Santa Ana season opens in Southern California

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Santa Ana graphic

This graphic from Sailflow is just that – a pretty damned graphic explanation of why Santa Ana’s can be so dangerous – even if you’re not at sea when they hit.

When we tied up the Big Girl (Sancerre) last Friday afternoon, we put a couple of extra fenders on what is normally the windward side. We centered her in the slip and tied her down tighter than usual, for we knew Santa Anas were forecast. And at about 0300 this morning, the flow began. At first it was about 10 knots, within 20 minutes or so it was 20 knots or so. This was a fairly slow onset. It can happen much more violently.

But think of your situation if you were lying to two anchors in Willows or Alberts anchorage. Both of these locations are great spots when the westerly wind prevails, which it usually does. But what would you be in for if a Santa Ana piped up?

That’s what I was thinking about this morning as the wind bent the palm trees in two. And here’s what I came up with.

First, I never go to bed without putting my life jacket and a flashlight in an accessible spot. I usually stick them in the corner of the dodger. And I never go to bed without briefing the crew on emergency procedures. The briefing goes like this:

#1 Put your life jacket and a flashlight in a handy spot.
#2 Know the heading that you must take to clear the anchorage safely
#3 Assign crew getting underway tasks. One goes to the helm other crew go to the leeward anchor (if you’re anchored bow and stern.)
#4 Helmsman starts engine and is ready to drive in the event either anchor drags
#5 If it’s blowing like hell and it’s a crosswind as it would be in Alberts or Willows, you’re getting pushed onto the rocks. My crew is briefed to grab a fender tie it to the stern anchor rode and release the anchor, throwing all of the rode over the side.
#6 With stern anchor clear, motor toward the bow anchor and bring it aboard. In the event the windlass jams, fails or otherwise is incapable of pulling up the anchor, we’ll tie a couple of buoys to that rode and release it all manually. Yeah, that’s worth several thousand dollars on our boat, but it’s insignificant compared to taking the boat on the rocks whilst screwing with the anchor.

As you see in the Sailflow graphic, the wind won’t get to Santa Cruz … this time. But it can and has. And it’s killed people and sunk a lot of boats. The graphic also shows that you can sail out of the worst part of the wind by heading NNW once you’re clear of the anchorage. Many is the sailor who has gotten underway in extremis, sailed N and gotten in the lee of the mountains and taken a leisurely cruise back to Ventura.

BTW – If Santa Anas are in the forecast, I probably won’t go into an anchorage that requires two hooks. Escape is immensely easier if you have only one anchor to deal with. We’ll also set an anchor watch, who is really looking at what the wind is doing and trying to detect dropping humidity. One more thing, Santa Anas are not always hot, so it’s really the wind shift that you must key on.

5 thoughts on “Santa Ana season opens in Southern California”

  1. Say the words “Santa Ana” and the first thing a sailor thinks about isn’t the Alamo but rather how will I keep my boat and crew safe in 20kts and possible more of wind! That’s exactly what we were thinking about aboard THIRD DAY while enroute to Catalina Island on our way to San Diego to join up with the 2008 Baja Ha-ha Cruisers Rally. We decided to head for the back side of Catalina that offers protection in Santa Ana conditions. Sadly, not all boaters pay close enough attention to the weather because a boat capsized on the mooring in Avalon harbor as we sat safely on our anchor. All night and most of the next morning boats were leaving their moorings and making the trip around the island to join us on the leeward side to sit out the Santa Ana winds. My wife and I were monitoring Ch 9 which is the local Harbor/Mooring master channel at Two Harbors and were in almost constant amazement as some people were requesting moorings even as the harbor workers were breaking down the floating fuel dock in preparations for rough seas coming straight into the mooring field. We both agreed that if the workers at Two Harbors are going through all the work and effort to break down the fuel docs and secure them to moorings, then it wouldn’t be a good time for us to be there! We did have 33kts of wind that night, but with the wind coming from the East and Catalina Island protecting us from the swell, all we had to deal with was the typical banging halyard while some boats on the “wrong side” of the island were spending all night trying to save their ships.

  3. Last Fall, Mick and I were on Varekai, double anchored in Alberts (SCI). We arose to a beautiful warm morning without a hint of breeze. I always listen to VHF Channel 3 first thing in the morning and there was no mention of any serious weather moving into the area. While cooking breakfast, I noticed white caps driven by an east wind developing about a mile east of the anchorage. Within 15 minutes a small SE swell started rolling into the anchorage followed by an increase in wind speed from the east. Mick & I immediately began getting the stern anchor up, but halfway into the process the winds picked up to 20 to 30 kts. It was touch and go for awhile, but we were able to get both anchors up without hitting the rocks and motored west into Coaches.

    Lessons I’ve Learned:
    1. Do everything Dan said to do.
    2. Just like reefing, if you think you need to move the boat – it’s probably too late. At the first sign of changing wind or swell conditions – LEAVE – you can always come back.
    3. Trust your instincts and don’t depend on accurate weather forecasts – they are wrong at least 50% of the time.
    4. Have a “bail-out” anchorage planned – especially in the fall months. There are very few suitable anchorages for Santa Anna wind conditions out at the islands. The best choices on SCI are:
    – Chinese Hbr: Get as close as you can against the cliffs located at the NE end of the bay.
    – Potato Anch: Very protected spot in a Santa Anna.
    – Coaches Anch: OK but not great – get as close as you can against the high cliffs on the east side of the anchorage.
    – Fraser Pt. : Anchor in the small inlet on the north side of the point as close as you can get to the cliffs.
    – Christy Valley Anch: Anchor north of the canyon for the best protection.
    Remember, these anchorages are good spots in a NE blow, but are lousy under the normal NW conditions. Be prepared to up-anchor as soon as the NE stops blowing.
    5. Always carry an extra days worth of rations. I’ve been stuck out there more than once due to weather and it always good to have something to eat while you are waiting for the wind to stop.
    6. Hunker down – In my opinion, it’s always better to find a safe anchorage and hunker down rather than to trying to get back to the harbor. Besides, there will be less wind out at the islands than on the mainland.
    7. Head west young man- Like Tom said, you can always head west up to San Miguel. It’s a great way to get away from the wind.

    Randy

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