California or Bust - Missive 6

October 16, 2010: It felt good to pull away from the dock with my honey onboard. We were moving on to Ventura at short 24 miles away. On a whim I hailed Panta Rhei on the VHF and sure enough got a reply. Larry & Karen were also on their way to Ventura from Cojo anchorage and only a couple of hours behind us.

The marina was kind enough and placed them on the same dock only a boat away from us. We then met up with Paul & Judy Meaney on Grace for a dinner out trading stories and adventures. It sure felt good to see familiar faces and good friends.

October 17, 2010: This marina is expensive - $1.50/ft but at least they had good clean facilities. The laundry got a workout by all three boats and then I made a trip to the grocery store. The closest one was about 2 miles away ... not very convenient so a taxi ride was in order.

October 18, 2010: Panta Rhei was joining us for a trip to Santa Cruz Island. After checking with locals and the National Park Service we got tips on good anchorages and what to see. Our first destination was Pelican Cove. The trip over to the island was a mixed bag of sailing, motor sailing & motoring. I was hoping for a nice quiet calm no swell anchorage and for the most part my wishes came true. Both boats got tucked in around a point reducing the swell (which wasn't much) and settled in for the evening ... dinner was on Ponderosa.

This anchorage was touted as quite beautiful ... all four of us are trying to figure out where the beauty lies. We should all be thankful for the incredible northwest woods, coves and mountains in WA, BC & AK ... I really miss 'em.

October 19, 2010: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Barbara and surrounding waters out 6 miles are part of the Channel Islands National Park. These islands are home to over 2000 species of animals and plants - 145 are found nowhere else on earth. This is a sanctuary for brown pelicans; back in 1970 they were on the endangered species list due to contamination of DDT. It was only in 2009 they were removed the list thanks to their remarkable recovery; on West Anacapa Island around 6,000 nesting pairs of parents raise their chicks.

One of the attractions on Santa Cruz Island is the Painted Cave, the largest sea cave in North America. It is about 600 feet long and the entrance about 150 ft tall. A tour of this cave was today's fun filled adventure. Hazard's Anchorage was the closest place to deploy the dinghies for a 1.9 mile ride to the cave. It was living up to its name and I was not comfortable leaving the boats at anchor in the larger swells (we were now at the NW corner of the island). I pitched a fit and wouldn't leave the boat. So Larry & Karen took their dinghy first to the caves while Bob & watched the boats. We kept in touch by radio as a good safety measure.

Once Larry & Karen were back, Larry insisted we see the cave and they would watch our boat. Now deploying a dinghy and mounting the motor on it in 3-4 ft swells is challenging ... actually it was a pain in the ass. But we managed and sloughed our way to the cave promptly getting wet in the rain and salt water spray. (all this I thought to see a stupid cave) I had one heck of time even getting into the dinghy from the boat trying to time the swells.

The cave was huge and the water calmed as we ventured further inside. The sea lions barking echoed throughout the chambers ... it was spooky, getting darker and the swell kept pushing us inward. And you could eyes reflecting off the flashlights ... I had enough - I yelled at Bob to get me out!

On the way back to the boats, a sea lion popped out of the water just ahead of the dinghy surprising the heck out of me. He looked at me and I at him ... we both screamed and Mr. Sea Lion dove quickly with one big tail slap soaking both Bob & I even more. Gezzzzzz ..

I survived the misadventure, we got the dinghy motor back safely on the boat (barely) and started off for Scorpion Cove on the southeast corner of the island. The weather was not cooperating starting with periodic rain showers and fickle winds but we got some sailing in. Just as we anchored the heavens opened up with thunder, lightning and pelting rain. I thought I was back in Ketchikan ... we had quite the nasty weather.

October 20, 2010: A land excursion was our planned activity for the day. We launched our dinghy, picked up the Nelsons and cruised along the shoreline gawking at the pelicans, sea caves, sea lions and cormorants. Scorpion ranch, a once working ranch, was now a visitor center on Santa Cruz Island. Numerous campsites and walking trails surround the old ranch. We arrived shortly after a tour boat unloaded 60 - 5th graders and their chaperones for a 3 day field trip/camp. Can you imagine the patience and endurance the adults must have to corral these little cherubs? I got some great pictures of the kids pulling their suitcases/sleeping bags, etc thru the mud ... darn few had backpacks. It was about a ¼ mile from the beach to the campsite so the little critters did have to work but they were having fun and that is what counts.

Us big kids enjoyed walking the canyon trail to stretch our legs and enjoy the views. One would never guess the amount of rainfall we had last night by looking at the dry ground. Later we sat on the park picnic tables and just enjoyed the waterfront view especially the pelicans.

October 21, 2010:
Our grand plan was to travel 65 miles to Santa Catalina Island and spend a couple of days. It was rise and shine with anchors up by 7:00 am to arrive at Catalina during daylight. However, the morning didn't start out very good for Panta Rhei. Leaking engine hoses and high engine temps set the tone for the day. Check out Larry & Karen's website for details: www.sailblogs.com/member/Pantarhei. The bottom line is we ended up in the Channel Islands Marina in Oxnard a mere 19 miles away taking 7 hours to arrive ... Panta Rhei had no engine and come in under sail. We hovered close by ready to tow them if necessary.

The harbormaster had a temporary dock Panta Rhei could tie up to and we were allowed to tie up to the fuel dock for a couple of hours. Bob & Larry got to work troubleshooting all the issues. By the time it was all said and done ... it was a combination of problems - a leaking hose (which got replaced & provided a temporary fix) and a closed sea cock. Once resolved ... we proceeded to our assigned guest moorage and dinner out. We all were very pooped!

October 22, 2010: A well needed day of rest ...