Catalina - June '08

I've been looking forward to this trip to Catalina for some time. Why? Because my good friend Doug would be on board. You'd have to know Doug to know if he's involved whatever is planned is going to be just that much more fun. Add in his son Ryan and son-in-law Jared and it was bound to be an epic trip.

Doug is an avid kayaker. He loves kayaking. So, the plan was to head over to Catalina with kayaks, snorkeling gear, and lots of good food. Oh yeah, and handheld GPS systems to do some island geocaching.

We headed out on Thursday evening with a couple of hours of light left looking forward to a spectacular sunset. Passing in the dark would be a new experience for this sailor. Crossing at night wasn't too much of a concern but mooring was. Mooring at Avalon can be a bit tricking for a green crew. However, I was confident in Doug & Co. would have no problems getting it done in the dark.

As we neared Queens Gate, a loud metal-on-hull rapping sound came from the stern of Bella. This was accompanied with enough vibration that it demanded our attention. Quickly putting the boat in neutral, hoping to isolate the problem, we noticed two long strands of orange rope trailing behind. The prop had been fouled and the guilty line removed.

The wind was strong and was driving us toward the breaker of Queens Gate. Besides this very real hazard, Queens Gate is no place to be for any length of time. We'd have to move quickly to get some distance from the breakers and find safe waters.

After deploying the headsail Bella came to life and began to move again. Back in the harbor, we reviewed our options. Since I was the only one on board that knew how to operate the boat, Doug offered to take one for the team and get wet. Now, finding a way to stop, or at least slow, Bella. Turning into the wind didn't slow us enough. One option would be to anchor under sail behind White Island. Another option, heave-to, hoping this would slow Bella enough for Doug to take a look.


To my surprise, heaving-to slowed Bella down to 0.5 knots. Not perfect but likely enough for Doug, a one-time competitive swimmer, to take a look. In case we needed to recover our swimmer, we deployed the dinghy with Ryan as our pilot. The water was cold and the current strong which made it tough going for Doug. He was determined, and successfully, removed all of the trailers. With Doug back on board, I started the motor and engaged the prop. The vibration was gone and was confident we could now make it back to our slip.

We sailed back to the marina to minimize the use of the motor. Once at the marina breakers we doused the headsail and motored slowly the remaining distance to the slip. By this time it was dark. Once safely in the slip, with wetsuit and waterproof flashlight I went below and removed the last bit of rope from the prop shaft and checked the hull, shaft, and prop for any damage. Fortunately, none was found.

With this episode behind us we determined to get a good sleep and leave early the next morning. This time the crossing was uneventful except for a few dolphin and sea lion sightings. Once arriving in Avalon Bay we moored flawlessly.

The afternoon brought kayaking, snorkeling, and geocaching. Later a great water front meal at Antonio's, an ice cream treat and lots of people watching. A great place to people watch.

Saturday we rented a golf cart and toured the island. More people watching and a spirited game of ring-hook.

On the way back one key crew member became a bit queasy. I won't say who but to quote the Greek philosopher Aristotle, "Hope is the dream of a waking man."

We hoped to see more dolphins and were not disappointed. However, none of us had expectations of spotting a whale. About two-thirds into the crossing Jared spotted what appeared to be a large blue whale. It was easily as long as Bella. It surfaced and looked like it was headed our direction but didn't surface again. Jared got the best picture and I'll add it once I receive it from him. Even a small glimpse was very exciting.

The crew spent the rest of the crossing was relaxing and dozing off.