Tour\” from Long
Beach to San Diego………

Dear F&F,
It has been one of the greatest days I\’ve ever seen here in Catalina. We came upon naturalists from the Dept. of Fish and Game in conjunction with the Catalina Island Conservancy and a Veterinarian from UC Davis. They had captured an endangered Catalina Island Fox (Their are only 500 estimated on the Island, up from 100 recently). They apparently are susceptible to a particular type of ear cancer and the Vet was taking samples and cleaning out its ears! We will have photos on the web next week!…..

Weather Wise: Its been up to 88 degrees and the wind is calm. We are waiting for friends Mike and Beth aboard \”Scotch Mist\” and will be keeping a close eye on the weather as Santa Ana\’s are predicted to start sometime tomorrow. If necessary, we will scoot around to the south side of the island to Cat Harbor which is the best protection against these winds should they occur. If WX PERMITS, we will go to Avalon Sunday or Monday…..
KIT,
S&C

Dear F&F,
We had a week of one night stands at Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands.
Stopping in Potato Harbor, Pelican Bay, Bechers Bay, Coches Prieto, Scorpion
Anchorage, Smugglers Cove and winding up at Sea Lion City, Santa Barbara
Island before we arrived here. A fabulous sail was had from Santa Cruz
Island to Santa Barbara Island (40 miles) and then……..

We saw a 60 foot long Blue Whale, the largest animal on earth, about the
size of 4 Bull Elephants.
The unusal thing about our sighting was that it occurred 100 yards off the
coast of Catalina Island just as we arrived from Santa Barbara Island. A
small power boat went right over it and didn\’t even see it!
We will be heading to Avalon next week after a brief visit from friends Mike
and Beth Lonnes at Big Geiger Cove this weekend……WX PERMITTING (Santa
Ana\’s are predicted). After Avalon, we\’ll be headed back to the coast for
some F&F visits and boat projects (the ever present boat projects!).

Definition: Cruising the Oceans of the World in a small sailboat is defined
as: \”Doing boat projects in exotic locations……:)\”
KIT (keep in touch). You can write us at our shoreside emails or through
the \”Contact Us\” form on the website till at least the end of November. We
will post \”sea (and land) stories\” and lots of photos on the website by the
end of next week.
Hugs to all,
S&C s/v Beach House – Cherry Cove, Catalina Island, California

Dear F&F,
We left Smugglers Cove, Santa Cruz Island on 14 October 2007. in
clear, cool, overcast skies. Hopeing for a lovely sail, we got it.
Cindy and I hoisted the main and set the big kevlar reacher, averaging
about 7 knots, we sailed almost the entire distance to little Santa
Barbara Island, 42 miles Southwest of Marina del Rey. Santa Barbara
is the second smallest of the Channel Islands to Anacapa and except
for San Nicholas, (The Island in the Scott Odell book, \”Island of the
Blue Dolphins\”), the most remote. Santa Barbara Island was no
stranger to us as we had been there on three previous occassions. We
show a few photos of our arrival in the gallery \”2007 – Catalina &
Santa Barbara Islands\”. This was to be just an overnight stop enroute
to Catalina. Despite the cool fall weather, a great sail was our
reward for the previous weeks cold and blustery conditions.

Dear F&F,
We left Big Geiger Cove on Saturday night, October 20th at 7pm after a great
day of fun, hikes and dinner. Mike and Beth left to return to Redondo Beach
at the same time. They got a good welcome home with a 33 knot
Northerly . We had little wind going around to the South side of Catalina
to prepare for the Santa Ana wind event, but the trip was very rough and
bumpy as the left over swell from the NW Gale was still dying off. 2 1/2
hours later we were snug in \”Cat Harbor\” on the South side, with doubled up
bridles facing the expected wind. That night was calm, but Sunday to Monday
night….it blew. 20-30 knots (25-35 mph) with occasional gusts to
35knots. The boat was covered in dirt and ash from the fires 35 miles away
on shore. The sky was a smoky color all day and night and we could actually
smell the smoke from the shore. We watched with the same concern (on the
internet) as many of you had about friends and family ashore and their homes
in harms way. We were glad to hear all of you \”weathered\” the event as well.

On Monday morning we got the \”good bye gust\” at 42 knots (about 50 mph).
Monday night things got calmer and by Tuesday morning, it seemed to be all
over. We have relocated to \”Little Harbor\” enroute to Avalon Harbor where
we will head (probably) tomorrow. Here at Little Harbor, its 86 degrees and
no wind. We are anchored Bow and Stern behind the reef. We seem to have
good internet and have posted some photos, (yet a bit disorganized) about
our Ventura Harbor Boat Projects in the \”Gallery\”. You will see these under
\”Boat Projects\” and its sub-catagory. We have some great stories to write
about, including another close encounter with the Catalina Island Buffalo.
More stories and photos soon.
KIT,
S&C……Little Harbor, Catalina Island, California

26 November 2007

Dear F&F,
I\’m catching up slowly, but catching up. We write you sitting here at
beautiful San Diego Yacht Club, in the cool and clear Fall of 2007.

First, some housekeeping. As you know, due to the management of this
site, I have SUBSCRIBED you all to the mailing list. From now on, I
can just send these \”Ships\’ Logs\” to the site and you will be notified
that some fresh reading and photos are ready. Instructions will come
with all future notifications should you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE. As you
can see from the number of \”hits\” our site has gotten, we\’re getting a
bit popular. I have updated the Anacapa – Santa Cruz – Santa Rosa
photo gallery with some additional photos. Next…….Santa Cruz to
Santa Barbara Island and on to Catalina Island………….

KIT,

Scott and Cindy

Dear F&F,
First, during the long spells between our \”official emails\” and reports.
Please feel free to check the \”Position Report\” section of our website or
any of the three links on the home page which ALWAYS shows our most
recent location. Also, feel free to go to our \”Contact Us\” form and send an
email at anytime. Due to the nature of selecting and sizing photos, etc, we
will usually be about 2-4 weeks behind in our F&F emails and photo posting.

Sorry about the delay in beginning to tell of our adventures. So far, its
been the \”Goodbye Contractor Tour\”. We have a series of appointments
scheduled down the coast for projects in Long Beach, Newport Beach, San
Diego and even a little cosmetics in Ensenada. Ah the last minute (never
ending) details. For our first set of \”Boat Projects\”, see our \”Gallery\”
under Boat Projects > *Ventura Harbor Boat Yard Projects- October
2007*<https://svbeachhouse.com/gallery/album/C10/>.
Here we raised our swimsteps, repainted the bottom (for marine growth – done
about every 2 years), added underwater lights and other maintenance. Always
remember that Cruising is defined as \”Doing Boat Projects in Exotic
Locations\”…..:)

When we first left Ventura, the weather was calm, the seas flat. We sailed
a bit to Santa Cruz Island located 20 miles south of Ventura, but then the
wind went calm and motored on. The first night found us in an unusal
anchorage called Potato Harbor. Its a beautiful \”U\” shaped bay with 200
foot high vertical walls. The reason it was unusual is because it is rare
to be able to stay the night as it directly faces the often very boisterous
Santa Barbara Channel and is too rough. We caught this lovely bay on a
light South Easterly wind and it was flat, calm and reminescent of an ocean
version (mini of course) of the Grand Canyon. The stars filled the night
sky, we were anchored \”bow and stern\” (two anchors to prevent swinging
around this narrow harbor and enjoyed our first night at peaceful anchorge.
We took some photos of the boat and ourselves which will be seen in our
photo gallery under *10-2007 – Santa Cruz & Santa Rosa
Islands*<https://svbeachhouse.com/gallery/album/C11/>

There will be more photos posted to both these galleries soon, but I wanted
to get some out as I have been a bit tardy in my postings.

The next night we moved on to Pelican Bay on the South side of Santa Cruz
Island which was famous in the early years for camping and fishing. A
wonderful book called \”Diary of a Sea Captains Wife\” tells a wonderful tale
of this magic Island in the early 1900\’s and includes a tale of how Humphrey
Bogart read \”The African Queen\” while anchored at Pelican Bay and then
rushed back to the mainland to procure the rights and the rest as they
say…is history.

After Pelican Bay, we tried to go to Painted Cave on the South Coast of
Santa Cruz, but despite light winds, we felt it was a bit too dicey to enter
this 600 foot long \”sea cave\”, one of the largest in the world. I had the
chance to go into it in 1976 when I was about to embark for the voyage to
Hawaii on \”Triad II\” (the first big cruise on a 32 foot ketch). We left the
Painted Cave\’s entrance and in very calm weather decided to go to Becher\’s
Bay, Santa Rosa Island. This was the last of the calm weather for awhile!
We anchored off the pier near a 37 foot \”Flying Ductchman\” sloop from San
Francisco with Emmy and Eric Willbur aboard. They had sailed their boat all
over the Pacific and were the caretakers of \”Palmyra Island\” (a destination
we hope to go to one day). The wind began to BLOW. We had 25 to 30 knots
all night, but forturnately were protected in the lee (down wind side) of
Carrington Point. The next day, the wind abated long enough for Cindy and I
to go ashore for a brief tour. This is the only place in California where
the \”Torrey Pines\” were indigineous (other than Torrey Pines, CA). The old
ranch house was very interesting and this island was distinctly differerent
than Santa Cruz; much more barren and wind blown.
The Spanish Explorers stopped here and indeed the final resting place of
Juan Rodriegez Cabrillo was at the Western most of the Northern Channel
Islands, San Miguel. We didn\’t go to San Miguel because the weather around
Point Conception (The BEND of California\’s Central Coast), known as the
\”Cape Horn of the Pacific\” was in full force. After our brief visit, we
sailed off to Coches Prietos on the South side of Santa Cruz. That night,
we saw 50 \”purse seiner\” fishing boats with their partner \”light boats\” who
turn on metal halide lights (they look like the sun) to attract squid near
the full moon. It looked like a freeway off the coast with all the lights.
Here we stayed for a day and then moved to Scorpion Bay (see our photos of
the boat in the foreground and Anacapa Island in the back ground). The next
day we moved to Smugglers Cove. It was a bit bouncy to go ashore, but we
enjoyed the calm anchorages the Scorpion and Smugglers
provided……….

Next, our sail to Santa Barbara Island, Catalina Island,
Long Beach and travels South from where we currently are in Newport Beach,
CA……

Dear F&F,
Friday it blew 35 knots from the SW, today is Sunday and we awoke to \”Santa
Ana\’s\” from the East at 20 knots.
Tomorrow is predicted to be gorgeous. So if the weather pemits, we shall
leave for Santa Cruz Island tomorrow morning. Monday October 8th.
We will turn our internet on \”forward\” to the boat, so if you use the
contact form we will get it. IF our \”air card\” works out at
the island, we will go back to regular internet. The boat projects were a
complete success. Friends Scott and Jean Adam, Martin and
Linda van Zeyl, Bonnie McIntire, Mark McIntire (no relation), daughter Skye
and Aunt Barbara all visited this past week. Keep the emails coming. Love
to you all………..
S&C