San Miguel Island-Cuyler Harbor anchorage, Channel Islands Cruising Guide

Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel Island

Loc: SE San Miguel Island	Lat: N34-03.4	Long: W120-21.3	Last visit: Oct. 2008
Tide/Sun/Moon/WX	Dist: 0	Cuyler Harbor	WX
Chart	18727	San Miguel Passage	Google Map
Skipper: Dennis Dreith	Boat:Sancerre	captdan	Port: Channel Islands
Landing Permit	Not Required	National Park Service

Beauty and History Cuyler Harbor is spectacular and usually empty. It is to our minds, the most beautiful spot to drop your hook in all the Channel Islands. Its remarkable rock formations, towering cliffs and Prince Island, which lies at the mouth of the harbor make this the only real harbor in the northern tier of islands. That said, most local mariners rarely venture here because of frequent punishing winds and high seas. It's also a bit of a schlep from Oxnard/Ventura. San Miguel is the rumored final resting place of Juan Cabrillo, who discovered the island sometime around 1540, and died there after an altercation with the Chumash Indians in 1543. (Something about counterfeit chips at the blackjack table.)

While further away from Oxnard/Ventura, and more challenging in terms of navigation than most other off shore destinations, the trip to San Miguel, and Cuyler specifically, is well worth the effort (even considering all of Fagan cautionary comments, which are definitely worth reading).

As this is a fairly large anchorage, chances are great that there will be plenty of room, and very little company to contend with except for the occasional crabber or dive boat.

Approach There are two possible ways in and out of Cuyler (see chartlet). Our trip to Cuyler was by way of Point Bennett on the North West tip of San Miguel, around Castle Rock, past Simonton Cove and around Harris Point. That's the long way. It's also the beautiful way. The top picture shows Nifty Rock in the foreground, the peninsula a bit closer and Hill 485 and Hare Rock in the background. The shoulder of Harris Pt. Is at the far right.

Following our route from the north, first identify Harris Point, which is unmistakable due its conspicuous hill, shoulder, and steep cliffs, and 288' Prince Island, which lies approximately a mile offshore at the East side of the anchorage. Our approach was from the NNW, keeping well off shore. As Nifty Rock and Hare Rock are 250 yards and 300 yards off shore respectively, we kept about 400 yards off shore lining up on Judge Rock (a small black rock near the western end of a sandy beach seen below). Proceeding between Middle Rock (awash, and visible only at low tide) and a shoal off the point of the anchorage (a little more than 1/2 mile S of Hare Rock), we continued about 200 yards more before making a slight westerly turn. We dropped a single hook in about 25 feet of water, although we could have run up quite a bit closer to shore and anchored in 15 to 20 feet.

Fagan has an excellent description of this approach in his Cruising Guide, except from a slightly more easterly direction stating "Entrance to the anchorage lies one third of the distance between Prince Island and Harris Point cliffs. Shape your course to stay about 300 yards E of the Harris Point cliffs. Steer for a point somewhat inshore of Hare Rock until you are close to the cliffs" from that point it's similar to the description above. Part of a prudent sailor's preparation for a journey to Cuyler should include careful study of Coast Pilot and Fagan's Cruising Guide.

Anchoring Conditions were extremely benign while we were there each fall in 2006, 7, and 8, and allowed us to use a single hook, Fagan cautions that wind and substantial swells can come up suddenly, requiring a second hook, or if conditions deteriorate sufficiently, render this anchorage unsafe. Fagan states "Heavy swells can break in the entrance in rough weather. Entering or leaving Cuyler in these conditions is crazy."

All sailors speak from experience, just not necessarily their own. Even so the consensus among locals is that this can be a very hazardous spot. On the other hand, fall provides some excellent weather for this trip and the consensus is Sept. and Oct. are the best months to venture this way.

Departure (Alternate Entrance) Departing the anchorage we headed on a course almost due south toward Judge Rock, taking care to avoid the numerous kelp beds. At Judge Rock we turned east and paralleled the shore, staying about 100 yards off while maintaining a course which took us between the shore and Clover Rock, which was awash. We continued on a course that kept us between the shore and Prince Island and stayed close to shore until we were abeam of Prince Island and clear of the reef. Obviously the reciprocal of our departure route could be used as an approach into the anchorage. However, it is a somewhat tricky approach requiring careful avoidance of the kelp beds and keeping well inside of Clover Rock. While one might be tempted to set a course midway between the shore and Prince Island heading straight into the anchorage, this would take you between Middle Rock and Clover Rock, both of which are exposed only at low tide, and may shoal up in between them depending on the surge and swell conditions.

Dangers Kelp beds abound and there are several small reefs/rocks which are only visible at low tide. In addition, Fagan cautions about a foundation of an old pier at the south corner of the anchorage that should be avoided.

Landing and Facilities No landing permit is required. However a guided tour with a part ranger can be arranged by calling the Park headquarters in Ventura at (805) 644-8262. You can also contact the ranger on channel 16. Excursion parties generally meet the ranger at 0900 near the four palm trees on the beach. We did not take the time to go ashore in 2006 or 2008, but in 2007, we launched the dinghy and met the ranger at the top of Nidever canyon. He juggled his schedule a bit and took us on a hike to the Caliche Forest. Frankly, I was very nervous about leaving Sancerre unattended, so we abbreviated our excursion. That turned out to be a good decision as the wind came up and the anchor needed tending by the time we got back aboard. I will never leave the boat unattended in this anchorage again. The best place to go ashore is at the NW corner of the bay near the palm trees, but you can encounter hazardous surf conditions. Be ready to abort your landing plans or be prepared for a swim.

Fagan also cautions that a landing attempt opposite the path to the ranger camp is to invite a dunking. We second that motion.

There are two stories that purport to explain the curiously out-of-place palm trees on the beach. First story: the palms are courtesy of a movie company that filmed a feature there in the 1920's. Story #2 comes to us from Jeffrey LaBarre, who wrote "I was having dinner as a reciprocal guest at the Santa Barbara YC and talking with a couple at the table next to me about my visit to Cuyler Harbor. I was telling story #1 when another older gentleman piped up. He said that, while this story has been repeated many times, it was false. The four palms were planted, he said, by a fellow SBYC member. He said he knew this was true because he knew the man and his son who did the planting and that it was much later than 1935, in the early 50's he thought (this is, I think, consistent with the size of the palms). I can't say for certain that this guy was right but it is certainly commonly accepted knowledge at SBYC and I have since heard this from other sources as well."

Mr. LaBarre added "Cuyler WAS used as a location for the 1935 filming of Mutiny on the Bounty but the crew "mutinied" over the remoteness of the location, bad weather (a crew member was reportedly swept overboard and lost), and the constant wind. The site was abandoned in favor of the Isthmus at Catalina."

There you have it: a true sea story - two plausible accounts and sailors who swear that their version is accurate at least one of which includes the phrase "was there" or the principle "knew someone who was there."

Ecology notes: The environment is beginning to recover after being devastated by ranch animals, mostly feral sheep that were abandoned when the ranching operation was wrapped up. With little ground cover, the wind swept the landscape, gouging sand rivers through the terrain, which are most distinctive in aerial photos. Next trip we plan on spending extra time for kayaking in the harbor, which appears to be excellent. In addition to elephant seals on the harbor beaches, we ran into a pod of humpbacks in 2006 - more accurately - they joined us on our way toward Santa Rosa. Seven (or so) animals including two juveniles. In 2007 and 08, Fin Whales joined us for over an hour of whale frolcking.

Updates If you have new or amplifying information concerning this anchorage or the surrounding area, please contact captdan

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