On the same trip to Santa Cruz island last weekend, we had the opportunity to participate in a survey the Channel Islands Park Services was conducting and got a chance to tour one of their research vessels. It is a twin engine 1200 HP diesel powered aluminum hull catamaran. They allowed me to video our visit and Dennis the guide was great at showing us around. The sailboat in the background at the beginning of the video is our boat and home for the weekend, ‘Calaloo’.
This past weekend I sailed to Santa Cruz islands on a chartered Hunter 31 for an overnight trip. On the way there we came pretty close to a loaded container ship which can be pretty tense. These guys travel at a surprisingly high rate of speed and do not alter their course for anyone besides maybe another freighter in the lose… I will do a more thorough post later about this trip but here is a little video clip of the freighter.
Finally today I got to go sailing! I have been talking about renting a boat from Marina Sailing for awhile and today was the day. Last week the weather got really crappy so we canned the idea but today my friend Mikey said that we should swing by the marina and take a look since the sun was out. I was a little hesitant because the wind looked like it was picking up and might turn out to be a chilly afternoon. When we got to Channel Islands Harbor, the guy at the marina said that it was beautiful so far but winds might pick up beyond 25 knots late in the day. We looked at the boats they had available and decided to make it an adventure anyways.
This is what I saw this afternoon
We picked a 2006 Catalina 28MKII which was a beautiful boat. Only a year old with roller furling main and jib as well as all the canvas one can mount in the cockpit. Dodger, bimini cover, the whole kit and kaboodle. We were getting excited about the day as I quickly familiarized myself with this new boat. It has been awhile since I piloted an inboard diesel but it came to me fairly quickly. I quickly gave Mike a brief overview of the boat and we were off. The winds started out being about 15 knots even inside the main channel of the harbor so we only unfurled part of the main and the jib to be safe. As we were moving towards the mouth of the harbor everyone is on their way in. They were probably laughing at us but we didn’t care. We were determined to make it a day even if it meant white knuckling it all afternoon. Although winds were fairly strong but not too many white caps were visible in the area.
It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. We sailed towards Anacapa Island with the intention of making it out as far as we can before having to turn back around. Fury (The name of the boat) actually took us almost to the middle of the channel averaging about 5 1/2 knots before we turned around and sailed downwind almost all the way back to the harbor entrance. Not too many sea life were visible today but Mike did see a sea lion jump out of the water a couple of times which is pretty rare. Fury is the newest boat I have probably ever sailed and it was nice to be equipped with the latest of sailing technology. It made everything a little easier to handle especially sail handing but deep down inside I still like the look and feel of the older boats.
Steering with my toes under perfectly trimmed sails
Sailing downwind on the way home
On the way back we shook out the reef and even sailed Wing-On-Wing for awhile before making it back to the harbor. Since we technically had the boat until 8AM the next day, I called up the family and some friends to have dinner onboard before turning it back in. It was a beautiful day but unfortunately since we weren’t sure at first that we would go out we forgot to bring any cameras. The only evidence we had were pictures I took using my cell phone.
Mike’s ’soon to be’ MySpace profile photo
Nice coverage under dodger and bimini
In two weeks I will be going out for an overnight trip to get my ASA certification from the same marina so this was a great refresher sail before the class. Expect to get a complete run down of that trip in a couple of weeks.
In the last few posts I’ve been talking about trying to find someone to rent a boat from in the SoCal area. I have gotten a couple of responses but nothing that really works for my schedule. People are concerned with renting to a stranger for insurance reasons and many others. So a couple of weeks ago I decided to look into joining a club just to see what the cost will be. Being ASA certified made it pretty easy as pretty much all chartering companies will required you to go through the process at an additional cost if you are not already. There are a number of companies in the Long Beach area but the one I decided to join is one called Marina Sailing.
Marina sailing is less like a club and more like a charter company. There are 6 locations all up and down the coast from Oxnard down to San Diego. There are over 20 additional sister companies that offer reciprocal memberships across the country which makes it even nicer. Most if not all of their boats are owned by individuals who chose to place their vessel with them to reduce the cost of ownership. It’s a pretty standard practice with chartering companies who do not wish to own their fleet so they can bring new boats into service without breaking their bank.
The upfront fee for becoming a member is 295 bucks plus a refundable $100 deposit. Monthly fees are 29 bucks and you pay for 3 months in advance. So that’s almost 500 bucks to get in before you even set foot on any of their boats. On the other hand, it is much cheaper when compared to owning your own yacht. Especially if you don’t go out every weekend.
Their fleet range anywhere from 25 ft all the way up to 50+ foot sailboats. Between all the locations I think there is only 1 powerboat but it might be an area they are trying to grow into. Daily rentals are from 8am to 8am with prices ranging from 150 bucks all the way up to 600 bucks a day for the big ones. During the week they will allow people to take the boat out for half or quarter days at pretty reasonable rates. Being in Ventura, I can take a boat out in the summer time after work out of the Channel Islands Harbor location and come back before sunset for a nice little BBQ on the boat before heading home.
I just joined last weekend and hopefully will get a chance to take one of the yachts out in the next couple of weeks to see how the processes works. Booking is done via a Web scheduling tool. Although not very aesthetically pleasing, it seems to be functional. If anyone in the Ventura/Oxnard area is interested in splitting the charter fee to go sailing just shoot me an email. I’m looking forward to getting out on the water this spring…
