Thursday, Aug 23 – Catalina to Marina Del Rey
Set sail with the family from Avalon back to Marina Del Rey.
Another perfect sail with sunny warm weather and comfortable sailing wind.
Vinnie and Maya thought it was a smoother ride with less swell compared to the
sail over. Avalon is further from Marina Del Rey so it was about an 8 hour trip
total. Returned to the marina at Chase
Park with showers and good access.
Friday, Aug 24 – Marina Del Rey, Paradise Cove, Santa Monica
Pier
My sister Tris arrived in the morning and drove my family to
meet my Dad at Paradise Cove.
Paradise cove is a lovely private beach with
cliffs, a pier, tidepools and kelp beds. They discourage beach visitors by
charging $10 per person and $30 per car to visit. However if you eat at the
beach restaurant, its only $3 access with validated parking. The classic TV
show “Rockford Files” was filmed at Paradise cove and must be one of the most
expensive mobile home parks around. As a kid we use to walk from Paradise Cove
north to Point Dume (an illegal clothing
optional beach at that time but had great snorkeling).
We had a nice visit with my Dad and sister while gorging on
seafood treats. We ordered a calamari, a fried seafood platter and a HUGE
“seafood ice tower.”
This ice tower must must have weighed 20-30 pounds (of
ice), was 2 feet tall, and covered with chilled shrimp, calamari, pickled
herring, salmon, tuna, crab, and topped off with a sizeable lobster. Dad really
went all out to celebrate the recent birthdays of Maya, Dylan, Vinnie, and
Tris. Thanks PopsJ
Dad even brought me a small generator to add to the boat supplies. Vinnie,
Maya, Dylan and I went for a short walk on the hot sand beach but were blasted
by a surprise wave on the steep beach (especially Vinnie). Tris drove us back
to her place to pick up our mini van.
From there we spent rest of the afternoon walking along the
Santa Monica Pier and enjoying the sunny weather. The kids enjoyed some cotton
candy and we played at the beach on the rings and climbing ropes. We also were
encouraged to try someones slack line (tightrope). We were tired already so
just tried a few times. Dylan really enjoys the climbing and balancing
activities. It’s a shame we don’t do more of these healthy activities at home
in cloudy Seattle.
Saturday, Aug 25 – Family Picnic at Marina Del Rey
I woke at 6:30 am to save a specific picnic area for our
annual family picnic at Chase Park in Marina Del Rey. We havent attended this
event for several years but were able to coordinate the picnic with the big
sail trip this year. My Mom’s side of
the family arrived and we enjoyed the shade of the park with great views of the
marina. I gave a few quick tour of the boat but enjoyed being “on land” at the
park. Vinnie and the kids departed about 2 pm for the long drive home to
Seattle. I enjoyed chatting with the family and stayed late until 7pm with Mom,
Al and Joyce. A great day of sharing with familyJ
…and I got great leftovers that lasted the next week.
Sunday, Aug 26 – Boat cleaning and projects in Marina Del
Rey
Monday, Aug 27 – Marina Del Rey to Catalina; Emerald Cove
My Buddy Doug arrived at the boat and after grocery shopping
we sat sail back to Catalina. We returned to Emerald Cove arriving at dusk and this
time anchored to save the $32 mooring fee. It was a rolly night though. Again,
another perfect sail with dolphin escorts and warm breezes. I could get used to
sailing in So Cal.
Tuesday, Aug 28 – Catalina; Emerald Cove
We had an early snorkel at Indian Rocks via kayak.
We then
towed the kayaks to the beach while snorkeling and spotted to large bat rays
slowly winging by. We then spent some time enjoying the beach and the quiet
harbor (being a Tuesday). At dusk, we hiked from the beach up to a dirt road in
hopes of walking to the Isthmus but the road curved significantly around each
bay and summer camp. The climb down back to the beach was a bit more tricky in
the fading light. I must have dropped my sunglasses on the way up because I
found them on the way down (lucky me).I should have taken my camera for photo
ops of the beaches and bays. Another reminder to always bring a camera.
Wednesday, Aug 29 – Catalina; Cherry Cove, Isthmus, Henrock
Cove
Experienced another rolly night at anchor at Emerald Cove but
was made better by setting a stern anchor to keep us turned into the swell.
Motored briefly to Cherry Cove where we tied up to a mooring and snorked around
the point with thick kelp, into a shallow cave, and up to a rocky beach where
we rested on a boulder with a view of the bay. Returning to snorkel we nearly
stepped on a plump octopus then returned to the boat and motored around the
corner to the Isthmus where we were assigned a free 4 hour mooring near the
dingy dock.
We then walked across the Isthmus to Catalina Harbor in the heat of
the day (reportedly one of the few natural safe all weather harbors in So Cal.)
Had some yummy fish tacos at the outdoor café. Sailed for 2 hours to Henrock Cove and
anchored behind Guano (bird poop) Rock. We arrived just in time for the sunset.
Another great day in paradise:)
Thursday, Aug 30 – Catalina; Henrock Cove to Avalon
We snorkeled in the morning and enjoyed a wider variety and
kelp amongst the boulders. Again found a big boulder island to climb and rest
in the sun. Fish schools varied from tiny to foot long. The water was very
clear and green. Returned to the boat and motored 1 hour to Avalon. We were
assigned to the rolly Descanso Beach Mooring but were soon moved to the inner
Avalon Harbor where we stayed for 2 nights at $28 a night for a mooring (no
electricity, water, or showers but convenient location and not rolly). The
anchoring just outside Avalon is at >100 ft and can be rolly. We hiked the
main road past Lover’s beach up to Wrigley’s Mansion and back into town (great
views of Avalon and the Casino).
Got a
free tour of the Casino by the Historian of Avalon because the tour guide was
missing. The Casino was built by Wrigley Jr in the 40s (?) and no expense was
spared. The movie theater downstairs has incredible wall paintings and
acoustics and the dance hall upstairs has the best view of the harbor.
We also
snorkeled at the aquatic reserve off the Casino and had a drink and a mountain
of nachos at the Descanso Beach Bar ½ price happy hour. Wow, that was enough
activity for 2 days :)
Friday, Aug 31 – Avalon
We were moved to the other side of the pier in Avalon this
morning. Snorkeled Loves Cove which was significant for tour boat (submarine
and glass bottom) traffic. I think the fish are trained to beg for food because
some sizable bass looking fish would come very close and stare at us as if to
say “hey buddy, where’s my treat.” The tour boats and snorkel rental shops
encourage feeding the fish which I disagree with. For example, one shark on the
“shark week” TV show reportedly would bite swimmers on the ass because someone
would feed the shark from a food bag on their hip so they learned where the
food was. Took our power dingy out at night out into the bay a bit to search
for flying fish with a flashlight but no luck. Visited the Descanso Beach Club
again for a drink and to unwind from another day in Paradise.
Sat and Sunday, Sept 1+2 – Catalina to San Diego
After 9am checkout from the mooring, we tried to anchor just off the Casino in 130’ of
water. After dropping 300+ ft of chain and rode, we were told that we anchored
in the wrong area. It was a bumpy morning anyhow, so we pulled anchor and
motored to the pumpout station in the protected inner harbor. This gave us some
time to load the outboard, dingy, liferaft, and prepare for sea while filling
with water. We finally set sail about noon in bumpy seas and about 10kts of
wind, which soon died, so we motored for about 2 hours until the wind picked up
again. After leaving the wind shadow of Catalina Island, the wind filled in
about 2 pm and we set sail at 5 knots downwind. We passed 2 schools of Sea
Lions lazily swimming along. We also saw some form of winged fish flopping at
the surface in the distance. I finally spotted one elusive flying fish which
flapped its wings about 100’ mid air to avoid us.
The sunset was only outdone
by the full moon rise. It was a beautifully bright night with little boat
traffic so the double feature included “On the dark side of the moon” and
“Casino Royal” (thanks Erick). We sailed by a full trash bag floating among the
swell which turned out to be trash and not a “bail fish” (drugs ejected by
smugglers). We arrived San Diego Harbor about 6 am at
sunrise and dropped anchor about 8 am in 20’ of water in protected Glorietta
Bay situated between a golf course and the famous Coronado Beach Hotel. Labor
Day weekend is in full swing so the small demarcated anchorage is tight but
well protected and FREE. My task until
my flight back to Seattle is to prepare Mariah for 2 months of storage prior to
setting sail for Baja. So now Im off to find Wifi to post this report and check
email. Cheers from Paradise :), Ken
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