more catalina stories

We're delighted to bring you the second installment of "Catalina Stories." Given its easy accessibility from the greater Los Angeles coast, Santa Catalina has seen generations of sailors come and go. In this installment, we hear about some of the idiosyncrasies of mooring in Avalon, where and what to drink, where to bike, and more. "Catalina may be an island paradise, but she is not easy to get to from San Diego," wrote Jim McMullen. "Seventy-fi ve miles away, Catalina is usually straight upwind, and with the current running

down the coast, it makes for a tough beat to windward. A good time to make this trip is July or August as the weather is warm and the winds are usually light at night. "And that was our plan. We went aboard my boat Dolphin, a large, gaffrigged staysail ketch designed after Joshua Slocum's Spray. "Dolphin would comfortably sleep eight, but for this trip we were 16 persons. As Dolphin is 14 feet of beam and built like a square box, she went to windward like molasses pours in winter. We left on Friday night (technically at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, so as not to chance superstition), and motored straight to our island escape. We hoped to gain some miles to windward before the wind started to pick up in the morning, and our trip through the night was uneventful. When the sun rose, we had made 50 miles to windward, and the wind was light all the way to Catalina. "Avalon is a quaint little town, and the harbor is densely packed with fore-and -aft-moored boats. This makes mooring a little tricky, as there is not much space between vessels. Everyone had watched how this was done on a YouTube video, and we moored without a hitch. After that, offi cials came aboard and dropped dye tablets into the heads — they were then fl ushed to see if there was any discharge into the water. We saw two boats leave when the water turned green during the test. The water in Avalon Harbor was quite clear, and I was told that this practice had helped to lower the harbor's bacterial pollution level. You'll even see

people jumping in to cool off. "Ashore, there were lots of restaurants, gift shops and watering holes. We felt Luau Larry's — a tiki-themed bar — would be a great place to exemplify the island-themed festivities. When the 16 of us walked into the pub, I swore that the bartender's eyes lighted up with dollar signs — but maybe it was a little bit of fear. From Luau Larry's, we enjoyed a great view of the harbor as the lights started to sparkle in the twilight. "After a couple of rounds of mai tai's it was time for our next stop, the Marlin Club, a small hangout (especially when our group walked in) where we played darts in a relaxed atmosphere. As the bar was also a locals hangout, we chatted with a few townies. They suggested we move up-island to Two Harbors, aka the Isthmus, saying it was a beautiful spot where you could walk across the island. Not being sure if this was true or they just wanted us out of their bar, we decided to give it a chance. After a calm night of being rocked to sleep and an early breakfast, we sailed the few miles up the coast. "Two Harbors is a very laid-back part of the island, and most activities are centered around just being in the beautiful water. You can kayak, scuba dive, snorkel, or just relax on the beach or at one of the beach bars. We all went for a swim, and, even though it was August, the water was still chilly. Looking like some of the local lizards sunning on the rocks, we sat in the warm afternoon sun and enjoyed a few of the local beverages called buffalo milk, a delicious concoction of creme de cocoa, Kahlua, creme de banana, vodka and half and half. "Monday arrived all too soon, and we had to head back to San Diego and the real world. I don't know if it was the blowing of the wind on the sails, the fresh salt air, the gentle lap of the waves or the rocking of the boat, but at home all we can talk about is work and our job, and for these four days, no one had mentioned or thought about work once. "San Diego lies at 32.71° N latitude, while Catalina is at 33.38°. That's less then a one-degree change in latitude, but it's a big change in attitude!

Above: You can see just how tightly packed boats are in Avalon Harbor. Spread: As we mentioned before, Santa Ana winds do occasionally engulf the island and make things a bit interesting.

JIM GOSSMAN

After spending time at the Boy Scout camp in Catalina as a kid, Tom LeDuc fi nally sailed to the island in style. "In the early '80s, my friend Charlie Kern had the 12 Meter Valiant (US 24) and needed bodies for crew. We didn't race much at all, but made regular weekend trips to Catalina from L.A. harbor — out on Friday or Saturday, back on Sunday. We rarely went to Avalon or Two Harbors, but usually anchored at Goat Harbor or White Bay. "I think Charlie just liked seeing the look on people's faces when they saw a 12 Meter head-on at close range. The boat needed lots of bodies, maybe 10 if there was lots of wind (we once sailed Valiant with just four aboard on a light day). If we didn't have enough friends the morning of departure, we would snag almost anyone on the dock and ask if they wanted to go to Catalina for the weekend. Charlie really enjoyed introducing new people to sailing. "I fi rst sailed with Charlie on his 53-ft wood sloop Rigoletto. The motor hadn't run in years, so it was pushed out of the slip and sailed everywhere. Not knowing any better, I thought that was normal. My fi rst sail on that boat was a three-day trip to the Channel Islands from Channel Islands Harbor. With no functioning motor, we were warned that if the wind died, we might not be at work on Monday. "One of the more memorable cruises to the Channel Islands was with friends on their Ericson 35. We had all arranged for fi ve days off, and left Channel Islands Harbor with no wind at all, forcing us to motor. About halfway to the islands, the prop shaft broke in half. Now we were a pure sailboat. We had all learned to sail with Charlie on the engineless Rigoletto, so we knew he would come back to haunt us if we turned back. We also remembered that the Spanish explorers had made it up the coast in ships with much less windward performance than we had. Out of excuses, we eventually got some breeze, and made it to the anchorage at Santa Cruz. "The next morning, there was not a puff in the anchorage in the lee of the island, but we could see a wind line about a mile away. We dropped the lifelines, and with one dinghy oar on each side of the boat, paddled the Ericson out to the wind and continued, making our way up to San Miguel. On the way back south, we spent a night at one of the small anchorages. In the morning there was breeze, but it had shifted, blowing straight into the little bay. It didn't seem that there was enough sailing room to get under way and tack out. So we strung a few anchor rodes and other long lines together, and I rowed the dinghy out to the entrance and dropped the lunch hook. Back to the boat, we raised the main and hauled the line in by hand as fast as we could, and when the hook

Catalina. Where the buffalo roam.

We don't want to frighten anyone. Santa Anas on Catalina are rare, relatively speaking. But they sure do make things uncomfortable at an anchorage.

came off the bottom we were able to turn and sail away."

Jim "Goose" Gossman said that even after decades on the water, he still craves the early morning motorsail to Catalina, and the after-breakfast sail home after clearing the lee of the island. "There's nothing better. When my daughter was a toddler in 1983, we spent almost every weekend in Catalina aboard our Newport 30." Gossman also reminded us about the potential dangers of strong easterlies. "A few years ago we had taken the ferry to Avalon when a Santa Ana hit. Scary. In the '60s, two of our dock neighbors lost their boats when they were moored off Descanso (then known as St. Catherine's) in a big blow. One boat broke loose and knocked several others off their moorings and onto the beach." Sailing to Catalina is its own pleasure, but once you're there, hiking and biking are the best way to see the empty interior of the island — but don't forget your permit (information can be found at www.catalinaconservancy.org). "In 2004, my wife and I took our touring fold-up bikes for a ride from Two-Harbors to Avalon," Gossman continued. "They're fantastic, but diffi cult to ride. We had to purchase expensive ($75) permits, and set off after a luxurious night at the Banning House B&B. In the 20-ish miles, we never saw a soul, save one very large bison on the roadside, making squeezing by a bit tenuous. When we fi nally made it up the last gravel-covered switchbacks to the Airport in the Sky [the island's only airport, about 10 miles from Avalon], we were sipping a well-earned beer when confronted by a uniformed ranger. He'd been hunting for us, and said our permits weren't valid for 'small-wheeled bicycles,' then ordered us into his truck. This robbed us of our victory downhill glide into Avalon and totally spoiled our trip. They refunded our fees, but gave no explanation for the rule. The only thing I could fi gure was that they wanted to prevent the pilots from carrying fold-up bikes to avoid the exorbitant taxi ride into Avalon."

The Channel Islands have been drawing in sailors for decades. We look forward to doing some hands-on reporting from Southern California's magic archipelago.

From left to right: The Channel Islands archipelago; a close-up of Catalina with its two main attractions; Two Harbors (aka The Isthmus); and the 'capital' city of Avalon.

San Miguel Santa Cruz

Santa Rosa Anacapa

Santa Barbara

San Nicolas

latitude / tim

Catalina