We motored out from Avalon around 10am as wind was low and forecasted at 5 nm per hour between Catalina Island and San Diego! Wind popped up pretty quickly and again we were enjoying it on our beam! We sailed for 14 hours straight! The closer we got to San Diego the more freighters, tankers and warships we encountered! We arrived into San Diego harbour in the dark and anchored outside the police station (in an illegal parking zone). I slept in the cockpit until 08.00 when a police boat was doing donuts around us! We motored in to the police dock for inspections by police and to report arrival with the boarder patrol! It all was done in a couple of hours and we got our permit to stay in their non-residency anchorage, A9! First boat I saw in A9 was Kittywake!
With the plan to leave tomorrow morning I’ve been going through the boat to make sure that bolts and screws are fastened! With the rough seas on our past offshore leg, screws wandered out where the boom vang attaches, on the Schaefer in boom furlor. The 8 screws have slowly fallen out and luckily the boom vang is pretty secure on a track underneath the boom holding it together. Having said that the boom vang had moved enough so the holes didn’t line up anymore. We raised the boom up with halyard until the screw holes lined up and fastened the vang to the boom again.
I also filled up some more gerycans with diesel, looked over other fasteners, lines and blocks!
Although the anchorage has been rolley, I’ve enjoyed the blue, turquoise water and kelp forest beside the boat! 🤿
Looks like we are again waiting for wind.. we’ve spent two nights in Avalon and expecting to leave in two days, on Wednesday, as wind is filling in. Our goal is to get up at dawn and start sailing at first light and arrive in San Diego by evening! Maybe a tall order, but I’m hopeful!
We moved the boat from mooring buoy to the outside of Avalon and anchored. It’s a bit more rolley however a bit less touristy! I’m making a list for San Diego; documents for Mexico, spinnaker pole, diesel, propane and a plan for the, new to me, inverter! With some sun and only running instruments and charging phone every 2-3 days I actually don’t need a large inverter! It’s more of luxury. Over the last week I’ve realized that the whole charging system and battery bank is poorly set up. All the important electronics and instruments, fridge, mazerator, running lights and cabin lights are running on the battery that is being charged by the smallest solar panel. The big solar panel is charging the battery first which has very little load on it. This second battery is also quite far away from the main battery. So the “sharing” between the batteries seems poor! I’m just learning…..
After a beauty of a sail from San Miguel, Catalina island, we arrived to Avolon on Catalina Island. A “slight” different energy from our remote anchorage on the night before! We decided to tie up to a mooring buoy in a very busy harbour. We quickly flagged the shore boat down to get into town to have a shower! Well worth it!
On my early shift one morning I noticed a cargo ship 10 nmiles away. I did my calculations and realized we where definitely on collision course give or take a couple of hundred meters. This cargo ship was 350m in length and 50 m wide. So a couple of hundred meters is not a lot. Texas Highway was moving at 19.88 nm/hour so I needed to make a decision to either change course or slow down from going a whopping 7nm/hour! I thought about it and decided to hail them! A sleepy captain with an Eastern European accent answered! First he says “who arrre you?” I answered by saying “sailing vessel Sarantium” and stated my position and heading, and my speed. He mumbled something and disappeared. Hmmmm…. I waited and waited. And then he came back and said “Sarantium, we will alter our course starboard to give you more clearance, good watch…out” I watched the giant cargo ship do a wide berth around us and felt proud!
We left crescent city a few days ago and motored out for twoish hours… light wind was forecasted for shore and then building as we ventured out towards the big blues! In the next 24 hours we had good wind, some rain and sunny periods. Every morning at sun-up schools of dolphins joined me on my morning shifts (04.00-08.00). Dolphins, sunrise and waves against the hull. My new chapter in life is settling into something very special.
A couple of days ago we had our first light storm! The wind built through the night and we knew we had 30-35nmiles coming our way, so we got organized with a good meal, sleeping arrangements and discussions about reefing early and having least amount of sails up in the event of a bigger wind then forecasted. I tried to sleep however difficult as winds were building and waves were reaching 15 feet. By the time 04.00 came around winds were gusting 35nmiles and waves were tossing us around. We were all happy when wind decreased and we could catch some sleep. At one point I was sleeping on the floor below my bed on the sailbag and in my floatation suit. My pfd never came off.
This morning, the engine decides to be difficult again. For those who has been reading my blogs, know that I’ve had a couple of “no starts” at first try. Key turns and makes an ”alarm sound” however does not turn the engine. This time, the engine didn’t start at all. So I start measuring volt on all the batteries and connections leading from starter battery to solenoid to starter. I had good voltage from battery to solonoid and leaving Solonoid. I realized that wires leaving solonoid to another connection and according to my Nigel Calder’s textbook (brilliant btw) it’s an auxiliary solonoid for the starter and while checking on those, I realized they were loose and dangly. While talking to some folks in crescent city I learned that these needs wiggling if engine doesn’t start. These wires are in an awkward place and cleaning them up and reconnecting them looks difficult and not a job while underway. I wiggled and my crew turned the key! And the engine started! Thank you Nigel and Kevin (who shared his knowledge about wiggling).
Today, as I’m writing we have been offshore for four days and tonight will be our fifth night at sea for our third leg since (Me) leaving Nanaimo. We have light wind and fog for the next two days! We are off to Catalina island for some R&R!
I saw my first closeup humpback today. It was swimming alongside the boat, no more then 10 feet away, for 15 seconds before it left…
The winds have died down out on the big blue sea and tomorrow looks promising! The forecasted wind speed is 20-25 nm/hour! We have routed our destination according to the app Predict Wind on our plotter and the week looks good. Some stronger winds for are forecasted for tomorrow, however, nothing crazy! If anything changes we will adapt our plan but for now it’s a go!
Crescent City has been great, as I’ve made some fantastic connections with sailors who have shared their wealth of knowledge and past experiences!
See you in Mexico!
Ps. I’ll write again once on land as starlink will be packed away and only used to check weather!
….. looks windy! We are contemplating heading out today, however after looking at the wind prediction map our window for friendly winds is shrinking! Forecast shows good wind for Tuesday and Wednesday however shows high (30-40 n m/hour) winds inside the 165 n mile line after Wednesday.
Often, nights are gusty and hard to see the waves. Friends of mine are sailing aprox 200 n miles off the coast (directly west of us) presently and chatting with them on garmin inreach they mentioned the increase in gusts at night. We experience this as well 150nmiles out, and we always reefed the main substantially, dropped our big head sail and kept small staysail up. We still sailed at 6nm/hour.
In addition, if your boat changes angles, and it does, the waves will move from pushing you from behind to hitting your beam. In high winds and high wave action this can get dangerous. Another problem is you cannot see in the dark, and solely rely on degree/angle reading on your electronics. It’s unnerving at times.
We could sail out (motor out for 10 n miles) and then return to shore to seek refuge from high winds. Problem is that there are few places between here and San Francisco. It’s a tricky coast with lots of rock and sandbars, which is why sailors don’t stay close to land. In some places, they recommend hiring a pilot to enter harbours because of sandbars and currents.
So our choices are to head past the 165 n miles line in the next 2 days (80 n miles per 24 hours) and stay far out (200 n miles), until Saturday and then start heading south east towards San Diego or Ensenada, or stay put here in Crescent City until high winds has subsided on Saturday morning.
Side note: Crescent City has the highest crime rate in all of the USA, including the Mexican mafia! Crescent City has an interesting history in regards to their local maximum security jail, which connects back to the closing of Alcatraz! Check it out!
This brings some thought… what is this journey about? Is it about just to “get there”? Do I need to experience 30-35 plus winds on this trip? If so, why? Most likely it will be hairy at times and most likely it will be ok, however is this the experience I want to have?
I’m here to thoroughly enjoy this amazing journey I’ve embarked on!
Sailaway Sarantium 