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.

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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.