Re: SANTA CATALINA

RAeschlima@aol.com
Fri, 15 Jan 1999 20:33:47 EST


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 1/15/99 2:26:45 PM Pacific Standard Time,
Krystofr26@aol.com writes:

<< I would like to talk to anyone who has personally sailed a Potter 15 to
Santa
Catalina. I am interested in information on currents, wind states, sea
states, anchorages, best routes, and best launching sites. How early would
it
be possible to do this, April, March? Thanks!

Chris Heidrich
P15 #2053 "Tetra"
Aurora, CO >>
Chris,

I have sailed to Catalina each year for the last four years. My sail is late
July or August (the water is warmer then) and the prevailing weather is calm
in the morning with a westerly wind developing from gentle at about 10:00 AM
to quite strong by 3:00 in the afternoon. It stays strong (18 to 25 mph) until
around sunset, but by then I am comfortably anchored in the shelter of some
headland. Currents are negligible. DO have a compass, chart, and a gps is
nice. A P-15 can sail out of Anaheim Bay, where I leave from because a buddy
of mine from childhood still lives in a house on the water at Sunset Beach.
(You must power in and out of the harbor as it is Navy property and they
insist.) You could easily leave from Alamitos Bay or Long Beach. The best
strategy is to get somewhere off Point Fermin, at the Northwest extreme of LA
Harbor, about the time the wind comes up, then it is an easy tack to almost
any point on the whole Island. I stay away from Avalon and all that,
preferring mid-isand and the West end (Emerald Bay, etc.) it gets very windy
around the Isthmus in the afternoons. Snorkeling is great, though a light wet
suit is almost a necessity most of the time. Coming back is a broad reach and
can be very exciting!

Ralph Aeschliman
HMS-18 #67 Moby Duck
(and formerly P-15, Hunky Dory)
Flagstaff, AZ