Pelican Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island

Loc:Eastern north coast Santa Cruz Lat: N34-02.1 Long: W119-42.15 Last visit: Apr 07

Tide/Sun/Moon/WX Dist: 1.5 Prisoner's Harbor, Santa Cruz WX

Chart 18728 Santa Cruz Channel 1:40000

Skipper: Capt. Dan Boat: S/V Sancerre Capt. Dan Port: Chan Islands

Landing Permit Required Nature Conservancy permit app

The Debate

Depending upon on whom you rely for expert advice - Fagan or the backside of the plastic charts - Pelican is either almost as good as Prisoners or Prisoners is only suitable if there is no room in Pelican.

They're only a mile or so apart, Prisoner's probably 15 degrees left of this picture.

Here's our two cents: We passed Prisoner's on a day of brisk winds and (either) very big chop or very closely spaced swells. Flat-faced square swells about 4 sec. apart. Chop on the Great Lakes. In any event, not a smooth ride. With 25 knots in our face and the sun a half hour from the horizon, we found ourselves chugging through Prisoner's.

There was one small sailboat in the anchorage on a single hook. He was anchored a bit west of the CG buoy and was pitching and yawing wildly. I'd say the pitch was +/- three feet, but it was the yaw that was really impressive.

We'd intended to anchor here, but chugged ahead to Pelican.

What a difference a mile made. Several boats, most moored bow and stern, sat relatively serenely in the lee of Pelican's western headland.

Approach

Approaching from the Prinsoner's side, the anchorage is not immediately visible. The first clue is a small, steep river canyon and a plateau just beyond it full of century plants. These are probably left from the defunct hotel's garden.

On the chart and in the Google Earth image, the the plateau is clearly visible. The boat at the far left in this picture is just below the plateau. In the top picture, you can see a small beach at the far left. That's the canyons mouth.

That last boat on the left, btw, is in the least desirable slot as it is the one most likely to be in the vortex produced by the western headland and will also be the first affected by any swell. Nevertheless, it was far nicer place than Prisoner's on this particular night.

Approaching from the north, as most vessels do, the same steep canyon to the east stands out. But the first indication of the arrival is sighting yachts that have beat you to the anchorage. It's rarely empty.

How we did it, specifically

For reasons we later learned, the last spot open in the anchorage was the very best one: slam up against the western wall.

We made the obligatory tour of the anchorage, estimating where everyone had dropped their hooks. One boat was on a single hook and located as close to shore and the western wall as he could get. In other words, kind of in our way if we considered where he was likely to swing.

We motored to within a few hundred feet of the end of the western wall roughly abeam of the dark eroded area, and dropped our bow hook in 40 feet of water, let out nearly all of our 360 feet of rode, set it and dropped the stern anchor. We pulled ourselves forward, leaving 180 feet of bow chain and 50 feet of rope on the bottom. Our stern Fortress had less scope than we'd have liked, but we tensioned up both bow and stern rodes and set the anchor alarm for 60'.

The captain slept in the cockpit, checking the position, which never varied, all night. Mostly he was concerned lest an easterly wind develop. Highly unlikely in early summer, but we had less than 100 feet between us and the western wall.

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.