We went to the Airport in San Diego to meet Carl & George, our crew for the trip south to Cabo. In the afternoon, the rigger arrived to replace our deck light and Radar reflector. After visiting Walmart for some final things and having a meal. we filled the extra fuel cans with Diesel before heading back to Hilbre.

We prepped the boat on Sunday morning for the trip to San Diego by hoisting the new cruising spinnaker that I had bought over a year before but had never flown. We were expecting a nice run down the lee of Catalina Island, perfect conditions for a spinnaker and as it turned out, we were correct. Hilbre picked up speed and we were topping seven knots under beautiful sailing conditions and clear skies with about 14 knots of true wind. Off the eastern tip of the island the wind changed direction then promptly disappeared, so onwards we went under power for a couple of hours, then a few more hours of nice sailing then back to motoring which continued through the night.

Arriving off San Diego Buoy #1, at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, we were greeted by the Celebrity Cruise ship “Century,” returning from a Hawaiian trip. We let her go ahead in the narrow channel into San Diego Harbor as the weather was beginning to go downhill quickly with dense fog rolling in.
It can be something of a trial to enter any harbor at night particularly one you are not familiar and this was to test our navigation and piloting skills to the fullest. As we entered the main channel, the fog became thicker and we had to resort to using both GPS and Radar to maintain our course within the narrow channel and into the harbor. Keeping to the very edge of the channel, ready to turn quickly into shallow water if something big appeared, we groped our way forward at a steady three knots. Hand steering was a little erratic at first although keeping a compass course helped considerably.
I discovered the autopilot was the most useful tool and having set the compass course used the one degree button for port or starboard to maintain a nice even course along the edge of the channel. This was constricted, close quarter navigation and it was quite eerie catching a glimpse of vessels passing us that had been just a blip on the radar for a while. Finally, we decided to seek a break and await daylight and hopefully some rest on Shelter Island where there is a public marina.

Having passed the Quarantine dock we made a right turn into the marina and tied up at 6:30 a.m. alongside the walkway. By 6:45 a.m. we already had the Police, who manage the dock, show up and ask us to leave. After some discussion, they finally allowed us to stay until 8:30 a.m.
We were again under way by 8:10 a.m., but now, it was daylight but still with dense fog. Again we continued groping forward deep into the San Diego Harbor and our berth at the Chula Vista Marina. At last by 9:30 the mist began to lift and visibility improved up to a half mile. By the time we reached Chula Vista it was clearing to a warm, sunny day. We had covered just over 103 nautical miles since leaving Isthmus harbor on Catalina at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday and finally, at 10:30 a.m., we were in our slip and ready to relax. After lunch, Pat left to return home while we await our new crew, George and Carl who arrive Saturday for the sail to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in the Baja Ha-Ha which starts on Monday.
Since leaving San Pedro, we had been confronted with some grim navigation challenges and had risen to this by our safe arrival at Chula Vista. I could again feel the warmth on my face not from the coal fire of my youth but now from the San Diego sun and the satisfaction of having taken the first step into cruising to faraway places that was just a dream all those years ago.

At last we were ready to cast off, for the start of the new adventure, first stop was to be Two Harbors on Catalina Island and the annual Latitudes & Attitudes cruisers party. We were to be joined there by our sailing friends and their boats as a send-off for our trip.
Our crew Pat had arrived Thursday afternoon and Sailing to Catalina was to prove an omen of what was to come. We had motored as there was little wind and at nine miles from our destination we ran into a wall of fog with under a quarter mile of visibility.

This dim, cold wet and miserable fog lasted until we were just short of Isthmus where it finally lifted. Friday became Saturday and we did not expect the day to turn into a glorious warm and sunny day for the party, but it did. There were only a few cruisers heading south for the winter, still it is always good to listen to the yarns from Captain Woody, Bob Bitchin and others who have “Been out there.”

With sailing guests helping as crew, Hilbre is back in San Pedro at her usual slip after a 10+ hour cruise yesterday from the Channel Island Harbor. We passed through a large group of Dolphins off Point Vincente that were feeding. While we saw a few whales spout, we were not close enough to see them directly.

The swells were up to 2 feet and the weather was overcast all the way until we reached Palos Verdes where we finally saw some sun. We had the usual high winds off point Fermin which gave us a good push into the LA Harbor. We left the Channel Islands harbor at 8:15 a.m. and pulled into the slip at the Cabrillo Marina at 6:20 p.m. unfortunately we had to motor all the way.

Maintenance still going on

Hilbre has a nice fresh coat of bottom paint on the hull and a new strut/cutlass bearing. The old strut had a serious case of electrolysis and needed replacing (see photo gallery). She is ready to return to her usual slip in San Pedro (LA-Long Beach) as soon as the work is complete.

At Two Harbors, Catalina Island.
A sunny and fun filled Catalina Yachts Rendezvous on Friday and Saturday. A good breeze had us sailing at a nice 7.5 knots from Angel’s Gate all the way to Two Harbors on Thursday morning. On Sunday morning, we left at 5:15 am for the trip to the Channel Islands Harbor so we could pull Hilbre out of the water for the hull to be cleaned and painted. This was a quick trip of 9 hours with a couple of hours in a heavy sea mist with a half mile visibility near Malibu.

We met lots of interesting fellow Catalina Yacht owners over the weekend including the Millards’ on a C42 MoonShyne who are also doing the Ba Ha-Ha. Gerry Douglas and Frank Butler were at the meeting along with Sharon Day. There were a number of useful seminars

Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro.

Hilbre in her slip at the Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro. She is being prepared to sail south to Mexico and beyond. In the meantime, we are enjoying exploring the LA Basin, Catalina Islands, San Diego and Ensenada. Adventure calls and we will fulfill this soon.