MERRY CHRISTMAS CREW

MIKE'S SHIRT

From the ocean to the mountains with a Nesporado to boot. Can it get any better? Thank you M and L, Nostrovia!

LIFE ON THE ROCK

Ouch!

NOVEMBER 23, 1974

Forty-five years ago the Admiral and capt exchanged wedding vows and said "I do".
We never dreamed the time would pass so quickly. But it has and so far it's been one hell of a ride. As part of our anniversary celebration we went sailing! It was a beautiful day, clear skies and wonderful sea conditions. Ride on sailors, ride on!

A FEW FIRSTS

Avalon during the summer is a zoo but there's a completely different vibe during the winter. We found a brief weather window to make the journey and we made the best of it. To Life!

We had to delay this trip several days because of fog. On our day of departure the sky was beautiful and the conditions were excellent.

 The first thing we have never seen before was a container ship under tow. Two tugs were pulling this behemoth south. It's sure nice to be a member of Vessel Assist.

Nature's color never disappoints.

The second "first" on this trip was the whale that cruised into Avalon Bay. We had seen this little guy while fishing earlier in the day. He wondered into the mooring field and put on a brief show for the boaters.

We had a five hour ride home, calm sea, clear sky and a 10-15 knot W,  NW breeze pushing us along.

Nostrovia!

LOG ENTRY 11/09/2019

D and S afternoon sail. Sunny, warm, wind 5-10 knots from the west. Sea calm. Crowded and busy in the harbor. No whales or dolphins. Nice day.

SANTA BARBARA

While visiting this beautiful beachside city we enjoyed some great meals, bicycled along the strand and harbor, and saw the makeshift memorial for the victims of the Conception tragedy. I think the Admiral had a wonderful b-day get-a-way.

No shortage of sand here, In fact, pay close attention to the buoys when transiting the marina. It's narrow.

Our hotel, the Milo, had several of these fire pit areas. We had this one all to ourselves for the entire stay.

Serenity Now...out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADMIRAL

A quick trip to Santa Barbara to celebrate the Admiral's B-Day allowed us to take a ride out of Summerland. It was super fun.

Two amigos on the trail.

GOOD MORNING

Today's sunrise reminded me of ones we had in Mexico seven years ago on the Haha. Great ride amigos!

THE BRONCO BUNCH

Crewman Chris and his family; Ashley, Jude and Kennedy joined the capt for a great afternoon on the water. The conditions were perfect. It was the best way to beat the heat. In fact, we were actually a little chilly at times. The dolphins and whales eluded us but we did spy some lazy sea lions. Super day.

Look closely, there's a shy Kennedy in this pic somewhere.

PERHAPS THE BEST TRIP EVER

You would think after 122 trips to Catalina that you'd have it down to a science but several elements have to fall in place, i.e., the weather, water temperature, tides, provisioning, boat and dinghy preparation, etc. Well, the stars aligned for the Admiral and I as we made our way to the island. First stop, Willow Cove for the night. After a restful night we weighed anchor and ventured west toward Two Harbors and settled in at Big Geiger. Four nights in our favorite cove couldn't have been better; the weather, sunshine, snorkeling and cuisine were out-of-this-world. Our final night was spent in Avalon for an easy departure home in the morning. We dined on fresh local lobster and pasta, nice way to end it.

Sailing, or boating in general, can have its edgey and tense moments that add a little adventure to the moment and we had several on this trip. The first occurred at Big Geiger when we were preparing to leave. The wind came up in the morning blowing 18-20 knots. We were anchored bow-stern and would have to retrieve the stern anchor first and hopefully, not drag or swing into the shoreline on our bow hook. We waited until it settled down a bit, raised both anchors, breathed a sigh of relief and were off to Avalon. Our next "moment" was the dense fog we encountered two hours out of Dana Point. A smooth and uneventful crossing changed quickly. Visibility was down to 50 feet or less even when we entered the harbor. Another sigh of relief. Thank God for radar. 

All in all, Catalina Island trip 123 was a classic.

Willow Cove

Saddleback Mt. sunrise

The speck in the center is Serenity Now at Big Geiger

Big Geiger

Our location at BG

The iconic Avalon Bell Tower

Yep, we were livin' it

Two hours in this pea soup

Good morning

FEELIN' GROOVY

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy

Sunday was that kind of day, warm and clear, calm sea, light wind and a time to kick back and feel good. The Admiral and capt did just that. Ahoy mates!

SERENITY NOW OFF COURSE

That never happens, ha ha. The Admiral and I were spending some time in Mammoth Lakes and decided to venture to Yosemite for the day. The Tioga Pass drive is super-scenic and the road itself is an engineering marvel. Our good friends from the Tahoe area were driving down and we were going to meet them, have breakfast and visit the park. 

Once there, we ran into Ranger Rob (Hooterman's good friend). Rob has been sailing aboard Serenity Now and it was good to see a familiar crewman. We eventually tracked down Hooterman and had a pleasant reunion. As Sailor Jerry said, "It's a small, small world!"

Crewman Rob in full work mode.

The "off course" Serenity Now sailors, L to R: the capt, The Admiral, Hooterman, Midshipman Mark and Anacapa Ann.

DIVE BOAT "CONCEPTION"

In the middle of the night a tragic fire took the lives of thirty-four souls aboard the MV Conception anchored off Santa Cruz Island. May the victims rest in eternal peace.

“The majority of the people were the passengers on the ship and the sleeping compartment was on the bottom deck of the ship, so they would’ve been sound asleep when this fire started. So you can imagine that of all scenarios — to be in a remote location, have a fire that occurs, have limited, if any, firefighting capabilities that could address that and then to have all of a sudden a fire that spread very, very rapidly. You couldn’t ask for a worse situation.” 

Sheriff Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office

A NOTE ABOUT THE BLOG COVER PHOTO

This pic was snapped recently as the sun was rising and cast a small shadow of Ballast Point on Cat Head.

A SEA LION INVASION

The "protected" sea lions in our harbor are becoming quite a nuisance. As evidenced here in the photo, these huge mammals love to sun themselves on the docks and swim-steps of boats around the marina. Recently, upon our return from a 7-night trip, our boarding dock steps were missing. Upon further investigation I noticed the sea lions had made our slip their home while we were away. They must have pushed our boarding steps into the water to make more room for themselves. Thank God our swim-step is a tiny one!

A 2 MINUTE VIDEO OF LITTLE GIEGER WITH GOOD FRIENDS A FEW YEARS AGO!

Click the link if you have two minutes to spare...

https://youtu.be/239TzDZH6TQ

Thank you Matt and Laura for this video and being super friends!

BEATING THE HEAT

La Quinta during the summer can get very hot and our crew today hail from that fair city. An afternoon on the water is exactly what the doctor ordered (no pun intended he's a doctor}. We enjoyed absolutely perfect sailing conditions with the weather, wind, food and company. The day was a 10+!

The Star of the Day and youngest crew member in a while Anahit. 

Yelena takes her turn at the helm.

The doctor bringing her home.

All smiles at the end of a great day.

m

ONE FOR THE CREW

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na 

Crackman!

GODDAMN SAILORS!

The Admiral and I decided to venture to the back side of the island this trip. To break the voyage up we would spend the first night front-side in Descanso. Boaters, let me tell ya, you can have Avalon during the summer. Way to crowded, to much boat and jet ski traffic and bumpy boat wakes, it really ruins the entire water experience.

The next morning our trip to Cat Harbor was almost magical, watching the cool morning fog paint the tops of the bluffs and cliffs along the back side. We looked at Little Harbor as an anchorage but there were already three boats there so we passed and continued on. Catalina Harbor looked almost deserted as we entered and anchored on the east side under Ballast Point. This would be our home base for the next five nights.

There was plenty of time to fish, SUP, snorkel and just dinghy around. We did it all.

Catalina Harbor with Cat Head in the distance.

Saturday morning Patches and Scooch joined us for two nights at Cat. They Expressed over and the four of us played, told stories and laughed the entire time. Great time with great friends.

Scooch and the capt went snorkeling at Little Harbor on the reef. Beautiful dive.

After our guests left Monday morning, the Admiral and I moved the boat to the front-side and anchored in Willow Cove. We had it all to ourselves! We readied ourselves for an early departure the next day.

Rush hour at Willow...empty!

We've had many wonderful trips and experiences at Catalina Island. This trip ranks up there with the very best.

Oh almost forgot, the headline for this entry...The first night in Descanso two drunks were trying to pick up the mooring next to us and they were having some difficulty. After some discussion the Harbor Patrolman escorted them to another location and mooring. The next morning, as they were passing our boat to go fishing at 5:00 am, we could hear them shout "Goddamn Sailors". True story.

ANCHORING 101

It's always a good idea to stick your head into the chain locker and check out your ground tackle, especially after you've anchored Serenity Now over 260 times in the past 17 years. I've been keeping my eye on our anchor shackle and finally, it was time to replace it.

Time to replace.

The old and the new.

All ready for the next anchorage. Let's go sailing!

POSTSCRIPT TO NESPORADOS 2019

The original plan was for Jackpot to fly in on an all-nighter from Maui and for us to sail to the island that same day. Due to our mechanical issue, that didn't happen. We left a day later. Thank goodness because JP was really tired. El Jeffe and Hooterman (who flew in from Oregon) took the express to Avalon and were waiting for us as we pulled in. We picked them up and it was off to Hamilton Cove. Sailor Jerry and Crewman Matt took the express the next day and used the water taxi to join us. Logistically it all worked out, never a dull moment!

NESPORADOS 2019

All went as planned, the part arrived in the morning and two men worked all day to replace the steering cable. We would be leaving in the morning for Avalon and the 17th Annual Nesporado Trip.

 This gathering was special because it was the first time we had three generations and all the guys together.  El Jeffe and Hooterman arrived on the Express Thursday night while Sailor Jerry and Crewman Matt joined the gang Friday night. Our spot for 4 nights, Hamilton Cove H-9.

It was a great time to catch up with what everyone was presently doing and recollect old times with stories and memories of the past. The laughs, food and drinks were good but the fishing stunk. Oh well, that's why it's called "fishing" and not "catching". Maybe next time!

Crewman Matt with his grandfather Sailor Jerry.

Three brothers.

Two brothers.

Jackpot telling story.

The gang of Nesporados.