sailing casita

Just as I was finishing writing up a post about our time here in Avalon I realized I never wrote about our last day at and departure from Santa Cruz Island so here it is (to be followed very shortly by the Avalon post):

Our last day at Coches Prietos was spent doing some chores in the morning (restitching the genoa sun protection, replacing the genoa halyard) and hanging out on the beach for most of the afternoon.

While at the beach we got a treat and spotted one of the Santa Cruz Island foxes! They used to be endangered but are no longer listed. It just came sauntering onto the beach from the brush and sniffed around the sand looking for treats I guess. It ate a couple crunching things it found, probably little crabs. It didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence, it kept its distance but didn’t startle when we would talk or move about. I didn’t have a camera so no pictures, but it was super cute! They are tiny, we read later the adults weigh around 4 pounds, so smaller than a typical house cat (but about the size of Cocoa, my sister’s cat).

The next morning our friends on Beyond the Stars departed for the mainland and we weighed anchor and went back to Smuggler’s Cove, planning to leave early the next morning for Avalon. The trip back to Smuggler’s was notable for many crab traps we dodged and a small detour we had to make as we approached the Cove at the request of a NOAA vessel because they had an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle?) in the area mapping the sea grass.

Rather than wait until the morning we decided to depart for Avalon after dinner and travel through the night, that way we wouldn’t be worried about arriving after dark. I’m not sure if that was the best decision or not, but the trip was uneventful and we arrived as the sun came up.

There really isn’t that much to add but I did want to write up our overall impressions of the anchorages where we stayed. Probably of little interest to most of you so you won’t miss anything if you skip it.

Prisoner’s Harbor

This is on the north side of the island. It feels pretty protected from the typical NW winds but feels quite exposed to the north and the northeast. It is almost what I would consider a roadstead anchorage. To me the scenery here is nice, but nothing amazing. It does have the advantage of having a ferry terminal so it is a could option if you are expecting guests from the mainland

Smuggler’s Cove

I really like Smuggler’s Cove. The scenery appeals to me (I like the olive grove) and it feels less like an open roadstead and more of a real cove compared to Prisoner’s. It is protected from the west and the north. It looks like it could provide some protection from the NE as well but apparently it is NOT a safe anchorage during a Santa Ana event. There can be some gusty canyon winds here and some swell that is more pronounced closer to the beach. And speaking of beaches, the one big downside of Smuggler’s is the lack of a sandy beach or a place to land a dinghy. The rocky beach is too steep for a safe dinghy landing, which is too bad because there is a nice hiking trail right onshore. On our previous visit we took paddle boards ashore (I got rolled by a wave).

Coches Prietos

Coches Prietos is a very pretty little anchorage with a beautiful sandy beach. We took the dinghy ashore every day we were here and really loved that beach. The anchorage feels quite protected other than from the south and apparently provides some protection from Santa Ana winds (which is why we ended up there). The only real downside of Coches is that it is a small anchorage surrounded by steep, rocky cliffs. This provides great protection but also makes it feel a little closed in and the rocks feel very close. We didn’t put out quite as much rode as we typically would just due to space constraints.