Its warm and sunny and we love it!

Kialoa heading to Avalon along the coast of Catalina Island Photo courtesy of Kanilela

Some Catalina barb wire art

 We ended up spending 10 days on Catalina Island.  Enjoying being still and not moving for a while.  It is a lovely peaceful place in November.  I get the feeling it is overrun in the summer. The number of mooring bouys in each harbour is a dead giveaway.  Southern California boaters do not have many places close enough to go to for a weekend cruise.  Catalina is one of very few.   We are truly spoiled in the southern Gulf Islands where we have so many choices for a weekend away.
While it is lovely on Catalina there is not alot to except to go hiking or biking or boating.  There are places to go snorkeling but although it is warm it was not quite warm enough to get me in the water.

Scott came with me on this hike, turns out it was the steepest one!
Sorry honey.

This little rock has one patch of vegetation
on the right,  the black patch on the left is
birds!  I love the pattern they made.

I love the ingenuity that keeps this dinghy afloat!

Gord, Mags, Scott and I on the dock in Avalon

We spent a couple of days in Avalon which is the centre of civilization on Catalina Island.  It is entirely geared towards tourists, there does not seem to be any other economy on Catalina.  We did have fun there though and won a dollar from Gord and Mags playing mini golf.  I don't think we will take up the pro circuit just yet though.

Avalon harbour with the theatre in the background.  Note all
the mooring bouys!

 A statue of Richard Henry Dana, he wrote a book called
two years beforethe mast.  He was a sailor on a ship that traded
 for cow hides in the early days of California.  Its a fun read as we
 have been pulling into the harbours that he describes.  Dana point
is one of the places he made famous.  

 We reluctantly left Catalina and returned to the bustle of the mainland.  First stop was Dana point, see photo description, where we went for dinner with one of Scotts long time friends. It was great to see you Ronny and Amy!  Scott also went off and had a disc golf day with his old buddies on the course he played when he lived here.
A couple of stops later we are in San Diego, hopping off point for Mexico!
We have crossed almost everything off of our list including having the HF radio working and the email system set up.  We can now send and receive emails from anywhere as well as get weather information.
Josh has decided to join us for the trip down the Baja peninsula, so we are looking forward to his arrival.

San Diego skyline

Here and there but generally south....

Well we are back to the Island lifestyle……Southern California style.

We left Morro Bay after a fun visit with Bob, Pat and their daughter Lisa, after choosing a good weather window to pass around Cape Conception.  It is known as the Cape Horn of North America……I think that might be a little overblown myself.  For one thing it does not take very long to get around and the temperatures are never below freezing here…..it is after all, southern California.  But never the less we were careful to choose a good weather window and passed around the Cape at midnight, in calm seas and in company with Solestra, a fellow Bluewater Cruising Association boat that we last saw in Neah Bay, WA.

Bill taking Bob, Pat and Lisa for a cruise.

Bob, Bill and Scott all used to work together.

A hitchhiker

 As we approached the Cape the offshore oil rigs started to make their presence known.  At night these big islands of light invariably seemed to be exactly on the course we wished to take to Santa Barbara!  They were a bit intimidating at first but since they are immobile all we really had to do was steer clear. Phew!

Less intimidating in daylight

Santa Barbara is a lovely city with tree lined streets, nice old buildings and a beautiful waterfront that we spent four days enjoying with the crews of Solastra and Searover II, another Bluewater boat on the way to Mexico.  The next stop was Oxnard where we caught up with Kanilela, another Bluewater boat that we had first met in Morro Bay. 

 

Day of the dead decorations

Just some of the boats in Oxnard

Oxnard has a huge section of manmade canals and it sure was fun going shopping by Dinghy.  However the marina fee was high so we did not stay long.  We are now enjoying what Catalina Island has to offer in company with Kanilela and Searover II, Solastra has elected to keep working their way to San Diego along the mainland coast.

 

Neil Youngs boat was also in Oxnard, proudly flying the Canadian flag

  Catalina Island is experiencing a severe drought so things are pretty brown, but the weather is pleasant and the harbour is lovely.  There is also lots of good hiking, just beware the rattlesnakes and the buffalo…….I have not yet seen either though.  While here we have also finally finished our watermaker installation and it has been successfully tested!  Yay!  The signs about the drought everywhere were a good incentive on that one!

Kialoa is in the middle of the group

Made it to the top!