There was a nice breeze the next AM allowing me to reach Johnson’s Lee behind South Point on Santa Rosa Island. This was my first visit here. There is lots of room (lots of kelp too) and the water was surprisingly smooth considering that it is fully exposed in the SE direction.
The following day I sailed around the east end of Santa Rosa, across the channel to Santa Cruz Island, and then beat 7 miles upwind to the anchorage at Becher’s Bay on Santa Rosa. The wind was a bit unreliable when south of the island (in its lee) but was perfect strength (12 knots) once in the Santa Cruz Channel.
The next objective was to view the famous sea caves on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. I sailed slowly along the cliffs, saw many caves, but never quite knew which one was the famous “Painted Cave”. At 1430 the wind got stronger (20+ knots) and we hurried on to the next anchorage at Fry’s Harbor, just beyond Diablo Point. Fry’s is narrow and very protected resulting in perfectly smooth water. Three years ago I spent a night here while a near-gale blew outside. Sunup in Fry’s was beautiful!
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I visited Pelican Bay next. Pelican is just a few miles further east of Fry’s but since I had never been there I wanted to see it. It’s the most popular anchorage at Santa Cruz but on a Thursday night in early May I had the place to myself. This bay is quite exposed to the NE but by 1800 the wind outside had died down and the water in the bay was smooth and free of swells.
Santa Barbara is 22 miles north across the Channel and we were in the harbor by 1430. This visit was mainly to reload the ice box but channel-crossing is also excellent sailing. After one night at the dock we re-crossed the channel to Smuggler’s Cove at the east end of Santa Cruz Island. Actually, I think that Smuggler’s may be the most popular anchorage because I have seen many other boats here. It can be reached more easily from the east end of the Channel (Oxnard, Ventura) than Pelican or Fry’s. My arrival at Smuggler’s was funny. There had been perfect wind in the Channel but when we rounded the east end of the island (San Pedro Point) the wind completely died and I had to motor the last mile to the cove. It’s not always calm here and I have read that 30 knot winds can blow down from the hills. There always seems to be small swells to rock the boat when in Smuggler’s.
Now came the most significant motoring of the trip. Possible gale winds were expected in 24 hours so we motored for 6 hours along the south shore of Santa Cruz (in protected waters) to get back to Becher’s Bay. Becher’s usually isn’t affected by swells to the same extent as Smuggler’s and would be a better place to wait during a gale. By 1700 the wind reached 25 knots but we had avoided problems by traveling in the AM before the wind got going.
Actually, it was “the gale that failed.” The front with the strongest wind passed through in the evening, not the next day as the forecasters expected. At 0800 I listened to the radio and found reasonable wind at all the nearby weather buoys (and it wasn’t increasing). If I could get across “Windy Lane” before the PM wind arrived I might be able to escape. We left at 0850, well reefed in 18 knots of wind (expecting stronger wind ahead) but once north of Carrington Point (Becher’s Bay) the wind began to decrease. By 1000 we were at full sail and close-hauled in 13 knots apparent wind. The sky was blue, visibility was great (first time this trip), and the sea wasn’t especially rough (considering it blew last night). You should know that I was quite nervous about leaving with a forecast of “NW25-35 gusting 40 knots” for an upwind sail in Windy Lane but it turned out to be the best sailing day of the trip. Glad I wasn’t chicken this time. The photo shows us sailing north in perfect conditions and making 4.9 knots (fast for upwind sailing in Evening Tide).
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It would have been nice to reach Cojo but the primary objective was to cross the Channel where the northern shore might protect us if a gale actually developed. Instead of Cojo we anchored at Sacate Cove, 7 miles further east. The chart shows our routes leaving Cojo and returning to Cojo 10 days later.
The next AM we sailed over to Cojo in light breezes, making the slowest passage of the trip (2.3 knots). I anchored briefly but then turned on the radio and found excellent wind ahead. Good wind? Sunny day? Can’t Stay! Besides, I always wanted to try sailing upwind around Conception and things would never be better than now. Leaving Cojo at 1430 meant we would see the strongest PM winds but the maximum true wind was 20 knots when we were 5 miles east of Pt. Arguello and the wind waves (in the lee of this point) were only 4 feet. We then sailed a long leg west between the oil platforms and out to the edge of the ship lane. The swells here were 8 feet but the wind stayed between 15 and 19 knots (apparent). These conditions call for the staysail and full mainsail with the jib down and secured on the front deck. As darkness came on we beat north and continued until 0300 when lighter wind and large waves made sailing under autopilot impossible. We were north of oil platform “Irene” and 10 miles NW of Pt. Arguello. With more sail up we could have continued on but at this point I was ready for some rest so the motor was started and a direct course was set for Pt. Buchon, 35 miles ahead.
We got to sail 10 more miles next AM but once north of Pt. Buchon we hit calm conditions and motored the last 7 miles. When home port is in sight (and I know that I’m in an infamous wind-hole) my desire to always sail is diminished.
What a fine trip, don’t you think? When I counted up the miles I found that we had sailed 80% of the distance and the only windless day was when I actually planned to motor. There had only been a little fog (although not much bright sunshine either) and Windy Lane had treated us to perfect wind. We even sailed 50% of the distance from Cojo north to Morro Bay and I never expect to do this well again.
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