We decided to visit Santa Cruz Island with son-in-law Isaac and the grandchildren. So on Friday morning we started out with a light NW breeze. We were soon sailing along comfortably with relatively small waves and gentle breeze. I commented how glad I was to get back into mellow southern California sailing. We set up the autopilot to follow the wind and sat back to relax. About mid channel, the wind got lighter and the swells a little bigger. Soon the passengers were starting to feel seasick. (Nobody took Dramamine). About 10 miles from the island, the wind build rapidly. There is usually a "windylane" off the island, but this one started farther out and got worse than usual. The seas got bigger and the wind built into the 30 knot range. We furled the big jib and set the little staysail. Soon we had to reef the main as well. For the sailors aboard that would have just been a nuisance and a bit uncomforable. However, for the passengers, it was truly horrible. But we were going really fast so in and hour and a half we arrived at Fry's Harbor, a small cove at mid-island. I had never been to Fry's before, but had expected a bit more shelter than we got. It was true that we got out of the waves, but the wind only dropped into the high teens and twenties. It was blowing directly off the beach so the two other boats there were anchored bow-to-beach. That was different, but when in Rome...
Because of the wind, we didn't go to shore that day. Boring for the kids, I'm sure. Fortunately, in the wee hours of the morning the wind finally quit howling through the rigging and we awoke to a beautiful morning - just what I had remembered from previous trips. We got to go ashore and go hiking. We climbed up a little stream and the boys had 'stick races' to see who's stick would go downstream fastest. After we got back to the boat, I put the outboard motor on the dinghy and we roared off to see some of the other coves. I think the kids liked going fast.
Later that evening, we hosted a little gathering aboard and found that 15 people is a bit much for our cabin. We played a little flamenco for them and then everyone went to the beach for snacks. On another boat was a couple who played bluegrass very well, him on guitar and her on banjo. They gave a concert on the beach and I got to join in on some of the vocals. Andi showed the boys how to skip rocks and we built a campfire. A terrific day that may have partially made up for yesterday - otherwise, I would have rather gone to the zoo.
Sunday dawned very calm and the radio told us that Los Angeles was having Santana conditions, so where we were the NE and NW winds were cancelling each other. So we motored all the way back to Santa Barbara. At least we got to really test the accuracy of the autopilot and found that we had it right on the money. Check off that problem! We also got to test the AIS system when we crossed the shipping lanes. AIS is a new way for big ships to identify themselves. Anything over 300 tons must use it and transmit vital information about themselves - most important being their actual speed and course. That eliminates having to guess which way they are going when a blip shows up on the radar. The ship above showed up on AIS when they were 25 miles away, but I didn't notice them until they were 13 miles away. I told Andi to watch in the direction that the ship would be coming from. I also learned the she was the R. J. Pfeiffer, a Matson cargo ship bound for Long Beach. Our closest point of approach would be 1.4 miles and would happen in 35 minutes. I gave the engine another 100 rpms and soon the AIS told us that the closest approach would be 1.8 miles. That was far enough for me. At 12 miles, the ship showed up as a blip on the radar and I set the radar to track it. At about 6 miles, we could see it through the haze and the photo shows it as it passed safely astern.
Now we are back in the harbor resting up. We still have a long list of projects, but nothing that will keep us from using the boat in any way.
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