Kulani Sailing Log

Catalina's to Catalina Island
August 17,2014 through August 22,2014

We arrived at Marina Del Rey at about 4pm and found that Kulani was still out with another member. So we decided to go to the Ralph's store and pick up some groceries and ice. By the time we got back to the docks, Kulani was back and was hosed down and closed up by the member. So, in no time at all, we had transferred all our clothes, food, and the ice to Kulani and went through the checklist to not only familiarize ourselves with the boat but to make sure we weren't forgetting anything. We had already decided that since Robert had to leave us on Tuesday morning, we should sail over to Catalina that night. By doing so, we would have a day of sailing AT Catalina on Monday. We left the docks at close to 7:00 pm and motored out the north jetty. It was still light so we made sure everything was ship-shape and pointed Kulani on a heading of 180, due south.

As it got later, it got darker. The skies were partially cloudy however the stars were absolutely beautiful!. I navigated by following the compass and stars alternatively. The seas were about 2-4 foot swells with the winds at a constant 10-15 kts. Kulani was sailing very nicely, indeed! The feeling of freedom on the open sea was magnificent. The darkness, the winds, the occasional spray from the bow, all lent itself to an exciting sail. I suspect Robert wasn't quite sure if Bill and I were as experienced at sailing to Catalina as we had professed. But not to worry, we were old salts at this and we expected that we would have no issues with the seas. We were, however concerned with the ship traffic in the channel. As you should know, those HUGE container ships can move quite fast and don't turn for anyone!! We saw two of these ships off in the distance and just kept our course and watched them intently. They passed us off in the distance so no evasive maneuvers were necessary.

I should also share with you a secret that we had on board that made the crossing feel even more safe. While Kulani has an older style Garmin GPS, it was no match to an app we were using on our smartphones, one iphone 5s and one Samsung Galaxy. The app is called USA "Navionics" and I highly recommend that our members download and have this app available to them if the venture out to Catalina Island or the open seas with fog or the marine layer gets a bit thick. We never had any issues with cellular service and at no time did the app stop or fail to work as prescribed. I posted a couple of screen prints in the photo gallery for you to see. This app not only showed our current position, it estimated our course and where we were headed to at Catalina. It also gave specific bouy and light information, specifically the entrance to Two Harbors Green bouy/light.

We finally arrived at Two Harbors at approximately 2:30 am. We were all tired, and decided that we should grab a mooring and catch a few hours' sleep. As we passed Ship Rock and Bird Rock off on our Port side, We dropped the main and rolled up the furler. It was really dark so Bill went up on the bow with my Dive light to make sure that we were clear to proceed. As it was, we were suddenly aware of an inflatable dingy floating dead ahead, out in front of us. We avoided it and continued on. We weren't thinking too clearly because if we had, we would have grabbed this dingy as it had apparently come loose from another boat and was drifting out to sea. I thought it was anchored at a mooring. Later that morning we heard the harbor master and another vessel discussing it as it was brought back to its owner.

We grabbed a mooring and were quite happy that we had made pretty good time, 7 hours, considering it was a night crossing. We secured Kulani and went to sleep. I was first to rise at 7am and dropped our mooring and headed back out to sea, headed for Avalon. There was literally NO wind but the seas were calm and the the sound of Kulani's diesel motor was soothing. I might add that this diesel motor was awesome. With all the trouble that we experience with outboard motors on our lakes, it was a real pleasure having this inboard motor. She never failed to start up for us and always ran clean. As a matter of fact, when we filled her up at Avalon, she only took 2.3 gallons of fuel. Good information to know.

We arrived at Avalon around noontime and contacted the Harbor Master on channel 9, about getting a slip for the next two nights. We met the patrol boat, provided our papers for Kulani and paid $60. Fee for the two nights' mooring. We were sent in fairly close to the shoreline, the first row next to the swim line, which provided us with an awesome view of the beach and the storefronts. We hooked up to our mooring without issue and met our boat neighbors. Everyone was so friendly and talkative. Bill and Robert decided to inflate the Kayaks we had brought and explore the shoreline. I took a nap.
We checked out Avalon stores and restaurants for potential eating places.

We also checked out the shower facility. Avalon is under some sort of water rationing so when I went to buy a second coin to use for my 5 minute shower,
I was told that we were only allowed ONE coin per day. We were also instructed on how to take a FAST shower so as not to waste any of the water. "Have all of your soap, shampoo, and conditioner out and ready. Don't waste any of the water. Wash quickly and rinse so as not to be left standing there with shampoo in your hair or soap all over your body when the water suddenly shuts off!! I found that the 5 minutes was plenty for me. I was able to soap and shampoo thoroughly with that 5 minute time. Someone with long hair might have an issue with rinsing.

We finally met up with Don and Deb, our friends that coordinated the Catalina's to Catalina activity. Unfortunately, it turned out that we were the only other boat, besides them to participate. We surmised that the lack of attendance was probably because this week was the first week of school for many families. We also suggested that next year, the event should be planned over a long weekend instead of Monday through Friday. Don would consider moving it to the summer where more might be able to participate.

Robert left on the Catalina Express on Tuesday morning to attend an event back in Washington DC. Congratulations to Robert on his award. Sorry to see him have to go, but now we had even MORE space on Kulani to relax and enjoy the island.

I passed by the dive trailer at Casino Point, at least 4 times as we ventured past and walked to Descanso Beach. I had every intention of renting gear to make that scuba dive at Casino Point, however it just wasn't to be. This private beach area (Descanso) has definitely been built up with tons of rental kayaks and boats. There was still more construction on the island. I was politely reminded that the beach was open but that there was a $2. per person fee. I apologized and returned to the walkway. Anyway, if you want a nice beachfront place to have drinks and a walk on a nice beach, this might be your place.

Before we left Avalon, we topped off the diesel tank (which is where I got the 2.4 gallons) and I learned how to clean out the holding tank. It's really quite easy, however while they didn't charge for the use of the suction system, they did charge quarters for the water. We flushed and pumped out the holding tank to make sure we were clean and empty.

We departed Avalon on Wednesday morning at about 8:30am. We were again without any winds and had to motor completely around the east tip of Catalina before the winds started to pick up. It was then, that Bill noticed a small 2"-3" tear in our mainsail, right behind the second from the bottom batten. We sure didn't want this to grow any longer so we pulled down the main and got out the Sail-Tape. The action of bringing down the sail either made that small tear look longer or contributed to the vertical tear in the sail. Either way, we were glad we saw it before the winds picked up and were able to effect repairs to both sides of the sail. While the mainsail was down we also noticed that the stitching on the second from the top batten was coming loose. We decided to add tape to that area, as well. Sails were back up and we were now feeling the winds come up as we passed China Point on the back side of Catalina.

We really expected the unsheltered side of Catalina to hit us with more winds and swells, however today, it seemed that King Neptune was gentle and allowed us to pass swiftly along. Winds were building to 12-15 kts and you couldn't have asked for a better day for sailing. As a matter of fact, we arrived outside the Isthmus cove just after noon and decided we weren't ready to stop sailing and go into our mooring. So, we sailed out to sea, away from where we had planned to stay the night, in favor of rounding the West End of Catalina and sailing back to Two Harbors. Along the way we saw some sea lions playing and a nice sized shark cruising the surface of the water.

We arrived at Two Harbors, checked in with the Harbor Master and was assigned a mooring at J-10, which proved to be an interesting mooring. Two other Catalina 27's arrived and were assigned to the moorings next to us. We spent our time at Two Harbors hiking between the island bays and met up with a real Buffalo..... Neither Bill or I were keen to getting TOO close to this rather enormous beast, but later found out that this one seemed to be gentle and as long as you didn't try to touch it, was content to walk among us.

We snorkeled near the rocky beach areas and finished up our last night at Two Harbors with a BBQ on the beach. They have tables and BBQ's available for use. Don and Deb provided some great tasting Beef Tips and we provided the salad and wine. Turned out really nice.

I should add that the two nights spent were pretty rough. The swells were up and Kulani rocked and rolled all night. Glad I was on sea-motion sickness stuff, else I would surely be hurling or finding a quick way to shore. I don't know what it was but every boat in the bay was rocking and rolling!! By morning, you would never know that the water was so rough that night.

We departed Two Harbors on Friday morning around 8:am, motored out around Bird Rock and then on to Ship Rock. Don and Deb arrived and wished us good sailing as we headed off towards the north tip of Palos Verdes and they headed off to San Pedro. Again the winds were not good this morning and we ended up motoring most of the way back across the channel. It wasn't until noon that we had enough wind to sail and were able to shut off the motor. With the motor we cruised at 4 - 4.5 kts, however once the winds picked up, we were hitting 5.3 to 5.7 kts.
We saw a pod of Porpouse as we passed Palos Verdes point and were surprised to see a Sea Turtle as we neared the Redondo pipes area. Later we found out that this sea turtle was in a local paper as a rare and endangered species. We were fortunate to see it.
As we finished up our sailing adventure, back into Marina Del Rey, we stopped at the Fuel Docks and topped off the diesel tank. This time we only took on just over a gallon of diesel and I paid the attendant to flush and clean out the holding tank once more. I also added a pint of deodorizer to the tank (didn't see the gallon of deodorizer under the V-Birth until later). In either case, I would recommend that the club check out the pipes or the tank as it continued to smell pretty rank in the V-Birth area. I suspect that there might be a leak up there and this needs to be fixed!
We docked Kulani, took a shower in the public facilities, and would highly suggest that an on-board shower be added to Kulani. It would make the swim back from shore to the boat nicer if you can rinse off with fresh water.
Well, other than that, we had a great week at Catalina and look forward to more sail - time on Kulani.
Roy........

We now have an online sailing LOG to document your trips on Kulani.