A MONTH AT SANTA CATALINA

Santa Catalina Island is an iconic stop for southbound cruisers. Usually referred to simply as Catalina, it’d loomed large in our cruising plans both for the experience itself, and because it would be our last US cruising destination before Mexico. To start, we picked up a mooring ball in Isthmus Bay at Two Harbors and planned to stay for a couple of weeks; they have a great offseason “buy two nights get 5 free” for moorings that we couldn’t pass up.

It was easy to settle into the quiet pace of life at Two Harbors. For our first few days we were one of only a handful of boats in the bay, and most of the mooring balls were vacant. Given there are about 250 mooring balls crowded into Isthmus alone we shuddered to think how chaotic it must be during the peak summer season. There was a small taste of that over Thanksgiving weekend as about 50 other boats of various sizes turned up to celebrate the holiday weekend. For the most part though, it was Tino Pai and a few other boats enjoying the cooler Fall weather.

Though cool, generally we had blue sky weather and spent our days exploring and taking in the fabulous views from hiking trails around the bays, paddle boarding, reading, taking the odd quick dip off the boat (the water was a chilly 59F / 15C), and snorkeling and spearfishing around the rocks outside the harbor. It was obvious the waters were more heavily fished than at Santa Cruz as the fish were fewer, smaller and much more wary, though Andy still managed to snag a Halfmoon and another nice Sheepshead. Shannon managed to give a couple of fish a decent scare! Sundowners were required each evening to toast spectacular sunsets over the palm trees across the isthmus.

On one of our daily walks over to Catalina Harbor (“Cat Harbor”) on the other side of the isthmus, we’d seen leopard sharks in the shallows, as well as locals reeling in halibut from dinghies. The next afternoon we walked over with our snorkeling gear and spearguns; we snorkeled for halibut in the shallow bay without luck, at about 10 feet deep it was possibly shallow enough that the fish saw us coming, but we were well rewarded when we swam through at least 20 juvenile leopard sharks basking in the shallow water. The larger sharks were probably 5-6 feet and they docilely let us swim above them. Shan also spotted a couple of huge nudibranchs which always makes her day.

Though the days are full, an effect of this cruising lifestyle seems to be that we look back over a week or two and wonder what we did with the time! Perhaps it’s simply being on our own schedule and being more aligned with daylight hours. We celebrated our fortnight at Two Harbors with a famous Buffalo Milk cocktail at the lodge – it was invented there – and on December 2nd dropped the mooring to head down to Avalon. We had a very nice but short sail down the coast in cool, overcast conditions and picked up a mooring ball on the north side of Avalon Bay near the casino, a notable landmark on the shoreline of the bay.

The Catalina Island Conservancy tour had been recommended, and we duly signed up. Just over 3 hours over mostly dirt roads by 4x4, we had amazing views of the island while learning about and viewing the native and imported flora and fauna. We managed to see 32 of the approximately 100 American Bison on the island, including a closeup with one right by the road. Though not native, they’re a famous feature of the island and we were pleased to have seen them.

We were regular visitors to the marine park just outside the casino breakwater, snorkeling and practicing our freediving (in which we have a lot of room to improve!). It’s a great diving area and we made the most of the ease of access. We were able to spend more time identifying fish species including some of those we’d like to hunt for dinner as we proceed down the coast. There were plenty of the ubiquitous golden Garibaldi (California’s saltwater state fish, protected and they know it!), Half Moon, Opaleye, various Perch, Kelpfish, Kelp Bass, Sand Bass, and Sheepshead. With the water temperature between 55 and 59 degrees F (12 to 15 C) our new Wettie wetsuits had a good work out.

With the Holidays and our trip to Carson City & Lake Tahoe approaching, we also spent a bit of time reviewing items we’ll not need for Mexico and our cold weather clothing, most of which will go into storage. We’re starting to look forward to warmer waters more, especially with warmth in the boat tending to mimic the rather chilly sea temperature.

It was a nice overnight passage from Avalon to Mission Bay, departing at around 7:30pm to ensure a daylight arrival. A direct shot should have taken about 12 hours; we took 16 as we chased the wind to maximize time under sail, enjoying a waning moon through the night and a spectacular sunrise. The last few hours just off the wind made for a fine sail, and we sighted mainland Mexico and the Coronado Islands for the first time before turning in to Mission Bay. The Mariner’s Cove anchorage was sunny, calm, and relaxing; we both slept like logs that night. We explored Mission Beach the next day, then caught up with friends Keith & Jonnie for dinner on the beachfront, enjoying another beautiful Pacific sunset.

The morning of 15th December saw Tino Pai under way for our final US stop in San Diego in sunny conditions, though sadly we managed just an hour of sailing before light wind astern meant the engine needed to come on to make our slip in good daylight. We skirted wide around Point Loma to avoid the kelp bed and turned into the channel leading into San Diego Bay, only to be approached by the US Coast Guard for the first time on Tino Pai. An extensive boat check would have pushed us for time, however they merely politely asked where we had come from, where we were going, and checked we were both US citizens before letting us go on our way.

Sun Harbor Marina is a small, friendly, modern and clean marina in Americas Cup Harbor, next to Shelter Island and the San Diego Yacht Club where we’d purchased Tino Pai 4 ½ years ago. It felt poignant to bookend our US sailing experience in a familiar area, and we toasted those experiences together after tying up the boat at the slip.

We were surprised and pleased to see another Norseman 447 just two slips down from us at Sun Harbor, and especially as, like Tino Pai, it was one of the rarer aft cockpits. With a shiny new paint job, Andreas was undergoing a major refit and we enjoyed spending time with her owner Bernt comparing the boats.

After packing up the items for storage – including offloading the e-bikes and our well-used Yankee foresail – we picked up our rental car and headed inland to spend the week over Christmas with family and friends. Happy Holidays, everyone!