Relaxing by the Yacht Club Pool
01 October 2014 | 34 10.53'N:119 13.69'W, Channel Islands, CA
Mark
Our second night in Santa Barbara was a rock and roll nightmare. Very little sleep and a lot like living in a washing machine.
But, I am getting ahead of myselfÉ
A couple of days ago we arrived in Santa Barbara and anchored just to the East of the marina and town pier. The seas were calm, the sun was out, and Santa Barbara was calling our name! We had fond memories of this richie-rich town from our last visit and once again enjoyed walking the downtown streets. Picture a main tourist street a lot like Government Street in Victoria, but ten times longer & fancier, and you have Santa Barbara. On the right would be Saks Fifth Avenue selling Gucci bags to the super rich, and right next door would be a massive massage outfit with the cheapest massages I have seen. Even though the money is everywhere in Santa Barbara, it still was full of pleasant contrasts. For example, we could have chosen a little french cafe and paid top dollar for cold duck, but instead we had some great thai food which turned out to be one of our cheapest (but tastiest) lunches of our trip so far.
The weather was great, the sandy beaches were huge, and there was lots to see in this town. Unfortunately, last night the swell came up along with some wind from a different direction. What we ended up with all night was a 4' swell on our bow, but with another set of waves, 1-2' high, coming from the side. The boat was pitching, splashing, and twisting noisily from dusk to dawn. It was really difficult to sleep as we constantly braced ourselves of the next pitch of the boat - we hardly slept. Unfortunately, for our mono-hull friends, it was even worse as our two hulls do provide some stabilizing affect.
We were going to spend another day or two in Santa Barbara, but instead I was up at daybreak, pulled up the stern and bow anchors, and headed south. Our plan was to stop at Ventura Harbor, a place that we didn't visit on our last sail south. But, out of the three marinas and one yacht club with thousands of slips, they didn't have a single one available that would fit a catamaran. Yes, this is one of the disadvantages of a catamaran. When you want a slip, you can't always get one! We would have been happy to anchor, but in this stretch of the California coast there isn't any anchoring, anywhere. I've been worried about this stretch of the coast around LA and wasn't sure what I would do if there were no slips and no anchorages. I guess we would just continue on overnight?!
Even though Ventura couldn't accommodate us, things often have a way of working out. We continued onto the next harbour, Channel Islands, and are now sitting on the guest dock at the Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club. This is one of the nicest clubs that we have visited and even boasts a waterfront pool and hot tub. Since nobody else is at the guest dock, and the members don't seem to use the pool, this is now our private club! The funny thing is that nine years ago we stopped here as well. At that time I was a member of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the reception that I received here was positively frosty. They weren't even sure that they were going to let me stay at their dock until they had a little conference. Now, as a member of the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club, they welcomed us with open arms and offered three free nights at their dock. Go SNSYC!