Oct 15 2007

Our Sailing School Adventure – ASA 104 with Larry and Karla Pruitt

Published by at 16:16 under Sailing

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reefed to the min

Normally you might title this pic: Reefed to the Max. But to be accurate, it’s really reefed to the Min.

Larry and Karla Pruitt and I went out on a short cruise to Santa Cruz … short, but very sporty. Here’s Larry’s Report.

Sailing out of Channel Islands Harbor under warm, sunny Southern California skies, I, along with my wife Karla, looked forward to several days of sailing with Captain Dan and to completing our ASA-104 Bare Boat Chartering certification. As SailTime fractional boat members we are nearing the end of our first year of training for open ocean cruising.

Our sea carriage is a new Hunter 36 sailboat named Bodacious. She is a real beauty with all of the comforts of home in her three salons; TV, microwave, shower and head. Her in-mast furling, electronic GPS, Radar, depth finder and auto-helm add safety to her luxurious comfort.

Heading toward Santa Cruz Island that Thursday morning, reports indicated an odd low pressure system offshore but we decided to go ahead and to deal with it if it actually developed. We cruised north up the California coast for a couple of hours then rounded the oil platform Gilda where we turned west to complete the nearly twenty-five mile trip offshore.

Reaching the Santa Cruz Island’s north side we scouted out the anchorages of Little Scorpion and Scorpion; Prisoners and Pelican. Karla skillfully maneuvered the boat through Pelican Cove as Captain Dan and I attempted and failed at two attempts to stick a stern anchor in Pelican Harbor even though our bow hook was firm both times. We made a marginal third try and were about to sit down to enjoy Karla’s wonderful lasagna dinner when Captain Dan lost faith in the anchorage and felt that we should leave for a more protected location.

Under a rapidly setting sun as we moved back out into the open seas, we encountered twenty-two knot winds and growing swells. The seas grew to six then eight feet as they pushed us easterly toward our place of refuge, Yellow Banks, about ten miles away. Winds ultimately surged to the high thirty knot range and made for a wild ride with Bodacious hitting a new speed record of ten and a half knots (Bodacious normally runs sweetly at six to seven knots). We quickly reefed the main down to thirty percent with little reduction in our speed. As a precaution, we inserted the wash boards and tethered in all hands.

Now sailing in the dark with the aid of our GPS, we rounded the island’s south eastern point and blasted past Smugglers Harbor. To our great relief we finally arrived at Yellow Banks Harbor where we moved into about thirty-five feet of calm water and dropped our bow hook. I dropped the anchor and released 300 feet of chain and line with Captain Dan reversing the engine and shouting, “I’m going to bury that anchor!”

We set the GPS to trigger an alarm should we drift more than 600 feet. Even though we were in the lee of the island with smooth water, the wind continued to howl through the rigging. Gusts of over forty knots would seize the mast like a lever causing the Hunter to heel and shift on her purchase. We abandoned our original plan of a nice, relaxing dinner of lasagna and settled for PBJ sandwiches – while standing.

As the winds raged on through the night, Dan and I took turns getting up every hour to tether onto the jack lines and, under headlamp, check on the security of our anchor. Each time we went outside Karla silently prayed for our safety. Fortunately our anchor held well all night with little chafe to the rode.

The stars, moon and Milky Way were incredibly beautiful at our shelter from the sea. We awoke at 7:30 AM from a night of interrupted slumber to an incredible view of the Yellow Banks anchorage. What a gorgeous sight that was.

The “party” didn’t really begin until we (mostly Captain Dan) decided that prudence would have us bail and head for home. Without Captain Dan, Karla and I would probably would have just remained at Yellow Banks and waited out the weather maker. With Captain Dan’s expertise and our need for just such a sailing experience, we agreed with his decision to head for home.

Letting out only a quarter of our main sail and about a quarter of our jib fabric, Karla managed the helm with thirty knots of wind power. As the seas continued to pick up momentum, Karla gladly yielded the helm to Captain Dan. Even with only a fractional amount of sail and with nearly forty knot winds we still averaged six to nine knots of boat speed.

For more info about Sailtime, Bodacious or how you can get some extraordinary sailing experience, go to
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One Response to “Our Sailing School Adventure – ASA 104 with Larry and Karla Pruitt”

  1. # www.hikingforyou.info » Our Sailing School Adventure - ASA 104 with Larry and Karla Pruitton 16 Oct 2007 at 08:16

    [...] Capt. Dan wrote a fantastic post today on “Our Sailing School Adventure – ASA 104 with Larry and Karla Pruitt”Here’s ONLY a quick extractHeading toward Santa Cruz Island that Thursday morning, reports indicated an odd low pressure system offshore but we decided to go ahead and to deal with it if it actually developed. We cruised north up the California coast for a couple … [...]

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