Awoo!

We did it! We got to our newly decided destination -Emerald Bay, Catalina. Or as I like to call it, our Plan 2A.

No, not the sunset! This is the full moon! The Hunter’s Moon! -Emerald Bay

While getting from Santa Barbara to Catalina, sailing still eluded us most of the time. However, I’ll take that over being in super high gusts & mega large waves. Lucky to be able to motor. 200 years ago that was not the case. Although, I don’t think we’d be up for sailing this coast if things were the same as they were 200 years ago. I don’t necessarily need to have the electricity thing going all the time but it’s cold right now & I don’t know what I’d do besides hide in the v-berth all day if we didn’t have our heater on board. Yes, yes I am ready for the tropics. Why do you ask?

Boat envy! Although we don’t envy all the work it takes to keep that teak in good condition.

We were somewhat sad to leave Santa Barbara but very excited to move on to our next destination. -Ventura. We weren’t sure what to expect exactly but we had taken trips with Island Packers to the Channel Islands several times going out of Ventura.

Luckily, we did get to sail for two hours! So that was different & fun! It was pretty gloomy for most of the way. However, it probably took us only 5 hours to get there. Yippee!

Leaving Santa Barbara.

It was a dreary day but Ventura harbor is definitely not a dreary harbor! It is a fairly new harbor compared to most. We stayed in a section of the harbor called Safe Harbor Ventura Isle Marina. So nice! There was an actual patio -where I guess someone could entertain guests if they wanted! The bathrooms & showers were sparkling & looked like they belonged in a hotel & not a marina! The laundry room was great -all the machines worked & it was close to the dock! The staff were very friendly & helpful. The place was landscaped on shore & had pristine white receptacles to put trash & recycles in! There were a ton of restaurants & shops! I know. I know. Enough with the exclamation points. But I haven’t seen a harbor in such good shape….ever.

Fancy Schmancy new marina! & We loved it!

There definitely was money going into this place. -Which is why it is so lovely. It did cost $60 a night but so worth it!

They have a patio on the dock!

Just waiting on our drink orders at our dock patio!

While I could have stayed in the comfort of Ventura, it was time to move on. I mean we didn’t choose to travel this way for comfort! 🤣 We tried to sail but again the wind was squirly & mostly non-existant. It did get sunny though! -Not exactly warm but sun is always nice.

It was Matt’s birthday! And we were going to The Bu. -Short for Malibu. I tried to bake brownie muffins in the oven. I only burnt the very bottom. Think I’m getting the hang of things. 🙄 And Zephyr got Matt a Sailing Bohemia t-shirt.

Malibu was super rolly & fairly windy at the time. There were a bunch of party boats around. -Mostly teenagers on what I’m assuming were their parents’ yachts. We thought about crashing their party & telling them if they really wanted to celebrate they should welcome us for Matt’s Birthday! Unfortunately, we let that opportunity pass us by.

Malibu & Matt’s Birthday!

The next day, we set off early. Another gloomy day. And of course we motored all the way. We did make an effort though to sail but no such luck. Some dolphins sent us a nice farewell though!

I think I saw some shark fins barely piercing through the water about half way there. -Which is kind of funny because I remember seeing a shark fin half-way between the mainland & Catalina once when I was going to Emerald Bay with my family. So if you’re going to fall off the boat somewhere off the coast in California just don’t do it between the mainland & Catalina!

Leaving Malibu behind & coming upon Catalina!

It was pretty awesome, the sun came out on cue & we came up to Catalina Island! And then we inched our way into Emerald Bay.

When we got there, I realized that I had completely forgotten how these moorings work. My parents had to help us later. But we made due until then. -Jumping in the water once we were settled. It wasn’t quite as cold as I expected but definitely October temperature for the SoCal ocean. Heavenly to dry off in the sun though! I was in my happy place.

Yay! We made it to our destination!

My parents came in a few hours later & found their mooring. We got to see my dad’s new boat! -A Corsair trimaran. We hung out on it for a few hours. It was kind of surreal to actually be on our own sailboat meeting up with my parents on their boat. Very cool to experiencing things that were only just a spark of an idea a few years before.

Mom & Dad coming in on new trimaran!

The next day the sun was in & out. Too cold to jump in the water, unfortunately. -Well for me at least. Matt did go snorkeling. I was kind of bummed because the snorkeling is pretty amazing there. At this age though, I think I’d need a dry suit to snorkel in the temperature it was. Damn my bad circulation! I need a way to swim around with a heat lamp!

Zephyr definitely needed some exercise at this point so went to the beach late in the afternoon. I forgot how pebbly it was. But Zephyr still had fun! Lots of new smells to explore. I should have worn boat shoes to walk across the beach. Couldn’t run to save my life! Matt was smart, I mean when is he not, he work the proper shoes. So he was able to run around with our boy.

That night we barbecued on the boat with mom & dad & played pictionary afterwards. - Which was hilarious! See photos below. Unfortunately many of the good ones were sacrificed to the trash before I had the chance to submit them to the eternal internet.

Tuesday we took another trip on the dinghy to the beach. I remembered shoes this time so it was a little more fun & I was able to run around. It probably wasn’t too graceful but it’s not on camera. So that’s okay. 😁 Took a short hike up a crevice. Actually Matt started to hike up it & Zephyr just started following him with no problem at all! I think Zephyr is partly a mountain goat! It was pretty crazy. I may have gotten it on video with the GoPro but not sure. -Will have to go through that footage when we get home.

Hung out another night on our boat with my parents. They were leaving in the morning & the visit seemed too short. However, I feel priviledged that we were able to do this, even if it went by quickly.

Emerald Bay on a partially sunny day!

After seeing my parents off to sail back to Dana Point, we decided to leave for Two Harbors just down the way. We needed to stop there anyway to unload trash, get fuel, water & groceries.

There was hardly anyone there! I’ve never seen it so empty but I’ve never been there at this time of year. It was kind of nice not having to wiggle our way among the crowds that can be on the island during the summer.

Walked around for a little bit. Went to the other side of the isthmus, Cat Harbor. It’s much windier & colder over there as it’s on the west side of the island. Was hoping to see some bison but didn’t have such luck.

We got some groceries. -Pretty much double the price of anywhere else in California. So, only got very necessary items. Pretty sure we could wait until Ventura to go wild.

From Emerald Bay on to Two Harbors.

Two Harbors Little Red Schoolhouse!

Thursday morning we bid Catalina a fond farewell. Bummed that the weather wasn’t warmer but other than that, so stoked we made it & got to be there a few days!

Matt decided it was time to start the process of fishing during this trip. It definitely helped him pass the time a little better.

You’ll never guess, but we got to sail for 4 hours on our way across the channel! So awesome! I think we were doing 5-6 knots too! Not a bad way to start our way back home.

However, what was a bad way to start the journey back was that the motor/batterey power died on us! Really? Really? I guess we signed up for this kind of stuff. Matt smelled smoke & realized one of the wires that does something like connects the engine to the battery to give us power was almost on fire & basically about to completely fall apart. So thankful that there was enough wind to sail & that Matt is magical enough to fix something like this. Sadly he was in the cabin below for almost the whole time we were sailing.

On the other hand, Matt got to talk to a cargo ship when we were going across the channel! We needed to change our course a bit. Kind of an exciting sailing occurance to experience!

Bye bye to Two Harbors & hello to Matt starting his fishing career.

We arrived in Malibu in the late afternoon. I think there was only one other boat there. -I can understand why people don’t use it as an overnight stop if they can help it. If anything you just look at all the houses on the beach & cliffs & think, “They’re getting a good night sleep.”. -Unless of course, they’re an actor doing a night scene. Although, does anyone shoot anything in LA anymore?

It was cloudy but not too windy or quite as rolly. We were basically just fussing around until we could sleep & then move on. I mean, c’mon Malibu, entertain us!!!

And back to Malibu.

Sail away with me!

So there you go! We are officially on our way back to Santa Cruz! -Now that we have a slip there! How long will it take us to get back? Will the nastiness we endured on the way down greet us going back too? How many more things will break on MerSea? Stay tuned…. -Until next Wednesday, when we meet again!

Thanks for reading!