We visited a couple more of the Channel Islands – Catalina and Santa Barbara – both on the way out and on return. Catalina still leaves me cold. It has everything that Santa Cruz does, but it’s covered with people. I’m no misanthrope (someone who hates people, Randy), but they sure clutter the landscape.
Entering San Diego was very interesting. Though no carriers were underway in the harbor, there were plenty of warships on the radio. In fact, we got turned back when we wanted to circumnavigate Santa Barbara. That area wasn’t hot, but it was close to a firing range and it was too hard to explain we wouldn’t intrude. So we didn’t and just headed for Catalina.
The weather was dismal on the way down and we motored a great deal. The return leg got better and better with our final leg under blue skies with winds near 20 knots most of the way. It was beginning to feel like Southern California.
BTW – the Local Notice to Mariners that cites hovercraft operations near Camp Pendleton – well, there’s no real restriction, just an alert. We clocked one on MARPA at 40+
A Hunter sailboat catches fire, sinks at Frenchy’s 7/8/2010
The Coast Guard and Vessel Assist responded to a report of a burning vessel last week. The preliminary report said that the captain was sailing alone, had anchored in Frenchy’s Cove and had started cooking on his rail-mounted barbecue.
The captain reported that he fell asleep and awoke to find the boat in flames. He abandoned ship in a small skiff and was picked up by a Good Samaritan. He was subsequently transferred to a Coast Guard vessel and returned to the mainland. He suffered no substantial injuries.
The following day, Vessel Assist, Ventura refloated the vessel, policed up the debris and towed it back to Ventura Harbor.
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Comment
That had to be one scary experience for the captain. We’re hoping he was well insured and glad that he wasn’t hurt, at least not badly. We’re also very thankful that Capt. Rob of R Escape has mounted a fire extinguisher on our boat about 5′ from our barbecue.There are also two in our galley area below.
Cooking is the number one cause of fire on diesel powered boats and a stove without an adjacent fire extinguisher is a big oversight. In the case of a rail-mounted barbecue, it’s probably impossible to safely turn off the propane when the stove is engulfed in flames. But there are three ways to turn off your galley gas – the burner control, the solenoid and turning off the tank in the lazerette. Definitely a topic worthy of a crew briefing.
I’ve always been confident that I could survive cooking with a rail-mounted barbecue, afterall, it’s mounted on the rail outboard of the boat. With the top on it, it’s not likely to flame the bimini. Of course, I try not to fall asleep (or pass out) while I’m cooking as I’m partial to rare beef and unblemished gelcoat.
I’m fairly sure that there are more lessons to be learned from this incident.
Everyone got rescued, but there was probably no good reason why they should have found themselves upside down under their catamaran in the first place. Read the report in Latitude 38.
Then comment, critique, write a diatribe or just speculate.
BTW – if you don’t subscribe to the ‘lectronic version of Latitude 38, you can start right here.
Although this particular fox is in the Santa Barbara Zoo, her cousins in the wild are doing very well. I know, anthropomorphism is a bad habit I have, but it’s easier to care about something soft and furry than slimy and spikey. So in the interests of promoting anthropomorphism, here’s a link to a Nature Conservancy piece on our favorite rescue animals. Island Foxes Slide Show.
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We all know that a drowning victim waves their arms and will sometimes shout for help.
Just gotta wonder what they were thinking.
