Hey, Richard! I am writing this from Cat Harbor, where I spent my Thanksgiving in quarantine! I got exposed to someone with COVID last Wednesday (my mechanic), and my wife and I both have highly at risk dads whom we can't risk exposing. (And we don't want to give it to each other, either.) So in thinking about the best way for me to quarantine, she suggested my staying on the boat, which seemed good to me. But staying tied to the dock for two weeks would drive me stir crazy, so I decided to make a 14-day Catalina trip out of it! I therefore hastily raided our home fridge and freezer, threw some clothes into a duffle bag, and headed down to the boat last Wednesday. leaving for the Isthmus the next day. Due to the forthcoming gale (assuming it materializes), I decided to move around to Cat on the backside yesterday, where I'm all nice and secure. Let it blow!
Anyway, my wife and I will do a proper Thanksgiving after I get back. But for today I had tacos and beer--no turkey for me this time!
What's nice is that I can totally isolate from everyone but still enjoy being in a beautiful environment. They assigned me the mooring on the VHF and I paid by phone. I've been able to row ashore and avoid the few people who were there earlier and go hiking around all by myself. Cat Harbor is now packed with boats so I'll just stay aboard until the crowd thins out in a few days and I can go ashore without encountering anyone up close. When I do I take along a mask, just in case. I should say that I'm doing just fine with zero symptoms of any kind. Plus, I'm able to teach all of my online classes from the boat, so that's working out great. I should also be caught up on my grading when this is all over. My plan is to head back next Thursday, weather permitting.
Other than the coming NE system, which remains to be seen, the weather here has been quite nice since last Thursday. Some days had morning fog or clouds, but it has burned off and been sunny with pleasant temps. Lots of amps from my solar panel! By the way: by about 3 pm today, Cat Harbor was completely full. No moorings available in any size. People were still streaming in and being told they had to anchor out. The front side of the Island is completely closed off; they are not renting out any moorings because of the NE weather.
P.S. My wife just texted and said it's been blowing on the mainland, but it hasn't shown up here yet.
Last edited:
Pray not! It’s a long way to the ER in Avalon, especially with the off-shore wind and accompanying seas, not to mention to Long Beach! Good that you are on a can! Yes. It’s windy here.