4th of July Get Away

I've decided the north end of Catalina Island is where it's at. Avalon is great if you've never been there. However, if you want to get away from the commercial side of life, pass on Avalon and head up the island's coast. Our plan for the 4th of July was to get out of town by sailing to Emerald Bay.

We left on Wednesday, July 1st, early enough to arrive with a few hours of sun to play with. The wind was blowing and it looked like we'd have plenty of wind with a reasonable point of sail. However, once out of the harbor the wind shifted and the speed increased. We were now beating into a 28-34 knot wind. With the entire family aboard I did all I could to relax the sails to minimize Bella's heeling to make the passage more comfortable.



We brought all the fun you could imagine on this trip. Kayaks, snorkeling gear and our new tender. I was very excited to get out on my new Ocean Kayak Caper. The Caper is a great single kayak for caving, moderate touring and wave surfing. It's wide enough for my hips and yet not too long for tight caves. At the same time it's not so short that it hampers straight-line touring. It's my favorite all around single Ocean Kayak.

We arrived in a little more than three hours and found just a few other boats moored. This of course would change as the 4th of July arrived. Emerald Bay is a beautiful place. Clearly its name set expectations and the water color does not disappoint. The surrounding cliffs and rock outcroppings just add to its beauty.

Once moored Sean and I wasted no time and quickly changed into our swimsuits and swam to shore. The water was warm enough for an invigorating swim. Once there we explored our private beach. Sean immediately started a shell collection. I found a rock and relaxed into sleep.

While there we kayaked, relaxed on the beach, snorkeled, hiked, played games and ate great food. We decided we would sail back to Long Beach to enjoy their 4th of July celebration. We would be rewarded with one of the best fireworks show any of us had ever seen.

To watch the fireworks show we decided to load up in our tender, yes all seven of us, and head out into the harbor for a better vantage point. It was a beautifully clear night with the Long Beach skyline behind us and the Queen Mary in front of us. The harbor was alive with boats of all kinds anchored waiting for dark to set in and the show to start. No one was let down. It was quite simply the best fireworks show I've ever seen. There was no end to them it seemed. Watching from the water just added to the experience. Following the show we use air horns to express our appreciation. For some reason we found our loud horns to be very funny.

It was a great mini vacation and great preparation for our longer sailing vacation to Santa Cruz Island. The anticipation is even greater now.