Catalina cruise part 3

David & chardy Lang (chrdvd@gte.net)
Mon, 19 Jul 1999 22:25:18 -0700


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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So after getting to the island, and securing to the tieline, the harbor
master came by to collect the fee. I asked him if he would take me ashore as
Eric and his family, Bob and his friend were already ashore waiting to have
dinner. We had a delightful dinner at the more expensive restaurant with the
six of us, Eric, his son and father, Bob and his friend. The food was so so
but the talk was warm and full of tales of the day. After dinner I called my
wife and let her know I had survived the trip. I arranged the boat for
sleeping. thats all I remember till morning. The p15 is very comfortable for
someone my size (6'3"). The berth is wide enough to roll over (which I do
alot) and not bang your knees on the centerboard trunk or the hull. I slept
with my head by the Cabin door, looking up at the stars. Its very handy to
just push the hatch back, look, then close it to keep the due out. Anyway,
morning light came shining in and I awoke to a beautiful day. After going
ashore for a little while Ralph suggested we head on over to Emerald Bay and
anchor there for the night. Bob and Michael Smith had to leave that morning
so the four remaining boats headed over. Mike Brownlee in Flipper, Eric in
Riptide, Ralph in Moby Duck, and myself in Go West. The location was
absolutely beautiful. On the other side of the moorings at Emerald bay was a
little cove just big enough for our boats. We all anchored close together
and spent the day snorkeling. There was lots of kelp there and it was high
noon when we got in the water. The sun shone down creating rays of light
that looked like it does when the sun shines through holes in the clouds.
Saw lots of fish and sea creatures. After snorkeling Ralph, Mike, Eric and I
went for a hike on the island. Lots of up and down hills. It was hot and
they were in better shape than I was so I came back to the boat and took a
siesta nap in my little inflatable boat. Ralph and Eric both play the horn
so There was spiratic music bouncing off the rocks making the atmosphere
quite enjoyable. That night we played cards on Eric's boat for awhile, then
went back to our own boats to cook dinner. Finally turned in about 10. I
awoke in the middle of the night to a crunch sound. I about hit the ceiling
with fright. After investigating I found it was extremely low tide and my
center board trunk had hit upon a submerged rock. I know the rock was there
but had no idea the tide would go out that far. There were about 4 feet of
rock above the water that were totally submerged when we got there. My rear
anchor line had snagged in the rocks and was holding me very close to them.
I got in my dingy and paddled out to the rear anchor, pulled it up and moved
it about 10 feet over to keep me clear of the rocks. The tide started coming
in and I seemed out of danger so I went back to bed. I had a very bright
diving light with me and when I first looked at the rock, just under the
water I could see two lobsters crawling on the rock. There was also a fairly
large crab crawling down the side. If I wasn't so sidetracked with the
anchor line I probably could have caught him. Oh well, the critter got to
live, my boat was safe, all was right with the world so I went back to bed.
The next day Eric and Mike and I were all heading back. Ralph was staying
and sailing around the island for a week (I envied him) Eric was heading to
Marina Del Rey, Mike to San Pedro and I to Long Beach. Mike and I were
sailing pretty close courses so we decided to sail back together most of the
way. We left at 9am. The wind was light so we motored until about 11:30.
Which put us about 1/2 way back. once the wind picked up we sailed together
for awhile and then said our good-byes (I later found out he hit those
notorious winds at Point Fermin and had to reef twice) I was sailing almost
downwind. it was delightful sailing. moving along about 4.5 to 5.5 mph. The
wind started picking up to about 10 to 12 knots as I got about 6 miles out.
Sailing downwind I actually started to surf the waves,cranking out high 6's
on the GPS as I sailed down the waves. I was sailing with the jib flat and
the mainsail out. At one time I decided to let the jib out. that was a
mistake. A large wave came up behind me and the jib out made the boat take
off. It started to turn into the wave and it was all I could do to manhandle
the tiller to get the boat to straighten out. That scared me a little. I
decided I didn't like sailing down wind in fairly strong winds. So I started
looking over my shoulder checking the heights of the waves coming up behind
me. I got to the point where I didn't have to look any more. I could tell by
the way the tiller handled when a large wave was upon me. If I corrected
quick enough I could prevent the boat from getting caught in the trough of
the wave. I finally sailed into the channel about 3pm. There was a tall ship
anchored just outside the jetty that was quite a site to see. I guess the
day before there were 4 of them in Long beach. Once I entered the jetty and
the waves calmed down I couldn't believe how fast I was sailing. Without the
wind waves the boat just glided downwind. I pulled into Alamitos Bay and
parked my boat on the beach next to the 2nd street bridge, I live around the
corner so I took the boom and the mast off and walked them home. A few
people at the beach were watching me curiously. I had quite a bit of
supplies in the boat so they guessed I had been out more than just the day.
Finally someone in the group asked me where I had sailed from. When I said
Catalina, they started laughing. "in that little boat" they said. To some
people I guess sailing such a small boat to Catalina seems foolish. To me It
was a dream come true. When I explained to them how seaworthy that little
boat is one of the men said "impressive" He's right, that little boat is
impressive, and a lot of fun to boot!

May you all have a great sailing season,

Regards, Dave