Day 5 Oct 27
Up and off anchor around 330 am. We want to get to Catalina island today so it’s a long day. Many pictures running through my mind of Catalina island! Such beauty. But off in the night to start.
Sailing in the dark is new to me. I admit it scared me some as I am a visual person and like to get my bearings off of land or if no land see the horizon. Sailing off shore with no land in sight also used to cause me fear. Not anymore!
But it is amazing how quickly you realize that the same skills, listening to the waves and the feel of the wind, etc are used no matter the amount of light. The technology we have on board allows us to see other boats either via AIS ( sort of like a tracking beacon for boats) or on radar. However it is a bit daunting to realize not everyone has AIS on their boat. So when you see a light off in the distance and you don’t see it on the chart, but you see it with binoculars and can get a fix on it, you pay attention! Sometimes they are just fishing boats way off shore probably fishing when they shouldn’t or they just did not turn on their AIS.
The sun tried to rise out of the clouds today but didn’t quite make it. It was cloudy and overcast all day with very light winds. We sailed, motored, sailed, motored. Overall a very grey day, with variable wind but some ominous looking clouds at times.
Around noon the marine weather forecast started issuing weather advisories for the Channel Islands and coastal areas,warning of the Santa Ana winds. We had read about them ( google it, very interesting). The advisory also went further to say do not try to seek refuge at Avalon / Catalina as it was unsafe. Ok well there goes that plan so lets look at plan B. We quickly checked our course and headed for Los Angles Harbor. We got some great wind as we headed east towards land and enjoyed some good wind gusts.
We arrived in LA harbor just before 5 pm. Got a slip tied up the boat and enjoyed a cold beer. We even walked ( was quite funny watching us walk after all the rolling waves today) to a local seafood place and had a great dinner off the boat, thank you Tim! The best part was the abundant hot water showers at the marina. We have a great water supply and shower on board Boundless, but it is still a treat to use as much hot water as you want without any worries.
Route planning for next day involved groans as the wind is predicted to be very light, coming from differing angles, at erratic speeds. Sigh! Plan is to get to Oceanside if the wind is good, or Dana Point if wind is too variable. Either way we decided to leave during day light instead of night time.
Cruising Logbook 