Catalina Beachcat/camping trip - Oct 23 to 25

Dude, 2nd to last weekend!!

I'm curious as to what you guys plan on using for beach rollers, if any.

I used to carry ABS pipe with fenders on each end (resembling large cue tips) for sand beaches, and short sections of ABS pipe to use as skids on rocky beaches. On my most recent trips, I found that just carrying the short sections is sufficient as they work as either rollers or skids. Plus, they stow easily in the deck ports.

Bill Mattson
Hobie 18 "Cheap Thrill"

Bill, I plan on bring some short sections of ABS to help slide the boat up the beach.

Weather is still looking good:
Avalon forecast:
FRI Oct 23 78° 67° partly cloudy WNW 9 mph
SAT Oct 24 83° 68° Mostly Sunny SSW 7 mph
SUN Oct 25 81° 68° Mostly Sunny NNW 7 mph

If the forecast holds, the wind directions look pretty good as well. Broad reach out and a close hulled back.

Here is GPS for Goat Harbor

DD
33.417367
-118.395617

DM
33° 25.042' N
118° 23.737' W

DMS
33° 25' 2.52'' N
118° 23' 44.22'' W

GPS for the light house near the entrance to LA harbor (closest opening to Cabrillo)

DD
33.708534
-118.251604

DMS
33°42′30″N
118°15′05″W

Edited by genehacker on Oct 18, 2015 - 06:02 PM.

Did final checks today. Motor mount and motor work well. New/old Dacron sail with H16 battens worked well. Centerboard box leaks have been mostly eliminated. Newly drilled rudders and open cleat hold down works.

The winds were raging today +15 and some six foot swells. Both Bob and I went out solo and had a blast.

What time do you plan on being in San Perdo? Traffic is going to suck unless its before 6 or after 12.

Could'nt sleep Lance?We will probably get there around 9.30- 10, I m thinking,no way out of traffic for us.Going to install the motor mount and wings in the next couple of days.Will break out the old sails for the 18 also.
Who is going ?
15 knts would be great.

Edited by onekiwi on Oct 19, 2015 - 11:40 AM.

Ha ,I'm a night owl and had to be at work by 6:30. Winds look good after 12 but I'll leave sooner if pos. Three boats total, bob solo. Plan on a 2 1/2-3hr drive to get thru la at that time.

Can't wait to hear about your trip! Be sure and report back.

Will do Damon, we may have some video this time.

We are close enough in to get the forecast for the channel. It looks like they are calling for light winds on Friday.

Friday Variable winds 5 kt or less. Patchy fog before 11am. W swell 3 ft. Wind waves around 1 ft.
Friday Night WNW wind 5 to 10 kt. Mostly clear. W swell 3 ft. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft.
Saturday WNW wind 5 to 10 kt. Mostly sunny. W swell 2 ft. Wind waves around 1 ft.
Saturday Night WNW wind 5 to 10 kt. Mostly clear. W swell 2 ft. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft.
Sunday WNW wind 5 to 10 kt, with gusts as high as 15 kt. Sunny. W swell 2 ft. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft.

As far as arrival time goes... leaving a bit later is a good idea. I think if we get to Valencia around 9 to 9:30 we might be ok. That is what we did last year and it wasn't too bad.

We got back in yesterday afternoon from the trip to Goat Harbor on Catalina.

We had really nice wind on the way across with minimal swell. At one point I trapped out from the wings (we were on a Hobie 18). The winds let up as we came closer to the island which made for a mellow landing. The crossing took around 2 hours. I looked at the GPS a few times and we were consistently hitting speeds of 12 mph. Lance said his top speed was 15. Not bad for a cruising/camping trip. The beach at goat harbor was pretty steep but with the three of us working together on each boat, it was pretty easy to get the boats up above the high tide mark. It was rounded gravel. There were pick nick tables and a porta potty (not something we were expecting...the reservations said we needed to bring a suitable container/toilet with us).

The water was amazingly warm and clear. We did a lot of swimming and exploring on Saturday. In the afternoon, all three of us loaded up on the Hobie 18 and headed towards Two Harbors to enjoy the coastline and scope out "boat in" campsites for future trips.

Sunday we took off and headed towards Avalon to do a bit more exploring before making the crossing back. The wind was light. Lance was alone on his P19 and was able to sail for a while. Our loaded H18 was a dog in the light wind and we motor-sailed the entire way. I think the crossing took about 4 hours.

Overall it was a great trip. The weather was amazing, and the water was so warm and pleasant. Our small group worked well with each other and everything went really smooth. We are already talking about another trip next month.

Edited by genehacker on Oct 26, 2015 - 08:02 PM.

Geno .... You should be able to get permission at Two harbors to pull the boats up on the beach at Little Fishermans Cove ( the far eastern end of Isthmus Cove ) They used to charge us $10 a night per boat. They would let us sleep on the boats ... but nothing could be put on the beach. The preferred crossing would have us leave Angels Gate and sail up the coast a bit to the Furman Point Buoy before crossing over. this way, you quite often would miss the wind shadow as you get close to the island. Same with the return run ..... we often found that the guys that would shove off 11:00 am sunday morning ... usually got beat by the guys that waiting till 12 or 12:30 before leaving.

mark corby

Mark,

I have anchored in Little Fishermans cove (save a few bucks compared to getting a mooring) and I have camped above it several times. Having been to Two Harbors dozens of times over the years, for me, beach cat trips are a way to explore sections of the Island I have not seen before.

There are several "boat in" campsites between Two Harbors and Avalon. We stayed at Goat harbor which was idea, but some of the others look promising as well. I look forward to future trips to new spots.

Other than a few boats that anchored offshore for a few hours, we had the cove to ourselves. It was a perfect "get away trip" compared to staying somewhere with development and crowds.

On Sunday there was little to no wind even in the late afternoon. We were very happy to have the motor. Last year we did a similar trip with light wind in both directions. The link to that thread and trip report is in the first page of this thread (possibly 2nd page).

A couple of pics.

Edited by onekiwi on Oct 27, 2015 - 01:00 PM.