Hey Catsailors, I know some you you do a funsail to the island every year. I've always wanted sail cats out there, but get too busy in the summer to get away. Well this summer I'm going to get away and sail with you guys.
I used to live on the island, and sailed out there 3 times a month for work, but its been a while.
It looks like the next big Catalina trip is either going to be the weekend before or after Easter. Most leave Friday and return Sunday. Most launch out of the public ramp at San Pedro (beach wheel and ramp access) or Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club if they have connections there. We rendezvous on the water for a noon fleet departure. (Leaving earlier means no wind.)
On Friday the 28th of March, there were six catamarans full of friends as we left San Pedro and sailed for Two Harbors on Catalina Island. On Inter 20’s were Carl and Katie, and Steve and Adron. On Tornados were Mark and Chris, each single-handing. On the Narcra 5.8 was Buzz and Sandy, and on my Mystere were Shari and myself. (Gary)
The Tornados had cleared the lighthouse when Shari and I shoved off. Buzz and Sandy were close to the Tornados. When Shari and I rounded the lighthouse, the other three sailing cats were already so far away that we could not tell who was who. The Inter 20’s shoved off about a half hour after we did.
As soon as we shoved off, Shari and I, on a Starboard tack broad reach, were on a collision course with a freighter on our port side that was being tug escorted to Angels Gate. When we got there, I rounded up to a close starboard reach, staying very very close to the rocks. The freighter had plenty of room on our port side as we turned away from him. Eventually, and only minutes later, the freighter made a course change and ran me down. Just as I was wondering if he was going to get any closer he gave me the horn. While trying my best not to mess my new dry suit, I tacked away from starboard to port and we began to sail westward, up the coastline. A half-mile later we tacked back toward the island and crossed the freighter’s stern, miles clear of her.
This maneuver had increased the separation between the front of the fleet and Shari and I. They had remained on Starboard tack the whole time and we lost site of them in some slightly gloomy haze eventually.
One hour and six nautical miles later, we had another crossing with a freighter. This time it was predictable and we tacked to give her room. This sent us in the direction of the Inter 20’s who had been doing a lot of westward sailing on port tack when they first exited Angels Gate. We stayed on port tack long enough to cross with the Inters and both of them crossed ahead of us. After 1.8 miles, we again flopped back over onto Starboard where we sailed most of the entire remainder of the crossing.
Later, about mid-channel, the wind piped up to about 9 knots and the Inter 20’s scrambled and sailed higher than did we. Shari and I had to put in about five or six more pairs of tacks before entering Isthmus Cove. We could not see any of the first three cats to leave the beach, so we expected that they had already arrived on the island.
The Inters had landed on the beach by the pier, so we joined them there. We lifted the cats up onto the volleyball courts, on top of the sea wall. The Tornados and the Nacra were still on the ocean!
You will have to see the file that has the comparison between the two gps tracks from TurboCat (Tornado), and Whisk (Msytere 6.0) to believe the different conditions experienced by each half of the fleet. With a separation of only about 2 to 4 miles between each half of the fleet, the wind was blowing about four times as hard on the right side of the course as it was on the left.
There were some large swells that made it even more difficult to tolerate the low wind that they had on the left side. Meanwhile, on the right side we were cooking along at about 9 knots of boat speed in about 9 knots of wind. The poor guys on the left side were getting their rigging bounced around in near doldrums conditions.
At 14:33 hours, Mark was doing 0.9 knots while I was slowed to a dull 6 knots. At 14:37 the wind came back and while I was doing 10 knots, Mark (and the other two boats, I presume) were still floundering around at 2 knots.
At 15:12 hours, they finally hit the wind and were moving at 8 knots or more. At the same time, Shari and I were moving along at 11 and 12 knots. Inexplicable!
Saturday the Tornados had a quick sail home. Sunday, the rest of the fleet had an exciting and rough crossing. The wind was probably 12-20 knots and the seas were pretty tall. It was not a very deep reach and only one boat, an Inter 20, used his spinnaker for a short time. Shari and I sailed under a reefed main with a stock genoa deployed. We hit more than 16 knots of boat speed on several occasions. 14-15 nautical miles per hour was commonplace.
Everyone got back swiftly and safely. One Inter 20 capsized near bird rock when Carl’s trapeze adjustment line broke and sent him into the drink. We were all back to Cabrillo Beach by about 13:40 hours on Sunday. In Hurricane Gulch, one gust hit Shari and I so hard that Whisk lifted up while flying a reefed main.
