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Little Scorpion anchorage is in the distance. There's a reef between the large rock and the island. Not a good place to park a boat.

Twenty-11 was brand new when the first incident at sea happened this year.

I have a personal interest in this one as the Bosun and I planned a New Year’s run to Santa Cruz, just as the folks in this story did.
We checked the weather a couple of times every day for a week before the trip. I know that’s a waste of time. Predictions more than a day or so out are famously inaccurate. But we checked and wasted our time.

By the 29th we were getting leery of the possibility of Santa Anas. When we got to our go-no-go decision point, the forecast said nothing about Santa Anas. However, a front would pass through the area and the prediction that kept us at home showed the wind shifting from a moderate westerly to a stronger northeast flow.

The timing was important to us, too. The last forecast showed frontal passage around midnight. We figured we could handle the wind shift, but it would mean we’d be up waiting for the shift and then would likely have to get underway in the middle of the night in adverse conditions.

Before canceling our trip, we had planned to anchor a mile or so off Smugglers to give us sea room to deal with a wind shift. But even that seemed dicey.

Weather always capable of the unexpected

We’re old and we don’t like to work after dark. Add to that the unease our wives were showing and we decided on a “fast cruise,” wherein we all hung out on the boat while tied fast to the dock. On New Years Day we were kicking ourselves for not going. It was bright, warm and still. Perfect for being at the islands.

Perfect it was … in Channel Islands Harbor, but the weather at the Channel Islands went as predicted. The wind shift came as NOAA had called and that meant trouble for a small Catalina anchored at Little Scorpion.

By the time our narrative starts, the wind has prompted the crew to get out of the anchorage. We don’t know if they were on two hooks or one, but they were definitely on a lee shore and very uncomfortable with the prospects. So they – wisely – got underway.

To their credit, they had asked local authorities specifically if Santa Anas were forecast and they were told, correctly, that none were on the horizon. Nobody mentioned the front and the wind shift which always accompanies a strong front.

In order to hide from wind and swell, most visitors to Little Scorpion Anchorage drop their hooks very close to Bird S**t Rock. If the wind shifts to the E or NE, captains find themselves on a dangerous lee shore.

The wind was gusting to about 20 knots, which raised a formidable chop in Little Scorpion. Their little boat was getting knocked around but they were able to start their outboard and pull in the anchor and move off the lee shore.

They had the same luck with their outboard that I usually have: it quit at a very bad time.

They pulled out their jib and tried to sail out, which might have worked if they had a bit of sea room. The Catalina sails just fine on headsail alone, but they didn’t have any room and got pushed back between Bird S**t Rock and the island. If you’ve kayaked in there, you know there is a reef that blocks that passage. And that is where they came to rest.

They called Mayday on channel 16, alerting the Coast Guard and Vessel Assist. Both got underway.

Abandon ship – a tough decision

Their position became untenable and the crew abandoned ship, rowing their dinghy safely ashore.

Vessel Assist Ventura’s boat arrived on scene. The captain assessed the situation and decided to stand off. The area was dotted by lobster traps, it was the middle of the night and the captain deemed conditions too hazardous for his crew and vessel, particularly too hazardous to put a swimmer in the water.

At daybreak, though seas and wind had not settled appreciably, the rescuers could maneuver among the traps. A swimmer secured a line to the Catalina and the boat was towed clear of the reef. They also picked up the crew from the beach and put a pump aboard the rescued boat.

On the way home some three miles west of Gina, something catastrophic happened on the Catalina. The pump could no longer keep up with the incoming water flow and the trusty little Catalina disappeared in a couple hundred feet of water.

Here are the lessons I take away from this accident.

These guys got the weather forecast and were satisfied that no Santa Ana meant they’d be safe in the anchorage. Somehow they missed the forecast wind shift. That said, we’ve had the wind shift on us with nothing in the forecast. So it’s something you have to consider any time you anchor. Setting an anchor watch and setting the GPS anchor alarm are always prudent measures.

We always anchor bow and stern in Little Scorpion. We’ve got a formidable bow anchor and chain road and we have a big Fortress astern that has held us in over 30 knots of shifting wind. Worst case for us – had we been there (other than screaming wives and children) would have been jettisoning our bow anchor and motoring or pulling ourselves back to the stern anchor – now the windward anchor, then getting underway. Of course, if our engine had quit, we’d probably have ended up on the same rocks. On the other hand, with a good bit more sea room, we might have been able to sail clear.

Outboards. Damned outboards. According to one of my friends expert in the matter, 4-stroke outboards have automatic shutdown systems that turn the motor off when low oil pressure is sensed. Severe rocking will make the sensors “think” the oil pressure is low.  And you know they must have been rocking in the chop.

Experts. They were misled by experts twice. The first was on the weather forecast.  The second was not so much advice as a suggestion that they might row their dinghy through the surf for pickup.They didn’t do that. It’s natural to act on advice in an emergency, but prudent to evaluate the based on your level of ability, your equipment and the conditions at hand. They did that and got home safely if short one boat.

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