Willows Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island

Loc: mid-south coast Santa Cruz Lat: N33-57.67 Long: W119-45.27 Last visit: 9/14/06

Tide/Sun/Moon/WX Dist: 6 Prisoner's Harbor WX

Chart 18728 Santa Cruz Channel 1:40000

Skipper: John Harrison Boat: S/Y Sancerre John Port: Channel Islands

Landing Permit Required Nature Conservancy permit app

A Choice Anchorage

This picture was shot from from slightly east of the anchorage, at approximately the 11 fathom spot above the 'S' in Willows on the chart.

There are many picturesque anchorages along the Santa Cruz southern coast, but none more so than the one at the end of Willows Canyon. Protected from west to north, it is beautiful though it can be hazardous.

This picture was taken from the west side approach, in the vicinity of 12 fathom sounding the chart. Skirt the headland at the left and turn left when clear of rocks and kelp, steering between the headland the outlying rocks, and you're in the anchorage.

Brian M. Fagan in his authoritative cruising guides, cautions: "Surge conditions can be dangerous if even moderate wind comes in from SW. You should avoid anchoring here when high swell is running offshore."

Approach

Arriving from the West, Willows distinctive rock formations are hidden by hill 669. Use Bowen Point and the white-stained rock at its foot (above), which is about 2 miles to the East as your reference. The anchorage opens up as you round the point as these two graphics show.

Approaching from East as we did, this gorgeous spot is easy to identify with its majestic, precipitous cliffs of some 700 feet and two very conspicuous, detached and jagged rocks, each roughly 90 feet high that lie some 100 and 200 yards from shore---both of which, at first glance, appear as a natural, all too inviting gateway to the anchorage.

But don't be tempted.

Capt. Dan and I did it the right way, approaching the white-stained, brown-black outer pinnacle landmark from the west keeping it about a third of a mile to starboard. Keep at least 150 yards outside the big southern rock located on the east side of the cove. Wait until the middle of the cove is abeam and then start your turn into the middle of the anchorage. This will keep you out of the kelp that is fairly thick south of the rock.

Half-submerged rocks and (sometimes) dense kelp lie offshore, so Capt. Dan and I steered for the middle of the cove with its sandy beach wedged invitingly between the high cliffs to port and the two mini, "Gibraltar-like" rocks to starboard.

We were a bit surprised to find the area free of kelp, but already occupied. It was a weekday late in the season! We expected to have the anchorage to ourselves. But already anchored in the cove was another 40+ foot sailboat some 100 feet from shore.

We circled this boat as we scoped out a suitable place to drop anchor. It would have been nice if he'd taken one side or the other, but he was right in the middle, in the ideal spot, Capt. Dan said, "right where I'd drop my hook."

After a couple of circuits, we decided we couldn't anchor parallel to the other boat and moved to the outer edge of the anchorage. It was just after a 5 foot high tide when we dropped our bow anchor in 25 feet (sand). Low tide, according to the charts, would be .06 feet, giving us a comfortable margin of approximately 5 feet.

We eased out about 250 feet of rode at the bow in preparation for dropping a stern anchor. We pulled up our rode on our bow anchor to 140 feet, ending up with about 60 feet of rode astern on a big Fortress. Capt. Dan wasn't entirely comfortable with the short rode astern and - as he usually does - slept in the cockpit.

We soon discovered from our snorkeling, kind-hearted neighbor to our south that our stern anchor rode crossed his bow anchor. Capt. Dan offered to be the first off the anchorage first thing in the morning. This was not only the courteous thing to do, but smart, too, since we might well need our neighbor's assistance in retrieving our anchor in the morning.

The wind snarled down Willows Canyon around midnight hitting us on the starboard quarter and pushing us toward the rocks. We'd set the anchor alarm for 60 feet, but that really would have give us too little warning if we started to drag anchor.

Sancerre remained rock solid, but Capt. Dan still kept an eye on the bearings to the outer rocks the rest of the night.

That did not affect his morning personality in a positive way. Retrieving the stern anchor was bit of a problem. We veered out rode at the bow, but with a crosswind of 8 knots had to haul hard to get over the stern anchor. Even though we were directly above it and even though it is a relatively light Fortress, we had a helluva time yanking it off the bottom. In fact, we had to switch the rode to one of our large winches before it broke free.

Capt. Dan told me we were lucky in both our timing and weather. Had the winds and swells been very much greater, as they had been just a few hours earlier (04:30), we may well have been "stuck" there until conditions improved. Capt. Dan also noted that Willows is susceptible to tricky cross winds, which could make anchoring even more difficult if not outright impossible.

But Fagan had already warned us about that. On the other hand, if you had to be "stuck" somewhere, this is the right place, assuming the wine locker isn't running low.

Willows is a breathtaking location by anyone's standards; a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down behind the high, rocky cliff, where numerous gulls and pelicans also watch, eager for their next meal, or even anticipating perhaps a handout or two. And the sound of the surf hitting and echoing through the cavernous rocks is both soothing and pleasing to the ear.

Yet, once again, as Fagan cautions: "Strong NW or NE winds can funnel down the canyons at Willows. You should be prepared for sudden changes in wind direction and site your anchor(s) accordingly."

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.