08/06 - 08/12 - 18th Annual Catalina Off-shore Adventure

colbysmith · Jul 24, 2023

Jim (and others), ok, I'm mapping out my route and will be coming in from Barstow. I know it's hot, but looks like the nights are cooling off to 75 degrees. I'll likely stay in Barstow Saturday night, as there are some places I've found I can "boaterhome" there. Also, that gets me to 133 miles of Marina Del Rey, and depending upon traffic, a relatively short distance to make Sunday morning. I'm hoping traffic isn't too bad on a Sunday morning. (But I do know better....) I'm looking at staying on I15 to I10, then Venice Blvd to the 405. Or should I just stay on 10 to the 405? Then per the directions from the 405 that Jim mentioned earlier.

I will be leaving home here in Wisconsin on August 1st, so that gives me 5 days to get to Barstow, a distance of 1863 miles. I would normally plan 500 miles a day, so have some slack in my schedule. If traffic around LA isn't too bad on a Sunday, I may stop before Barstow in a little higher elevation for cooler weather. In any case, I hope to arrive at MDR around noon on Sunday.

After Catalina, Rosanne will fly into LAX to join me and depending upon traffic and my mood, she'll either Uber to MDR, or I'll drive through LAX with the boat in tow, on our way down to San Diego for another week. I'm open to route suggestions, but thinking the 405 / 5 will work.

Colby

thataway · Jul 25, 2023

Slightly out of the way, is a KOA, and near by "Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. We always stop there. It is genuine 50's diner! Plenty of room to park the rig for dinner if you want to not unhook. Spend some time in the Gift shop. There is the soda fountain, as well as all sorts of 50'a nicknack. You can take the Daggett Yermo road from I 40 to I 15. Peggy Sues is at the interjunction of the D/Y road and I 15.

I would go on the 405 to the Marina Del Ray freeway, any time of the day over Venice Blvd. (Unless you are into homeless encampments. That is where one of them tried to pull my daughter out of her car.). Not too far from the ramp is the shopping center with West Marine, and several good restaurants, plus a grocery store.

Jim Gibson · Jul 25, 2023

We (Pounder, Slack Time, and Sea Spray) should arrive at MDR about 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Sunday. It will take us a few hours to get launched and organized as we have to deal with a tenders.

We usually all go out to dinner about 6:00 PM. We take the shuttle boat over to Whiskey Red's restaurant,

Colby, you should encourage your wife to actually go to Catalina with you. I think she would like the ambiance there. It is a totally safe passage, especially going over as a group.

Ron on his 35 foot Lobster boat (Islander) will also be coming. He is a former owner of a 22 foot C-Dory (also named Islander)

colbysmith · Jul 25, 2023

Jim Gibson":10woiaur said:
We (Pounder, Slack Time, and Sea Spray) should arrive at MDR about 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Sunday. It will take us a few hours to get launched and organized as we have to deal with a tenders.

We usually all go out to dinner about 6:00 PM. We take the shuttle boat over to Whiskey Red's restaurant,

Colby, you should encourage your wife to actually go to Catalina with you. I think she would like the ambiance there. It is a totally safe passage, especially going over as a group.

Ron on his 35 foot Lobster boat (Islander) will also be coming. He is a former owner of a 22 foot C-Dory (also named Islander)

Unfortunately, she still has to work! And I've tried to convince her 30 miles offshore is still safe...But it's not fun for me if it's not fun for her. You know what they say about keeping the Admiral happy. :wink:

colbysmith · Jul 25, 2023

thataway":35dn4qbo said:
Slightly out of the way, is a KOA, and near by "Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. We always stop there. It is genuine 50's diner! Plenty of room to park the rig for dinner if you want to not unhook. Spend some time in the Gift shop. There is the soda fountain, as well as all sorts of 50'a nicknack. You can take the Daggett Yermo road from I 40 to I 15. Peggy Sues is at the interjunction of the D/Y road and I 15.

I would go on the 405 to the Marina Del Ray freeway, any time of the day over Venice Blvd. (Unless you are into homeless encampments. That is where one of them tried to pull my daughter out of her car.). Not too far from the ramp is the shopping center with West Marine, and several good restaurants, plus a grocery store.

Thanks Bob. I'll look that diner up and the routing via Daggett Yermo. Colby

colbysmith · Jul 25, 2023

Just looked up Peggy Sues. I'll be going right by there. Think that will be my stop Saturday evening, rather than Barstow. Supper and overnight parking. All I need now is some cool weather that day/night. BTW, my best routing is still 80/76/70/15/10 or 210. It's a routing I've used before. Colby

colbysmith · Jul 26, 2023

Ah, the Coloring Book. Yep, it'll be there. Page 21 is dedicated to this adventure. Please take time to do some coloring on that page, and feel free to look through past C-Brat get togethers colorings. The book means a lot to me as it reminds me of all the C-Brat friends I've made throughout the years, and many enjoy looking through it for the same reason. Thanks in advance. Colby

Jim Gibson · Jul 29, 2023

Colby.

We launch at Basin H at Marina del Rey. The transient slips are in the Burton Chase Park which is EE on the map. The slips are located on your Starboard side on the way out of the Basin H. We usually take slips located towards the end of Basin H. The Check in office is near by after you find your slip and you tell them the one that you are in. Bring all insurance and registration information.

Jim

colbysmith · Jul 29, 2023

Jim Gibson":o4i8byky said:
Colby.

We launch at Basin H at Marina del Rey. The transient slips are in the Burton Chase Park which is EE on the map. The slips are located on your Starboard side on the way out of the Basin H. We usually take slips located towards the end of Basin H. The Check in office is near by after you find your slip and you tell them the one that you are in. Bring all insurance and registration information.

Jim

Thanks. That'll make it a lot easier to find my way when I get there.

I see they are first come first serve. Hopefully there will be some slips and rig parking around noon time that Sunday. Otherwise I may be waiting...

Also, regarding my earlier concerns about San Diego. I did learn that Shelter Island is free. Restricted to 72 hours parking, but one can move their rig to a different spot for another 72 hours. Rosanne and I will be heading there after I get back to Marina Del Rey on the 12th. And already made my reservations for a guest slip there. See you guys at MDR on the 6th. Colby

Jim Gibson · Jul 30, 2023

Don't worry Colby about getting a slip. That is part of the reason why we go there on Sunday and over to the Island on Monday, because of availability. Also massive amount of parking. Just be sure to buy parking for every day there or else could end up with some expensive tickets.

colbysmith · Jul 31, 2023

One more question. Does MDR have a fresh water wash down available at the launch ramp, or somewhere within the parking lot? Colby

Jim Gibson · Aug 1, 2023

Yes, freshwater wash down in parking lot. Bring your own hose and nozzle and lots of quarters.

We wash off our trailers after we launch the boat and wash off everything on retrieval.

colbysmith · Aug 1, 2023

Thanks. Does that mean it takes quarters also?...Colby

Dora~Jean · Aug 1, 2023

Yes, quarters.

colbysmith · Aug 6, 2023

Looks like the group has dwindled down to just the four of us. Sean and Maddy are already over at Catalina Island. Pounder, C-Traveler and Sea Spray will head over tomorrow morning.

C-Traveler was the first to arrive and launch. Currently at the Marina Del Rey guest docks (Burton Chace Park).

Pounder and Sea Spray arrived and getting ready to launch.

The three of us at the Marina Del Rey guest docks this evening.

colbysmith · Aug 7, 2023

Very calm crossing from Marina Del Rey to Two Harbors and Catalina Island today. I don't think we had anything more than 3' swells. A little bit of fog. Sean and Maddy on NautiCat came over from Avalon later this afternoon. We all spent the day mostly relaxing on our boats, and doing a little visiting with our dinghys and kayaks. I will say, the mooring system here is something completely new to me that I've never seen before. And somewhat of a PITA to pick up skippering solo! Then a very nice potluck where Jim and Kath provided some excellent grilled steaks. The rest of us each shared some more tasty additions to the meal. There was more than enough food for the seven of us.

Pounder and Sea Spray with a ship behind them. This was probably the most fog during the crossing, and it wasn't bad.

Pounder approaching Two Harbors with their dinghy in tow.

SeaSpray had both their dinghy (on the roof) and a kayak in tow.

SeaSpray, Pounder and C-Traveler on the east string line.

Ah, the string line. Ok, we pull in and from the bow pick up that stick holding a line off the main string line. Being solo, I came in on my kicker from the cockpit helm so I could pick the stick up from amidships. Fortunately I didn't have another boat on my port side, so I had enough room to do this. That "stick" has a bow line that you place on your bow cleat. Then also on that line you pick up, you can see the "sand" line hanging straight down into the water. You grab that line, which is anchored about 30' back and weighted to lie on the bottom. You walk back to your stern, picking up the line as you go. When you get back to your stern, you pull up the rest of the slack until you get near the end of that line, and then attach that to your rear cleat. The system keeps you mostly perpendicular to the main string line. However, with a 5' tidal change, you either have to constantly adjust the line through out the day (and night), or set it for high tide and accept the slack line when the tide goes out! BTW, you can see them in the earlier photo as well. There were 60 Jet Skiis in front of us on the other side of the string line, that were just there for a couple hours. Colby

The grillers! Steve and Jim

Patiently waiting for the chow!

Chow time!

A view of three of our boats from the beach.

NautiCat was in another row not to far from the rest of us.

thataway · Aug 8, 2023

And somewhat of a PITA to pick up skippering solo!

All of the moorings are setup that way at Catalina. Try anchoring in the 100 foot depth, in back of the moorings. There used to multiple cables in that area left over from WW II.

Glad the crossing was smooth; it usually is early in the day. Keep having fun; snorkeling, hiking and swimming. Snorkeling is best on Bird Rock Reef. Take at least 2 dinghies and have at one person in the dinghies as a lookout/safety.

colbysmith · Aug 8, 2023

Late this morning, Steve & Karen (Sea Spray), and Jim & Kath (Pounder), joined me for a short cruise to Avalon, where we spent several hours walking around town. A Carnival Cruise Ship was in, so lots of folks milling about.

C-Traveler moored at Avalon.

Sean (NautiCat) took this photo of C-Traveler, Pounder and Sea Spray with our sterns together. We were still on the string line, and needed to get the Pounder and Sea Spray crews onto C-Traveler for our trip to Avalon. With our kayaks and dinghys in the way, there really wasn't a good way to raft up to make the transfer. Or for C-Traveler to squeeze in between Pounder and Sea Spray. But we were able to get the sterns close enough together to get across.

Sean also took this photo of his own boat. (He and Maddy had hiked up one of the hills.)

colbysmith · Aug 9, 2023

A bit gloomy today with rain showers passing over, but sun in between. Late this morning Jim and Kath took Steve and I to shore in their dinghy so we could walk the short path over to Catalina Harbor. Some photos from our walk. Colby