Diablo Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island

Loc:Eastern north coast Santa Cruz Lat: N 34-03.3 Long: W 119-46.0 Last visit: June 06

Tide/Sun/Moon/WX Dist: 3 Prisoner's Harbor WX

Chart 18728 Santa Cruz Channel 1:40000

Skipper: "Topher" Means Boat: S/V Rainbow Topher Port: Chan Islands

Landing Permit Required Nature Conservancy permit app

Getting there

We left Channel Islands harbor in the sloop Rainbow with about 3 miles of visibility. Our course brought us to the Platform Grace, but by that time the visibility was less than a mile. Using a MARPA equipped radar, we were able to identify Grace long before we could see her, and, as we passed by we saw that the ceiling had lowered to 100 feet or so as the top part of the platform disappeared into the marine layer.

We turned south at a 90 degree angle to the shipping lanes, shaping our course toward Scorpion Anchorage, on the NE side of Santa Cruz island. We didn't break out of the fog until we were two miles from the beach. By that time the sun was shining and the winds were blowing to 18-23 knots out of the NW.

We'd gone from motoring in flat seas to reefed sails and were now banging through the growing chop around 7 knots. We traveled along the coast exploring the different anchorages along the way, heading towards Diablo Point on the NW part of the island.

Dealing with the fog

Ordinarily, we would not have attempted the passage through the shipping lanes, but with our MARPA equipped radar, we were able to lock on every target in a few seconds, determine its course and speed and had a Closest Point of Approach readout we could trust in a few minutes.

Though you could do all of that manually, it's hard to imagine doing it safely with more than a target or two. MARPA kept track of half a dozen ships in the lane - none of which was a threat - and quickly identified a target coming directly at us. Her CPA was a scant .75 miles and she was making between 15 and 20 knots. It turned out to be a Park Service Boat headed for Ventura.

Finding the anchorage

Even though Diablo Point is the highest point on the mountain, when coming from the W, it is the more distinctive Black Point that stands out of the two large mountains that dominate this side of the island. Black Point looks like a pyramid, and gives the illusion of being taller than Diablo, which is the large mountain just to the East.

Diablo anchorage is right at the base of the Mountain, cut hard into the rock walls with caves visible cut in the sides. Two small islets border the NW entrance, filled with pelicans and covered in white.

Fry's lies just east. For Ventura and Channel Islands sailors, clawing their way west, Diablo is just around the corner from Fry's. That few hundred yards can be quite a slog when Windy Lane is performing, but our experience is that Diablo provides excellent shelter. The anchorage can handle only a boat or two. If two are lying there when you arrive, it's a quick and painless trip back to Fry's.

The white rocks in the graphic above right and in the foreground of the graphic above left are the rocks represented on the chart (70) and (80) feet above MLLW.

The entrance to the anchorage is just to the left of those rocks as pictured in graphic above, left.

Anchoring

Depth at the mouth of the valley was around 70 feet. We had to get close to the beach find water shallow enough to moor bow and stern. We were probably no more than 200 feet off when we registered 20 feet under the keel.

We double anchored, dropping our bow anchor first and keeping the bow facing the opening (and the exit in case of trouble). Even with the winds outside the anchorage blowing NW, we experienced a moderate Easterly / south easterly wind, which tended to push the boat towards the NW wall, and shifting winds in general in the narrow harbor. Setting the bow anchor and trying to go straight astern in the crosswinds required a bit of extra attention. I.e. we were all over the place, but the little Hunter is a most maneuverable boat and though we got much closer to the canyon wall than we planned, we managed to set both anchors with roughly 6:1 scope.

We set the anchor alarm at 50', the minimum you can set, and sure enough, it went off around 2am. We'd been checking our position every hour or so, which was easy since the anchor light illuminated the entire anchorage.

Though an alarm at that hour of the morning was well - alarming - we found the anchors were still strong in place. Just to get a bit more distance from the western wall, we took the stern anchor rode from the starboard stern cleat and moved it to the port stern cleat. That moved us 4 or 5 feet laterally, enough for us to rest more easily.

The morning dawned bright and sunny, with 3-6' swells and a nice strong 18-23 knot breeze out of the W / SW. We saw a couple whales and some frisky White Sided Pacific Dolphins, which are usually found farther out, but apparently will follow their prey closer to shore, and supposedly like to antagonize Whales as well. It was a beautiful sailing experience. Landing Permits Required If you intend to go ashore at Diablo anchorage, you'll need a landing permit ($40 for all year) from the Nature Conservancy.

Hazards

None that aren't charted or visible.

Landing Permits Required

If you intend to go ashore, you'll need a landing permit ($40 for all year) from the Nature Conservancy. go to permit for a pdf form, mailing and e-mailing instructions.

Updates

If you have new or amplifying information concerning this anchorage or the surrounding area, please contact Capt. Dan. His e-mail link and phone are below.