Leg 5 -- Michael's Trip Report

Catalina to Newport – Leg Five

Leg two (Half Moon Bay to Morro Bay) had the anticipation of a first overnight sailing trip for me. Leg three (Morro Bay to Oxnard) had the thrill and unknown of rounding Point Conception. Leg four (Oxnard to Catalina Island) held the anticipation of going to this island and swimming in the clear water. But from a sheer joy of sailing perspective, leg five was by far the best leg, from my perspective, to have been on.

Leg five began with us rowing to shore and taking a hike to the “other side” of the island. It was good to stretch our legs, get a little sunshine and not be leaving at oh-dark-thirty in the morning.

If you’re thinking we went on a long/serious hike, there’s a reason this little village on Catalina is called Twin Harbors. From the dock at Isthmus Cove we walked on a dirt road up a gentle rise for maybe 300 yards and saw Catalina Cove and the western side of the Island. 

Mark and Kevin walking toward Catalina Cove

We wandered as Mark shared stories from various boating, diving, fishing and sailing trips he had made to Catalina in the past. Among them was the story of when he and Liz first met. (It’s a great story that I’ve heard told by both Liz and Mark. But it’s their story to tell and to share.)

Kevin

After our short hike, we were back on the boat preparing to untie from our mooring. I asked Mark if I could “take us out” and once we were in the fairway, he graciously handed the helm over to me. We motored about a mile out from Isthmus Cove, unfurled the jib and turned into a 15knot wind to hoist the main sail. Once the main sail was raised, I cut the engines, set our course and trimmed the sails to a broad reach.

Mark getting into vacation mode

Five-plus hours we sailed under steady northwesterly winds! Over the 37 nautical miles of this leg, we averaged 6.2 nautical miles per hour. And that includes slower motoring out and into harbors. To achieve such an average speed, you know we were sailing much faster for many of the miles covered … quite the run across the channel. It was a spectacular day. And even though we had strong winds propelling us eastward, we enjoyed stretches in short sleeves. 

We motored into Newport harbor and easily found the Harbor Master and directions to our mooring. (Thank you again, Liz, for your masterful execution of logistics!) The Harbor Master allowed us to stay docked long enough for each of us to take a quick and refreshing shower before motoring farther into the harbor to our mooring. Our assigned mooring was, unfortunately, very close to some noisy neighbors in the form of a half-dozen sea lions who had taken up residence on a nearby sloop. Fortunately, our mooring was also close to the Harborside Restaurant.

With the boat safely moored and the sun setting, we once again started rowing to shore to see what we could find to eat.

“Where do we dock?”

“I don’t know. Let’s head for that fueling dock.”

As we approached the fueling dock, a jovial gentleman appeared shouting to us what our intentions were. Mark asked if there was some public dock we could tie up, the reply was he knew we could tie up next to the Harborside Restaurant and if we did so, he’d buy us a drink.

It turns out our new friend, Steve, was having dinner at the restaurant with his wife, Pam, saw us and knew we were part of the Ha-Ha. (I’m assuming this was due to the flag being flown and not due to some scary stacker thing.) Steve and Pam are, no only, former participants of the Baja Ha-Ha two years ago, but they also owned a sister boat to Bluewater. That is, they also own a Seawind 1000. (I can’t recall if their boat was #98 and Bluewater  #103 or vice versa, but was quite a coincidence.)

As Steve and Pam shared stories of their adventures with the Ha-Ha, Mark and Kevin happily obtained beta that reinforced preparation decisions already made as well as helped get a better understanding for what’s ahead once they head south of the boarder.

I was distracted by the arrival of Autumn, one of my nieces, who lives fairly close by, and her 14-month old daughter, Clara.

I had a delightful, but short, visit with Autumn and Clara … Clara was getting too restless and it was time for them to go. The rest of the crew had finished their drinks; Steve and Pam were saying goodbye as well.

With not many other options for dinner, we moved from the bar to the restaurant and the three of us proceeded to close the place down (which is not great accomplishment giving this is really as summertime-tourist driven area, and on a Tuesday night in Fall, the place was quite sedate and sleepy).

Sunrise at Newport Harbor

A short row back to the boat and leg five came to an end.