More »

Refuge from the storm: Charter boats in Hurricane Hole

I’m not a big fan of the BVI. As the headline says – it’s hot, humid and when you look at the pic, it’s pretty easy to see that it can get crowded.

OK, OK, I know they were hiding these boats from a hurricane and that there are a lot of anchorages around the BVI. But they’re full. You’ll probably find a spot, but you’ll be sharing it with dozens of other boats, none of which have holding tanks.

So when you wake up all groggy and sweaty and think about taking a quick swim to cool and clean off, give the holding tank situation some thought. And, no, contrary to what some local California BVI experts say, the barracuda don’t clean up the nastiness.

BTW – here’s where they hid the CATS.

Catamaran Hidey-Hole

More »

Mars: Waypoint Wiley

Two rocket scientists joined us aboard Wiley for a brief trip last week. Even though they lead a very glamorous life in a very high tech world, spelled JPL, they enjoyed slowing down to 5 knots or so to enjoy a gorgeous day on the SoCal coast.

They had such a good time, that when they got back to work they named a Martian Waypoint for our terrestrial vessel.

“We create waypoints in the software tools used to plan the (Mars Rover “Opportunity”) drives (much easier to remember than the XYZ coordinates the rover understands) and they have to be named something. So today it was WP_Wiley, instead of the usual, tiresome, sol2333_waypoint1.”

So if you’re ever on Mars, I’ve got some real estate I’d like you to look at. It’s a little hard to see in the picture, but the rover will move right to left, heading for the green, which is the waypoint. Even tinier than the print on this picture, is the little-bitty For Sale sign I’ve put next to it.

BTW – the wx is (finally) turning beautiful on earth. Hope I’ll see you on the water this week.

======

Sail Channel Islands

More »

Cathedral Cove, Anacapa Island

It seems like we’ve been shorted on summer weather. Though we’ve had decent winds and cooperative seas, we’re looking forward to fall when we usually see the best of summer in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Blue Whales and Humpbacks are still out there and we’re heading out soon.

More »

San Diego to Oxnard

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

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+

More »

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.

————

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.

———-

Sail Channel Islands

More »

We all know that a drowning victim waves their arms and will sometimes shout for help.

And we’re all acutely wrong.

Read gCaptain’s recent blog and you’ll know what to look for.

Signs of drowning.

thanks, Mack for sending this along to us.

//dan

More »

Unless you’ve got climbing gear, you’re not going to easily get to the top of East Anacapa Island. NPS was actually in front of this problem and had decided to replace the decades-old ladder last spring. Unfortunately, a recent inspection showed that corrosion has rendered the ladder unsafe ahead of schedule.

OK, so what’s the problem? When will the new ladder be ready?

The really big problem is that a recent inspection of the crane that they use to offload materials from boats and was slated to be used in the ladder construction was also deemed unsafe.

NPS was in front of this. No one got hurt and the problem will get solved.

————-

Sail Channel Islands

_____________

More »

Only a couple of places got less than an A – one was at Ormond beach near the Superfund site.

According to the City Manager’s BLOG

“2009 water quality at Ventura County beaches was excellent. Of the 40 water quality monitoring locations during summer dry weather, 100% of the locations received A grades.”

-0000000000000

More »

Rogue Wave

The Rogue Wave Sailors joined us for a daysail off Oxnard. Led by Ferne Ross (to Capt. Dan’s right), they enjoyed mild conditions, got a chance to drive Sancerre, our Jeanneau 45.2 and reviewed Rules of the Road. Though tempted to discuss the racing rules, which are different (far more detailed) from the International Rules, they worked on mastering the the intricacies of Stand-On and Give-way.

“But why, oh why is the vessel on starboard tack the Stand-On?”

Right off the bat, logic breaks down and the inevitable answer is that it’s arbitrary. As one of my shipmates – Jim Julian gets credit – once said: “Never associate logic with the Navy.”

Keep that in mind and the seeming inconsistencies won’t keep you up at night.

—————

Sail Channel Islands

_________________

More »

From Coast Guard Blog -

Posted: 01 May 2010 10:25 PM PDT
CHANNEL ISLANDS, Calif – The Coast Guard rescued 3 people from a sail boat that was in danger of capsizing 2 miles north of Anacapa Island late Saturday afternoon.

Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach received a report from the 32-foot sailing vessel Outta Here that the vessel was listing heavily and in danger of capsizing.

A 47-foot motor life boat from Coast Guard Station Channel Island and a Coast Guard MH-65 rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles were dispatched to the scene. A Good Samaritan that was nearby also responded.

Once on scene Coast Guard personnel determined it was too dangerous for the vessel to attempt to transit back to Channel Island Harbor due to strong winds and rough seas. The 3 people aboard the vessel were transferred to the Coast Guard motor life boat and returned safety to Channel Islands Harbor.