Ventura | Capt. Dan's Sail Channel Islands

Anacapa Island Rob Walton’s most excellent picture of Anacapa shows why I’m a big advocate of winter sailing in SoCal

Sailors in Illinois report that they are very frustrated. The temp is up to 40 and their boats are not in the water. Seems Frostbite sailing season ended for them at the end of November. There are no races right now, but there are guys who will chip away at the ice to launch dinghies and other small craft all year. In fact, there are guys who are jealous of east coast saltwater sailors who enjoy ice-free water when temps get into the 20′s.

No thanks. I’m a Californian, and now a Southern Californian and there isn’t a month of the year when the average maximum temp is below 64. In fact, the lowest average.

Average Temp in these parts is 56. No need to chip ice here.

Willows sunrise

The real beauty of winter sailing here is the excellent visibility. When a cold front passes through, the the air is so clear you feel you can touch the Anacapa Light from Oxnard Beach. Skies are clear to partly cloudy about half the time, which is better than June.

Probably the best part is that few other people are out on the water. Drop the hook in Fry’s or Willows and you’re likely to be the only boat in the anchorage.

Cautions
When a strong low comes ashore in the Oxnard-Ventura area or somewhat to the south, expect south swells and southerly winds. Morse Point and Forney’s are the only anchorages on the south side of Santa Cruz that afford any protection. Our standbys for heavy weather during most of the year – Yellowbanks-Smugglers can get quite uncomfortable with a south swell. North shore anchorages such as “Prisoners, Pelican and Frys are very tame under these circumstances.

Obviously, checking wx every few hours on the VHF is prudent as is careful pre-sail weather planning.

If you have more to add to this discussion, please post a comment below. And, if you want to examine the climatological charts, click Climate Tables

An aside – We still have a couple of open spots for ASA 105 Coastal Navigation, which starts 17 January.

See you on the water

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Sancerre rides to bow and stern anchors. Note the shallow angle of each rode. That’s what gives you holding power. The bow anchor looks a little steep, but that is because the bow hook is on a snubber. We’re pulled tight between the two hooks.

I got an inquiry about anchoring at some of our favorite spots a few days ago. They seemed like good questions, so here they are followed by my answers.

For the first time I’ll be setting anchor at Santa Cruz Island this summer for a week. I have a number of questions for someone with your experience. I have a Hunter 430 (43 foot) fractional sloop. I currently have a 45lb. Danforth bow anchor with 200 foot chain rode and 200 foot rope rode. I have a 25lb. stern Danforth anchor. My questions are:

1. From the research I’ve done it appears that I’ll encounter mostly, if not exclusively, sand seafloors? Is this information accurate?
2. I’ll be arriving the last week in July and staying through the first week in August. What type of weather, winds, and current conditions will I likely experience?
3. In your experience, with the anchor and rode I have be sufficient to anchor safely in the primary anchorages such as Scorpion Bay, Diablo, Pelican, Potato, etc.?
4. How crowded should I expect these anchorages to be at the end of July?
5. Any other information you think might be helpful for a first timer to Santa

And my response:
If you don’t already own Brian Fagan’s cruising guide, I strongly suggest that you get it and read about all of the anchorages. I’ve got a link to a bunch sailing books that you can access from my homepage by clicking – guess what – sailing books. It’s towards the bottom of the links.

You’ve probably discovered my cruising guide, which I put together as a supplement and update to Brian’s work.

Now to your questions:

First of all – Weather. The end of July is usually gorgeous. But temps can be low at night. And there won’t be a lot of bikini time during the day. Gorgeous or not, you must be prepared for big wind and big seas. Those can come up at any time. The good news is you’re unlikely to encounter a Santa Ana.

The prevailing wind is west. If you venture from your anchorage, Windy lane will be a big factor. However, if you know how to tie in a reef quickly, it’s not a problem, though the ride can be a bit choppy. Slight variations in wind and swell direction will dictate going to various anchorages. Our refuge anchorage in big west wind is Yellowbanks. Get acquainted with that spot. I’ve found it useful to be able to get in there in the dark using radar, gps and depthdsounder after evacuating an uncomfortable mooring farther west.

During the week you’re going to have the island mostly to yourself, particularly in the south coast anchorages. I suspect that traffic will be considerably less than last year as most motor yachts are likely to stay tied up with diesel at $5/gal.

Your ground tackle sounds adequate for most anchorages at Santa Cruz. I’d check the West Marine advisor pages to see if that stern anchor is heavy enough. Be aware that Danforths don’t do well in eel grass and that is a problem from time to time in many of the anchorages. When setting two anchors, make sure your windward anchor is set solidly before you deploy your downwind anchor. It can be harrowing if you have two anchors out and neither is holding, worse if you’ve got two out and your downwind anchor is set and the other is not.

You don’t specify how much rode you have astern. We have 350′ and I’ve sometimes wished I had 400 as I do at the bow.

Make a circuit of the anchorage before dropping a hook and note the depths carefully. The beach gradient is amazing in some spots. In the Grotto, for instance, our stern hook was in 18′ and or bow in 50′.

BTW, we have a French Plow on the bow and a Fortress astern.

Anchoring bow and stern can be a bit tricky. If you haven’t done it, go practice before your trip. We watched some experienced yachtsmen flail around for four hours trying to set two hooks in Fry’s. They eventually fouled their prop. We were able to take a line from them and winch them away from the rocks. Fortunately, winds were light all night and we were able to keep them safe until morning when they were able to clear their prop.

If you have more questions, give me a call 805.750.7828.

dan

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Capt. Dan's Sail Channel Islands

Santa Barbara Channel Islands Blog

Tag Archives: Ventura

Winter sailing in the Santa Barbara Channel Islands

Anchoring at the Channel Islands – questions