I'm in Catalina Harbor
- Thread starter Skipper
- Start date
Side story:
So I come over to the island earlier in the week, and stayed in Isthmus Harbor. Weather was boisterous and gave me a good ride.
Came around to the back side Wed. No wind in the morning so motored the whole way around. Didn't want to wait for wind because forecast was 20-25 knots gusting to 35. This is the same day/weather that the sailboat crashed into Redondo pier in the afternoon. And it's worse out at sea.
Anyway, come into Cat Harbor. I'm passing the CG buoy, and am mid-sentence on the VHF asking harbor patrol for a mooring, when something wraps up in my prop. Motor bogs and the transmission clutch complains adamantly.
I have a long keel and skeg-hung rudder with the prop shaft exiting the skeg. Nothing has ever wrapped in my prop. Ever.
So I tell harbor patrol what happened. Then the wind decides to finally show up. I start drifting into the fish cages. Open the genoa and sail past them. Harbor patrol shows up and spots a black garbage bag snarled in my prop. They clear it with a boat hook.
Fabulous.
Then the mooring they assign (D-8) has a fallen pin. They say don't worry, they will hand it to me. I've picked up pins here for many years. Never had one handed to me, much less from their moving bow. So this screws me up, and they miss the handoff. Because it takes longer than me just picking up the pin in one motion, the wind on my stern has a chance to push me over the mooring. Then as I abort and then motor forward, my prop fouls in a giant mass of seaweed clinging to the mooring ball. I drag the glump 30 feet while I ponder. Decide to reverse prop which clears the weed and leaves it behind.
Then harbor patrol says to take a different mooring (D10), and they insist on tying to my stern to hold me back from the wind while I pick up the pin. No amount of selling my solo pin-picking experience was going to change their minds.
So I had to endure the humiliation of mooring assistance.
What an entrance.
They were fantastic. All in good humor. Without them I'd have had to sail into the mooring.
So I come over to the island earlier in the week, and stayed in Isthmus Harbor. Weather was boisterous and gave me a good ride.
Came around to the back side Wed. No wind in the morning so motored the whole way around. Didn't want to wait for wind because forecast was 20-25 knots gusting to 35. This is the same day/weather that the sailboat crashed into Redondo pier in the afternoon. And it's worse out at sea.
Anyway, come into Cat Harbor. I'm passing the CG buoy, and am mid-sentence on the VHF asking harbor patrol for a mooring, when something wraps up in my prop. Motor bogs and the transmission clutch complains adamantly.
I have a long keel and skeg-hung rudder with the prop shaft exiting the skeg. Nothing has ever wrapped in my prop. Ever.
So I tell harbor patrol what happened. Then the wind decides to finally show up. I start drifting into the fish cages. Open the genoa and sail past them. Harbor patrol shows up and spots a black garbage bag snarled in my prop. They clear it with a boat hook.
Fabulous.
Then the mooring they assign (D-8) has a fallen pin. They say don't worry, they will hand it to me. I've picked up pins here for many years. Never had one handed to me, much less from their moving bow. So this screws me up, and they miss the handoff. Because it takes longer than me just picking up the pin in one motion, the wind on my stern has a chance to push me over the mooring. Then as I abort and then motor forward, my prop fouls in a giant mass of seaweed clinging to the mooring ball. I drag the glump 30 feet while I ponder. Decide to reverse prop which clears the weed and leaves it behind.
Then harbor patrol says to take a different mooring (D10), and they insist on tying to my stern to hold me back from the wind while I pick up the pin. No amount of selling my solo pin-picking experience was going to change their minds.
So I had to endure the humiliation of mooring assistance.
What an entrance.
They were fantastic. All in good humor. Without them I'd have had to sail into the mooring.
Wow. Nice. Wish I could be out there with you guys. I just got back from Tahoe and the winds on highway 395 were very, very strong. My poor car was being knocked about within my own lane. And the trucks! A lot of them parked on the side of the road. A few ventured.
Enjoy your stat at Catalina.
Enjoy your stat at Catalina.
No problem. I doubt anyone else was watching
. You should receive the photos in a few days.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,523
It is all in the experience, Skipper. I really do not care how I get to the dock or tie up to a mooring. I have yet to see cards raised. That was a 7. Better luck next time. I want to get there safely. Then I can settle in and sip a glass of wine or pop open a favorite ale and enjoy the experience. We had our first day of spring up here. Temps teased the upper 50's. Sun shown. I got my two new to me self tailing prime winches installed. Yeah. One step closer to safer solo sailing. Finish electrical, auto pilot, other odds and ends the away to the islands northwest.
We have had a mooring there for 17 years. As you can imagine, we have had a lot of experience picking up moorings. A couple of years ago, our pin had fouled. The patrol stood by with the pin but the patrol boat kept drifting into our path. took five tries to pick it up. I thought my wife was going to take a swipe at the patrol with the boat hook. She wanted to pick it up without help, but the patrol was having none of it. But... great bunch of patrol folks who put up with SO much...
I'm outbound to the istsmus within the next two weeks. Anybody there just radio my username. Boat name is Orca.
Storytime: Last year we went to the island (Catalina). Got to Avalon fine, pulling up on the mooring the transmission cable came out of the pedastal clamp. Luckily we had already pulled up the mooring lines. Well, the next day we were going to Two Harbors. No Transmission shift worked at all. To fix the problem would involve 4+ hours of work pulling the pedastal and stuff. So my dear wife says "I'll shift if from the engine?" --- yup. She's a great sailor and knows systems...... We end up going into Two Harbors with me bellowing down the companionway "Reverse...Neutral.....Forward.....Neutral....." (etc) with my DW kneeling on the cabin sole manually shifting the transmission.
I also asked the harbor patrol for assistance... Heck, we had no real control of the boat. Got some push at one point and it all worked out great. Got into Dana via the same way.
No skin off of anybodies nose if they need a bit of assistance picking up a mooring. They're incredibly tight in socal. Anywhere else it'd be "whaaaaat? " But seriously, Avalon is as tight as marina slips. You WILL blow into the boat next to you. Nice to hae some assistance to make it better when pulling up the mooring.
Storytime: Last year we went to the island (Catalina). Got to Avalon fine, pulling up on the mooring the transmission cable came out of the pedastal clamp. Luckily we had already pulled up the mooring lines. Well, the next day we were going to Two Harbors. No Transmission shift worked at all. To fix the problem would involve 4+ hours of work pulling the pedastal and stuff. So my dear wife says "I'll shift if from the engine?" --- yup. She's a great sailor and knows systems...... We end up going into Two Harbors with me bellowing down the companionway "Reverse...Neutral.....Forward.....Neutral....." (etc) with my DW kneeling on the cabin sole manually shifting the transmission.
I also asked the harbor patrol for assistance... Heck, we had no real control of the boat. Got some push at one point and it all worked out great. Got into Dana via the same way.
No skin off of anybodies nose if they need a bit of assistance picking up a mooring. They're incredibly tight in socal. Anywhere else it'd be "whaaaaat? " But seriously, Avalon is as tight as marina slips. You WILL blow into the boat next to you. Nice to hae some assistance to make it better when pulling up the mooring.
Is this the same Orca that was up in San Pedro some years ago, friends with Ron T from the Anui nui (spelling questionable)?
I don't know. Maybe. It's been mine for 5 years or so, prior owner was named Robert. I know it used to race regularly from other folks. I think it's been the same name for at least 3 owners.
Thanks, it was an off chance, but they were friends that we went to Catalina with 15 or 20 years ago, just seemed like it might have been an interesting coincidence.