Destination "Catalina"
7/14/2002 - 7/22/2002
Whisper (sailboat in center of picture) moored in Cherry Cove.
Santa Catalina Island is 22 miles long and about 7 miles across at the widest point. Like the other channel islands, it is very rugged, with steep terrain, and several 1500-2100 ft peaks, but unlike the other Channel Islands, Californians have found a foothold here.
The passage over from Channel Islands Harbor was about 57 nautical miles and took from 6:30am until 4pm. Unfortunately, the wind was on our nose most of the morning, so we motor sailed at least half of the trip. The sun waited until after lunch to emerge. The highlight of the crossing was the huge dolphin pod (hundreds, with babies) we encountered that morning and the wonderful last hour of downwind sailing into the Isthmus.
Catalina island is situated on a diagonal, with the thinner west end pointing northwest toward the pacific, and the wider southeastern end pointing toward Mexico. Near the northwest end of the island, the land narrows to about a half mile, creating an isthmus and "Two Harbors" -- on each side of the island. On the south side is Catalina Harbor (or "Cat Harbor"), and on the north side (facing LA across the San Pedro channel) is Isthmus Cove, and several smaller, protected coves. Two smaller coves (mentioned frequently by folks we met in Channel Islands Harbor as favorites) are Fourth of July Cove and Cherry Cove. Based on all we had heard and read, we decided to head toward Cherry Cove and pick up a mooring there. We talk more about moorings in the next log for Avalon.
Exploring the Isthmus
Roughing it at breakfast. Fresh raspberries over Yoplait "custard style" vanilla yogurt and a cup of Kona.
Our first task was to dinghy over to the Isthmus Cove landing and explore the shoreside amenities. There we found a general store, a bar, restaurant, snackbar, laundry facilities, dive shop, and an outboard motor repair shop.
The outboard motor shop serviced Honda, so we stopped by to ask about our frequent "shear pin" breaks with our prop and Honda 5 hp engine. He immediately knew what we were talking about. He said Honda had sent him a recent service bulletin indicating standard brass shear pins would not work, and a new stronger stainless shear pin was required. After installing the new pin, we have not had another incident.
The general store had a bit of (almost) everything. Part mini-market, camp store, and tourist shop, it met most of our provisioning needs for the week we spent in Cherry Cove.
A bit of everything at the General Store.
We dined at the restaurant, snacked in the snack bar, and imbibed at the bar. The drink of choice for many of the tourists was "buffalo milk". The active bison ranches on Catalina lent this cute name to a concoction of sweet tasting liquor that we could only sample. Others consumed them like water and we watched them become more boisterous with each round.
Except for the occasional marine layer that burned off by late afternoon, the weather in Cherry Cove was wonderful. An occasional swell persuaded Duncan to rig the "flopper stopper" off the spinnaker pole, and we slept in comfort each night.
View from the snack bar. On a weekday morning, it is very quiet.
Isthmus Cove from the hiking trail above.
Cat Harbor
On the south side of the Isthmus is Catalina Harbor. Cat Harbor is the best protected harbor on Catalina. We had seen serene aerial pictures of this harbor and wanted to check it out. Although the water is a pretty color, it is not as clear and inviting as the water on the north side of the Isthmus.
Cat Harbor. The south facing harbor at the Isthmus. Panorama taken with our tiny Canon S300 digital elph.
Hey! Someone took our picture!
After a long hike, Duncan takes a refreshing swim.
Activities on Catalina
We hiked, fished, swam, and snorkeled, but there are dozens of additional activities on Catalina. Almost everyone owned or rented kayaks, and diving is very popular. Camping is very popular too. Campers take a ferry from the mainland to Two Harbors and getting the camping gear hauled to a campsite by a service on the island.
Although we both dive, we are "fair water" divers and seem to prefer tropical dives to California cold water dives. On the water surface, the water temperature hovers around 68 degrees, but ten feet down the temperature drops to 58 degrees and a 5-7 millimeter wetsuit is required. We have 3mm wetsuits, so we'll be waiting for warmer water.
Our major chore of the week (and Duncan's only dive) was cleaning Whisper's bottom of the layer of slime that had accumulated since Santa Barbara. Robin snorkeled and cleaned the first 2 feet down from the waterline. Duncan cruised upside down in a "mowing the lawn" pattern from bow to stern, lightly scrubbing the bottom. After an hour, the job was complete, the tank was empty, and both of us were completely exhausted.
Swimming was a daily activity. The water was cool, but the visibility 25 feet down to a sandy bottom made the water very inviting. We also took the opportunity to soap up and turn the daily swim into our shower. We appreciate our decision to get the stern (swim step) freshwater shower every time we emerge from the saltwater.
The fishing was easy, but the calico bass we caught was too tiny. I had to cut the hook so we didn't injure the fish's eye upon release -- so we only messed with fishing once.
Ahoy Foxfire!
Debbie and Denny on Foxfire.
Shortly after our arrival at Cherry Cove, the nice folks we met in Channel Islands Harbor arrived on their 56ft sloop Foxfire.
Denny worked with Bob Perry to design his third Foxfire. Denny has been a lifetime racer, so when it came time to build a cruising boat, you can still see the "go fast" influence in the design. The entire interior was designed and built out by Denny. A local LA boat builder constructed the hull and deck. This is a beautiful boat and the owners have been great to us. We thank them for sharing their wealth of local information.
Foxfire at anchor. Photo courtesy of Denny and Debbie!
Robin and Duncan enjoying a visit to Foxfire.
Ahoy Kiyomi!
Kiyomi Arrives in Cherry Cove.
While in Channel Islands Harbor, we received an email from a long time friend we had left behind in Alameda. He indicated he was currently helping his friend Chuck, skipper of Kiyomi, return his Brewer 42 from Guaymas, Mexico (in the Sea of Cortez), to the San Francisco Bay.
They were in San Diego, and would be heading north, possibly stopping in Marina Del Rey or Avalon on Catalina. After a few email exchanges and a telephone call or two, we coordinated a meeting in Cherry Cove.
Kiyomi was swapping crews in Santa Barbara and pushing north, so they only spent one evening -- but it was great fun and we enjoyed seeing Jeremy and meeting Chuck and the other crewmember Donna.
Jeremy, Robin, and Duncan. Note; the two fingers would usually appear behind Robin's head.
Jeremy (and his wife Janet) have been good friends since the mid 1980's when we used to work together in Miami. Jeremy and Janet cruised the east coast on their boat Flying Cloud. Robin and Duncan first sailed together in 1989 with Jeremy and Janet on Flying Cloud. We moved the boat from Miami to West Palm Beach on a great overnight sail.
We shared our first big sailing charter with Jeremy and Janet in Tahiti. See the 1998 log for a few pictures of Jeremy and Janet and our Moorings charter on Oceanide.
Whisper moored with her "flopper stopper" rigged.
The dark float in the middle contains three bikini clad teenage girls. The dozen or so kayaks contain most of the boy scouts from the Cherry Cove Boy Scout camp.
Cherry Cove wrap-up
Except for the powerboat, this view of three schooners anchored in the Isthmus looks like it may have looked 100 years ago.
The time in Cherry Cove is the best away-from-marina "cruising" so far. Because of the well organized and maintained mooring system, we did not worry about dragging anchors (ours or our neighbors), and the shore boats, trash pick-up and other services made our stay quite pleasant.
We were not asked to move moorings during our entire stay -- a complaint we have heard about the Catalina mooring system. Many of the mooring are "owned" (leased and maintained), requiring daily renters to be moved when the "owners" show up.
We thank all the folks that divulged Cherry Cove as their favorite cove -- it is now our new favorite too. Okay, so our sample size is one. We are now off to Avalon to see how it compares to the quiet, sleepy surroundings of the Isthmus.
Systems Update
The water in Cherry Cove was clean enough to run our watermaker every day until the tank was full. The genset ran flawlessly providing us with a daily full battery charge and hot water.
Our Pactor II SSB/HF modem that will enable email and weather fax is still not working. We will probably wait until San Diego to get this resolved.