Member News and Articles Archives - Page 2 of 11 - Santa Barbara Sail & Power Squadron

April 2023 Winter Island Frolicing by Steve Hodges

Steve York on April 4, 2023 Member News and Articles

Frolic visited Santa Cruz Island in January and February. Both trips were cut short by the threat of Santa Ana winds, but we still had a lot of fun!

On a clear sunny day in January, I sailed with my daughter, her husband and their eldest son (5 years old) to Coches Prietos. We had light winds and anchored in the calm afternoon. I was happy that Frolic’s diesel had whirred without a hitch – this was the first time I had relied on it since having the motor mounts and transmission seals replaced. Once Frolic was secured, we rowed to shore and hiked up the hill above the anchorage, east toward Albert’s.

After our shore excursion, we enjoyed a lovely sunset pizza meal, and a good night’s sleep. It was nice to see my grandson sleeping in the same bunk his mother had slept in when she was a young girl (26 years ago, good grief!). In the morning, we were greeted by an offshore breeze that increased in intensity as we breakfasted. We were planning to go ashore again, but the wind was too strong to row, so we waited, and I considered setting up the outboard. But as I hesitated, Katherine, a lobster boat, pulled alongside and let us know that strong NE winds were predicted for the evening, and expected to last for more than a day. This was much sooner than the forecast when I checked the day before we left. There is no VHF reception in Coches so this was a kind and welcome gesture. Frolic is now berthed in Ventura, and making our return there in strong NE winds was not something I wanted to do. We considered waiting it out, but my daughter had plans for the weekend, so we made the decision to head back before the blow began. We motored to San Pedro where we picked up a steady Westerly breeze and had a fast and fun afternoon sail back to the harbor.

About a month later, in mid-February, P/C Susan and I did it again. It is so easy to get to Santa Cruz’s backside from Ventura! We had a pleasant motor-sail across, and anchored in Coches in the early afternoon. We kayaked to the beach and admired the flowers and shells there. We enjoyed a lovely sunset evening, and were awed by the night sky. Jupiter overhead, then Mars, and setting Venus. Orion marched across our meridian, and the dog star Sirius made the ocean sparkle.

The morning dawned calm, and the sunrise was magnificent! After breakfast, we kayaked ashore ready to hike. We walked north then west on the old road out of the anchorage for several hours, and made it back to Coches in early afternoon. Susan wanted to swim, so I towed her kayak back to Frolic and she swam. Even with the abundant sunshine, the water was too cold for me! While Susan enjoyed a warm sun shower, I kayaked west toward Willows. There was one power boat anchored there and her crew was sunbathing on the foredeck. No farmer’s tans on that boat!

As I paddled back to Frolic I decided to listen to the channel 3 weather on my handheld VHF and, while happy to have reception, I was disappointed to hear (another) dire forecast for very strong NE winds. Back on Frolic, Susan and I discussed the situation and decided to head back. Discretion is the better part of valor! We’d enjoyed many night crossings, and hadn’t done one in a while, so why not? We departed just after sunset, and enjoyed another beautiful night sky as we motored east along Santa Cruz’s south side, and then, giving Sandstone Pt and its extensive kelp patch a wide berth, turned NE for Ventura. Except for the very busy shipping lanes, the trip across the channel was uneventful. Platform Gail makes navigating from San Pedro Point to Ventura easy: just aim head for the platform, keeping it to starboard. Our new radar (Furuno 1815), interfaced with our AIS and OpenCPN chart plotter, worked really well, and made threading through the numerous east- and west-bound ships on a dark night less stressful. We tied off in our slip in the wee hours and slept well. We were happy to be in our slip when the NE winds started the next morning!

February 2023 News from the Osgoods, South of the Border by Karen Osgood

Steve York on February 7, 2023 Member News and Articles

It is 4:30 am and we are ghosting along the Mexican coast headed south. There are millions of stars painted above, yet darkness surrounds us reminding me how vast and miraculous the universe is. And we are one small speck on the radar of the great Pacific.

We started our journey in San Carlos, on the Sonoran coast of mainland Mexico. Our boat dry docks each summer waiting out hurricane season from June to October 31. This is our third season exploring the gulf of CA and mainland. We got a late start this season arriving in early December and we paid a price as the winter was unforgivingly cold and windy this year. Christmas was spent off the islands of La Paz with gusts to 30 for two days. Last year we left San Carlos in early November and had warm and balmy days meandering through the Sea, which is great October through November and March through May. This year we sped through the sea longing for warmth and to take off our jackets! It’s what we come to Mexico for, the great winter climate.

Tonight we left Puerto Vallarta after a visit with our youngest son, and rounded Cabo Corrientes, the Mexican version of Point Conception. Earlier in the day the winds and swell switched from the predominant NW to SW and the 4-6 foot seas were confused into a 3 second interval making headway slow and progress forward under 2 knots with the engine @2000 rpm. We decided why bash and turned around to Punta Mita to wait for the wind and swell to subside. It paid off and we had a much easier time slipping around Cabo Corrientes around midnight.

Tomorrow, after a 125 mile passage, we will reach our favorite destination in Mexico, Tenacatita Bay. This anchorage can hold over 60 boats ( a rare occasion) and boasts a long sand beach, friendly outdoor restaurant, bocce ball daily, snorkeling, Friday raft ups, daily radio net, provisioning close by, dinghy estuary tours, and other activities, like a triathlon, fun races and full moon bonfires. The cruising community is alive and thriving here and some have been imbibing in this casual lifestyle for years.

This is our southern point this year and then we will head north back to San Carlos, basically rinse and repeat from mainland north up the Gulf of CA. For us Mexico is a friendly experience between the cruisers and Mexican people, which keeps us coming back year after year.

KarenSv

Snowaway

Caliber 40

October 2022, Cruising on a 150 Year-Old Schooner Windjammer by Rich & Peggy Ciolino

Steve York on November 3, 2022 Member News and Articles

Ever dream of sailing on a true Schooner Windjammer sailboat? How about one that first set sail as a cargo vessel over 150 years ago in Maine, USA? The S/V Lewis R. French plied the East Coast, shipping coal, lumber, fish, trees, granite, and so forth until the 1970s when it was massively restored and converted to a passenger-carrying Windjammer. It now has space below for 20 or so passengers and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1992.

Peggy and I saw an opportunity to sail on one of these beautiful boats as part of an East Coast trip where we were planning to attend an early fall wedding in New England. We did some Windjammer research and found the French to be an interesting choice because of its history and size. Being about 100 feet long with a 65 foot deck, having no engine, and being operated with traditional ropes, lines, and people power, we felt we’d get a truer experience to what sailing on a historic schooner would be.

We boarded the French on a Saturday night and set off on a four-day cruise the following morning.

Here she is dock-side being prepped for the cruise in Camden Harbor.

Having no motor she carries or tows a “yawl dinghy” outfitted with an 85 hp Yanmar engine that’s used for guiding her when docking or leaving a dock, and traveling through a crowded anchorage such as Camden Harbor’s.

Here’s a photo of the boat’s cook, and part-time deck hand, operating the yawl-dinghy “Greyhound” as the French was being pushed from the dock through the maze of anchored and moored boats outside the harbor where her sails can be raised to begin sailing. Also shown is a photo of the view from the bow as she is guided through the harbor.

The ship’s cook did not want to be called chef or cook, just O.B.. So, O.B. did wondrous things with preparing three meals a day on the boat’s wood burning stove. His creations for each meal were served buffet style by placing the food and drinks on the mid-deck cabin top. We’d find a spot on deck to sit down and enjoy the meals he prepared.

And so we began leg one as depicted on the map below. All sails were raised and we had the best day of sailing with 15 – 20 kt winds, flat seas and a sunny sky, as we sailed to McGlathery Island, marked (1), where we anchored and spent our first night at sea.

Setting the anchor was not at all like we as “small” boat sailors are used to. The French’s method is to tightly wrap several loops of chain around the windlass gypsy and, when the crew is given the signal, turn the anchor loose and let it drop to the bottom. Becky, the French’s captain, uses about 40 feet of chain in these shallow waters in calm conditions. The chain has links that are very thick and 3-4 inches long, and the primary anchor, she carries two, is an old Navy style weighing about 150 lbs. The backup anchor is a 250 pounder. Weighing the anchor calls for several crew or volunteers to work the windlass. It’s all mechanical – no electric or hydraulic help. The crew inserts a rod into each of the two ends of the windlass and two volunteers grab each rod and proceed to push their rod down and pull it up in a pumping motion to rotate the windlass gypsies. Each push or pull brings up about three links of chain. There’s a volunteer flaking the chain as it comes up, another one spraying water on the anchor rode to clean it as it comes up, and two crew making sure no one hurts themselves. Once the anchor reaches the surface the crew halts the lifting and ties off the anchor with a line. The windlass crew then continues “pumping” until the anchor is ready to be secured on the bow of the boat while Captain Becky sails off the anchor.

Underway, the French provides a steady ride in a brisk wind and moves nicely at 2-3 kts in very light wind. We’d see 5 – 7 kts of boat speed in decent winds.

On Monday morning, after weighing the anchor, we set course for a place called Burnt Island, marked (2) on the map. Captain Becky had decided to go there for a lobster boil lunch (rather than dinner) on the beach because rain had been forecasted for the afternoon and night. We anchored off the beach and came ashore in several trips on “Greyhound” while the crew transported the food and cooking gear to shore using another dinghy. O.B. had plenty of live lobsters for us.

Peggy and I took a little walk on the island while O.B. and crew were cooking our lunch. We had two lobsters each with corn and a salad – a perfect meal sitting on an isolated beach with a gorgeous view of the beach, trees, and the French.

After lunch, the sky darkened and Captain Becky decided to head for Rockport, (3) on the map, where she’d pick up a mooring in preparation for a rainy night. Those of us that wanted to explore Rockport were taken ashore by the “Greyhound”. Rockport is pretty small and no shops were open. Peggy and I had a nice walk enjoying the pretty homes and boats in the harbor. They have a nice library with a public bathroom and we got to chat with a friendly local woman that was delivering several boxes of old books to the library. She lives in Nebraska but has her childhood home here in Rockport. One thing she told us to do is drive up to Mt. Battie for great views of the coast, which we did after our cruise ended.

Captain Becky returned us to the French on “Greyhound”. We were ready for OB’s next dinner creation

We dropped the mooring the following morning and headed upwind to “700 Island”, marked (4) on the map, where we spent a quiet night at anchor. O.B. included that leftover lobster meat in a breakfast frittata and then prepared a great dinner he called “disassembled lasagna”. He and Captain Becky were on another boat that served lasagna and they didn’t want to be accused of copying their menu, or something like that. Anyway, it had all the ingredients needed for lasagna but substituted linguini for the lasagna noodles. It was a big hit with guests and crew.

On Wednesday morning we weighed anchor again and headed for Camden to complete the cruise. Leaving the dock at the start of the cruise was touchy enough with “Greyhound” pushing the French through the harbor but we were in for a surprise coming back in to dock! With “Greyhound” in the water and Captain Becky’s father in a dinghy pushing sideways they swung the French around 180 degrees without hitting any of the surrounding boats as we neared the dock. Then, the crew picked up two lines laying at the bottom of the harbor that were attached somewhere near the dock, one to port and one to starboard, and they pulled the French to the dock stern first to complete the docking. Now that is unique boat handling!

Miscellaneous photos:

View from the stairs leading down to our cabin

Panoramic view of our “cozy” bunk with a tiny sink serving cold water and floor space for only one person to stand at a time.

The end of the hallway leading to our cabin, #7 on the left. There are three more cabins in that space.

Have you ever seen so many reefing lines along a boom before? It took the crew about a half hour to get them all tied down.

One final note: Once the rain hit on the second day the weather also turned pretty cold and we weren’t quite prepared for that – still it was great fun!

July 2022 Adventures Asea by Virginia and Dennis Johns

Steve York on August 8, 2022 Member News and Articles

We had a chance to get Libertad out numerous times in July. It started with a land trip to Ensenada to pick up s/v Libertad from the Baja Naval boatyard. We had delivered her down there at the end of May for some TLC – primarily involving varnish and paint. Past experience led us to believe that the work would only take a few weeks. We were shocked that the project manager was hesitant to commit to a delivery at the end of June. COVID has had its impact everywhere as the project manager told us that he only had one varnisher and one painter, and they were the same person! Thus the painting couldn’t start until the varnishing was done.

In the June Signal Hoist we documented our great crew, enjoyable trip south, but extremely poor timing – choosing Memorial Day weekend for that delivery. With some hesitation, we headed south on Amtrak on Sunday, July 3^rd – another holiday weekend. Things went smoothly this time. We arrived at the Baja Naval boatyard midday. We admired the yard’s work and started prepping the boat for the return trip (replacing all the equipment we had removed for painting the cockpit).

We ate dinner at the same restaurant as our prior visit and in addition to our delicious dinners ordered two roasted chicken dinners to go for anticipated meals during the passages north. A quick stop at the market for a few items to supplement the chicken made for easy provisioning. We were awakened at 6am on Monday the 4th by movement in the cockpit. The varnisher/painter was in the cockpit sanding and polishing out painting drips! That’s how tight our timing was.

While we were at Customs and Immigration being checked out of Mexico (the boatyard assigns a person to help us through that process but it is still painfully slow), the boatyard staff splashed us back into the water and we were headed for San Diego by 10am. As expected we motored against the wind but the seas weren’t too wild. Virginia had installed the CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) app on her phone, upon the recommendation of Ed Kaufman, and was able to clear us back into the US while out at sea. We had a slip reserved at the Shelter Island Police Dock in case the app didn’t perform as intended, so we decided to enter the bay and get a few hours of sleep. The sun had set as we entered US waters with the skyscrapers of San Diego in sight. It was dark as we entered San Diego Harbor but we knew the way having been to the Police Dock several times. The San Diego fireworks started as we approached our slip and we had a fantastic view of the show.

Knowing we had a 12+ hour trip to Two Harbors, we were up and headed to Catalina by 4am on the 5^th. The holiday traffic had cleared out and we hooked up to a mooring ball just as the sun slipped below the mountain peak. It was a quiet night on the boat. Another early start the following morning got us back to Santa Barbara before dark. The two roasted chicken dinners from Ensenada were readily consumed enroute along with some illegal produce brought into US waters from Mexico. Generally, an eventless trip but lots of motoring. Dennis was concerned that with all those hours on the new engine it would soon be time to change the oil. He was shocked when we read from the manual that the next oil change wasn’t until 400 hours. But we plan to double check that.

The next week we had a few day sails with friends and family. The first day sail was on Monday and represented a prize won in an online auction conducted by Dennis’ Rotary club last November. For funds donated to his foundation, the winners were treated to a 3 hour sail and an onboard dinner back at the dock. The wind and sea state was perfect for these novice sailors. While they ate dinner in the salon, we provided a PowerPoint presentation of our trip around the world. They exclaimed that the meal and the entertainment were worth every penny of their donation.

Relatives had made vacation plans to be in Carpinteria in July (they had owned a house in Carpinteria for many years and Dennis had been invited to spend many summer weeks with them during his teen years). The Wednesday following that Monday day sail, we had scheduled a day sail for all these relatives and their spouses. We borrowed PFDs from the Slocums in order to have sufficient safety gear for our group of 10. We were worried that seating would be a concern if the weather turned inclement, but we had sunshine, dolphins, calm seas, and great wind that day also – such fun. Ten random people and no one got seasick!

We ended the month with our cruise to PCYC. Lisa and Scott Burns joined us on Libertad. We left Santa Barbara Friday morning for Little Scorpion under overcast skies and 5 knots of wind on the nose. We arrived at Santa Cruz Island to clear skies and warm sunshine. We were prepared to use two anchors, but as we cruised the anchorage, we observed that only two of the six boats in the

anchorage had used two and they were both in the NW corner, the rest were swinging on one anchor. We joined the other four with one anchor. For dinner, we enjoyed BBQ’d pork chops with sides contributed by Lisa – baked potatoes and mixed veggies. Dinner was followed by at least two hours of Mexican Train dominos before we all cried “Uncle” and headed for our bunks. In the morning we

were greeted with heavy overcast skies but the Burns were not to be denied their cruising tradition of ocean activity and kayaked around the anchorage visiting the sea caves while we all enjoyed the standard anchoring entertainment provided by the arriving boats. We did indeed swing a full 360 that night, but no mishaps. Later that morning, we motor-sailed to the Channel Islands Harbor, enjoying motor-sailed to the Channel Islands Harbor, enjoying visiting dolphins and an apparent yacht race just outside the breakwater. We entered the harbor with the appropriate pennants flying: SBSPS burgee, Commander’s burgee, and finally Bridge Officer (SEO) burgee. The dockside appetizer party was well attended including the District Commander, Ventura Squadron members, and others from the Las Vegas Squadron. Ron & Vicki’s Painkillers were a big hit for all again. After two years of absence it was a shock to see that huge slab of prime rib covering ¾’s of the PCYC dinner plate. One of Virginia’s college roommates joined us for the PCYC dinner, spent the night aboard Libertad and made it a crew of 5 that headed back to Santa Barbara Sunday morning on a route that took us out around Platform Grace to allow us to set up for an afternoon sail. Unfortunately the wind did not fill in until we were only about mile outside the harbor, so more hours on the engine. We arrived at the slip shortly after 3pm and Lisa and Scott were off to another event –they are a busy couple. These trips always end with a list of maintenance issues, leaving us with plenty of things to do on the boat before the next trip which will be the traditional Two Harbors cruise. Hope many of you will join us.

JUNE 2022 BENCHMARK SURVIVES ITS SHAKEDOWN CRUISE BY SCOTT BURNS

Steve York on June 7, 2022 Member News and Articles

I go to Fry’s every May to find out what I’ve forgotten to bring so I’ll be better prepared for the rest of the summer.

Steve Carlson and Boris Alves joined me on the pleasant trip. We left the Harbor at 8am Friday, motoring over. About 8 foot swell’s made it interesting, and the sun came out ½ way to the island. One boat from Ventura Harbor was anchored when we arrived and another showed up before dusk.

Normally it takes about a week to get ready for the first trip and only two minor issues: I forgot to recharge the batteries in my handheld Garmin, but handled when we anchored. The other one could have been a lot worse. The knot tying the dinghy rope came undone while we were inside the boat late Saturday afternoon. Another boater had just anchored, noticed it drifting and brought it back, so “Minor Issue”. I’ll check knots more frequently and learn the eye splice.

Sunday started with me watching the Sun rise over the coastal fog bank, We left the anchorage about 8am, and ½ hour later had the motor off and sailed till the middle of the channel, then motor sailed the rest of the way.