Newport Beach, CA

Lots of people fishing on the pier, Newport Beach, CA

Steve and Lulu Yoder on Siemper Sabado, their Westsail 28, Avalon



Minney's



The Balboa Island Ferry

Yesterday's crossing from Avalon to Newport Beach was uneventful -we were able to sail the last two hours of the four hour crossing.  It's always so peacful when we are able to turn off the engine.

The wind has made things interesting today causing us to take extra precautions and double up on our mooring lines.  We received word that the waves were crashing over the breakwater at Avalon where we were yesterday - good timing.  I was reluctant to leave as I really wanted to stay the weekend for the Jazz Dance Festival in the Casino building.  Our new friends, Steve and Lulu Yoder were scheduled to depart this morning from Avalon.  We hope they were able to make their departure safely.

Our limited adventures today consisted of visiting the famous Minny's second hand marine store and re-provisioning at Trader Joe's.  Sound glamorous doesn't it?

Plans are to depart for Dana Point tomorrow (or on to Oceanside depending on how we feel in the morning).

Dolphins Playing at the Bow

Photos from Catalina

Historic Casino Building with Ballroom and Movie Theatre

Interior of the Theatre

Happy Hour on Odessa

Bob and Sherry on their Valiant 47, Ponderosa

Wrigley Memorial

Catalina Island

Bison Buffalo - Catalina Harbor, North End of Island

It is hard to believe we have been away from the dock for only a week – already I find myself losing track of the days.  The biggest inconvenience, so far, is not having regular internet access, which may actually improve once we are in Mexico.

We spent two nights in Catalina Harbor on the north end of the island – the second night I was up watching the anchor as we had to move from where we were the night before because the anchor was not holding.  When I remembered we had been told that raccoons are a problem and that they can swim to your boat, I went down below.  What’s worse – an anchor not staying anchored or an encounter with an uninvited raccoon in the middle of the night? 

Wednesday we motored around the island to Avalon.  On our way down the back side of the island we were joined by many dolphins around our boat.  At one point there were six dolphins all swimming under the bow of the boat, most of the time there were three or four dolphins swimming and jumping at the bow.  This all went on for about 45 minutes.  There are not any marinas or slips on Catalina Island, so we are tied to a mooring buoy.  We are happy just to be hanging out after so much rushing around to get away from the dock and have found time to stow some things and fix some things.

We have been studying our cruising guides – Charlie’s and Pacific Mexico and I found a Baja fishing book at the Avalon Friends of the Library sale on Saturday.  Gosh, there is sure a lot of information to know.  I am beginning to understand why no one is bored when cruising.

Some interesting facts about Catalina Island – In 1915 (or some say 1919) William Wrigley, Jr. purchased the Island and personally developed it into a one of a kind resort.  From 1921 to 1951, the Island was the spring training site for the Chicago Cubs (which Wrigley also owned).

It is thought that bison were brought to the Island in 1924 for filming of The Vanishing American, Zane Grey’s classic novel.  It doesn’t look like any of the scenes from the Island appear in the film, but the buffalo still roam freely.

The movie theatre in the Casino building was the first theatre built for talking movies.

Key things we have seen on the Island are the Wrigley Memorial and The Casino where we saw a movie and enjoyed a pre-movie concert performed on an historical pipe organ.

Wednesday, November 10, we plan to depart for Newport Beach.

Checking in from Ventura

Grace and Odessa in Ventura Isle Marina

White knuckle driving

Gender bending in Ventura, CA

Beach at Ventura Harbor

Patti and Fr osty

Paul and Judy

Red sky in the morning sailor take warning

After two days of white knuckle driving we arrived safely Sunday evening around 7:00 p.m.  When we arrived on the boat waiting for us were warm brownies and a bottle of wine provided by Judy and Paul Meaney on SV Grace from Seattle (who were moored in the slip next to ours).  I was happy to board Odessa and discover that the crew had left her immaculate  - thank you Jim, Sandy and Kirk (and Mike)!  A short walk around the harbor took us to a Greek restaurant where we had dinner with Paul and Judy and enjoyed delicious, tall margaritas.  Returning our rental car on Monday took a big chunk of the day since it is 60 miles to Burbank where we had to return the car.  Fortunately, we made our way through the crazy California drivers.

Ventura is a beautiful town - the area surrounding the marina is a mix of hotels, shopping and residential and then just across the street is a strawberry farm.  The old downtown Main Street is remininscent of the 50's complete with the cute little bunglaow motels like the one's my family stopped at along the way on our drive from Texas to California when I was just a kid.

Our friends, Paul and Judy had planned to leave on Tuesday, but didn't, so the four of us took the opportunity to do some provisioning and run some other errands.  Paul and Judy left on Wednesday morning, but due to the Santa Ana winds, only made it to Oxnard which is five miles away.

I hope this doesn't get too confusing.  In the meantime, other friends, Patti and Frosty, who have been  housesitting in Santa Monica, called and said they would be at our boat around noon (Wednesday) to visit for the afternoon.  They have been cruising in Mexico and passed along some helpful information.  Later, the four of us drove to Oxnard and joined Paul and Judy for happy hour.

Thursday (yesterday) was our first solid day to work on some projects.  Michael went up the mast in his new bosun's chair and said it was actually comfortable.  I managed to get a handle on what kind of provisions we had left over on the boat from the trip down from Seattle.  We enjoyed our first dinner on our boat last night (alone) since arriving.  We we still have a few projects and stowing to do, but then it's a boat.

Weather permitting, we plan to leave the dock on Sunday to head down the coast a short ways, then to Newport.  From Newport we plan to visit Catalina Island and work our way to San Diego on November 17th.

I asked Paul, who has been out cruising for a couple of months if they feel like they are on vacation.  He said "No, it's just a way of life."  That being said, I think I'm going to like "this way of life."

My car is gone – Michael sold it the night I arrived back from Florida from visiting my mother.  I never met the new owner or had to watch my car drive off without me, it is probably for the best.  You realize how expensive it is to own and maintain a car when you start cancelling your auto insurance.  The two cars combined cost over $100 a month in insurance alone - I knew that, but somehow you don’t think about it when you have your “freedom” to move about.  Now that I don’t have a car, I have a new kind of freedom - I won’t have to worry about finding a parking place or pay for parking or take my car in for an oil change or pay for the inevitable repairs – and – I get more exercise. 

They talk about the American’s love affair with her car - Sunday afternoon I posted my car on Craig's list.  I love my car.    My Texas friends will understand.  It's not quite so bad in Seattle where we have a wonderful transportation system.  This time of year, with the agreeable weather, riding the bus is not all that bad, but wait until it starts raining.  Fortunately, I will be gone by then.  Those of you familiar with Craig's list will understand when I say I was disappointed that I didn't get any calls within a couple of hours of posting - then the phone rang, half an hour before our dinner guests were scheduled to arrive.  Just as they drove up, there I was - driving away with a long haired, bearded young man (did I mention how cute he was?).  Later, at dinner, I found out our friends thought I was driving away to my new life - if only it was that easy.