sailing casita

Note: sent from Avalon on Catalina Island

As I am writing this we are anchored at Coches Prietos on the south side of Santa Cruz Island, most likely we will be somewhere else when I am able to upload this post. We moved to Coches Prietos from Smuggler’s Cove in a rush because of a Santa Ana wind warning. Unfortunately in the rush to leave I killed our windlass motor. It still works as a manual windlass but getting the motor fixed/replaced is high on the agenda.

Here is a rundown of our trip down the coast from Half Moon Bay:

We left HMB Sunday morning with a forecast for winds of 5 to 10 knots in the morning, then 15 to 20 in the afternoon. Fifteen knots is pretty much a sweet spot for our boat so we were excited to make some miles under sail. The winds were pretty much as forecast, but unfortunately the direction meant we were sailing dead down wind (DDW). We can sail DDW but not very efficiently or comfortably, especially when there is swell coming from 2 directions which was the case. We ended up jibing down the coast, it was frustrating not to be going in the actual direction we wanted but at least we were moving!

We were using our autopilot and hadn’t had any sun since Saturday so by Monday morning our batteries were pretty depleted and we decided to start the motor and motorsail for a few hours. When our batteries were topped off (after about 3 hours) we decided to pole the genoa out so we could sail DDW wing and wing. We have done this many times before but we tried a different approach this time and man was that a mistake! To make a long story short we ended up with the spinnaker pole bashing against the forestay while I vainly tried to control it from the foredeck with the foreguy and Devon just about got his arm pulled from the socket when he was lifted off the deck while trying to control the genoa with the sheet. Then the genoa got wrapped around the headstay, with the spinnaker pole, foreguy, and topping lift stuck in the middle so it looked like an hourglass, and I got doused with seawater when the bowsprit dipped into a wave while I was wrestling with the foreguy. All the while the genoa was flapping madly in about 20 knots of wind and everything seemed (was) very out of control!

Eventually we got the genoa untangled and poled out with no harm done other than some stitching on the genoa sun protection that came loose. We have analyzed the whole sequence of events and identified mistakes we made and things we should have done differently. We are always learning!

The rest of Monday was much less eventful but the night was pretty uncomfortable due to a mixed swell that kept pushing our stern around so the wind would get behind the main and backwind it. We had a preventer on so there were no accidental jibes, but we were in 20 to 25 knots and it was gusting to 30 so it was a lot of force and pretty jarring each time it happened. The swell was rolling us about 40 degrees to each side so it was hard to do much other than try not to fall over! While on watch we both spent as little time as possible below decks to avoid becoming seasick.

Tuesday morning dawned with a dying wind (less than 5 knots) and us entering the Santa Barbara Channel. We didn’t want to be drifting in a busy shipping channel so we motored the rest of the way to Prisoner’s Harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island. It turns out we had some (minor) damage to the mainsail so continuing under sail wasn’t a great option anyway. We were anchored by 6pm and ready for some uninterrupted sleep!

Wednesday morning we moved to Smuggler’s Cove where we spent 2 nights before relocating to Coches Prietos. It is now Sunday, tomorrow we will go back to Smuggler’s Cove for a night and then maybe be head to Avalon on Catalina Island (there is no wind for at least the next 5 days so unfortunately we will probably motor the whole way).

It is wild and beautiful here and feels very removed from all the conveniences and distractions of everyday life. I feel much closer to nature here, both in a positive, peaceful way but also in a more “at the mercy of Mother Nature” way. I find myself very aware that we are quite isolated and outside of our usual safety net (both physically and psychologically) and very much on our own.

Anyway, enough with the Deep Thoughts! Here are a few photos from the past few days: