The Elusive Chanel Islands

Ever since we were talking about cruising up the coast this summer Jeff had the Channel Islands in mind. I didn't really know exactly what they were until doing some reading and even then I still didn't fully understand. When we were staying at the marina in Ventura one of the places in the harbor was the nature center which housed the California Conservancy who maintain the Channel Islands. We walked over and saw maps and this sweet older man who was working there asked if we wanted to watch the 30 minute video about the islands. It was then that I became totally hooked. The Channel Islands are a national park. There is no human habitation on Santa Cruz Island (the most reasonable of the 4 islands we were considering). All of the islands have their own weather patterns and the further out the island are the more challenging their weather is for boaters and no-natives (seals, pelicans and other birds) to get to. After several conferences, reading and the information at the nature center we decided that Santa Cruz would be our best hope. While in Santa Barbara we watched the wind and weather like maniacs. I personally conferred with 5 different sources of weather information. After waiting an extra day in Santa Barbara we finally decided we had enough of a weather window to go for two nights and then we needed to get out of there because gale force winds would be blowing through. Nervous and giddy we took off. We had fog the entire way but never less then 1 mile of visibility. The seas weren't too bad 4 footers mixed with 1-3 foot wind waves and at the end they were on our stern making us feel like we were surfing within the boat. Our first thought was we would go to an area called painted cave - a 600 foot long cave with an incredible interior. You have to take only non-motorized vessels in there because its small and if you don't catch the tides and currents right you can capsize. Unfortunately due to the racing currents and big seas we were not able to even get close to the caves. We tried to taking the Tidings close enough to just peek in but the weather had other plans in mind. Instead we made our way to our first anchorage - Pelican Bay. We picked this anchorage based on the wind and wave patterns that would be happening the next 24 hours. Not only do you need decent weather to be at the islands you also need to be aware of wind and wave speed and direction and pick your anchorage accordingly. We didn't see any other boats as we made our way to Pelican Bay but when we arrived there were several boats already anchored there. This gave us a both a good feeling. Not only did we pick a good anchorage we would also have safety in numbers if god forbid anything should happen. When we arrived we found a nice quiet spot towards the cliffs nestled between the island and another sailboat. We decided since there was nowhere to land on the dingy we would just stay put on the boat and enjoy the scenery. And boy was it worth it. We were serenaded by the most beautifully sounding bird called the oyster catcher. They have a stunning red beak and sing the most gorgeous song. There melody ricocheted off the rocks and made it sound like a symphony. We sat feet propped up basking in our new found location.

Approaching Pelican Bay

Pelican Bay Entrance 

Cliffs Astern 

Pelican Bay

Moon During Sunset

Pelican Bay

All night long we rocked and rolled in the boat from the exposure to the open ocean. Despite knowing/hoping the boat was secure I didn't sleep much. We took our time in the morning a bit and waited for some of the fog to clear before setting out to our next anchorage - Little Scorpion. I was really looking forward to this stop. I had done a  lot of reading about all the islands and this was supposed to be one of the most scenic anchorages of them all. Around 9a.m. we set off for our 1.5 hour cruise. When we arrived we were glad we had left when we did because the anchorage was already pretty full. We found an openish spot in front of two sailboats next to another. We dropped the hook in 50 feet of water which is deep for us and waited to make sure we were set. After lunch we decided to launch the dingy and go exploring. We read that there was good hiking in the next cover over - Scorpion Bay. We took the dingy between the rocks as we watched lots of other dingies and kayaks do but then noticed we were getting closer and closer to the bottom and this path was not going to work for us. Thankfully we got out of there before touching the bottom or doing any damage. We took the longer route around shit rock (a huge rock covered in pelicans and all of their shit) which smelled as you would think it did. Pee-yew! Finally we saw the beach at Scorpion and started making our approach. As we got closer we noticed the entire beach was full of rocks an now the bottom too was turning rocky. This was no place to bring any type of motorized vehicle. Once again we turned around this time making our way back to the boat. We decided the kayak was the best man for the job so we lowered it and made our third attempt. This time we cut through the rocks with no problem and walked it up the rocky beach and made our way towards the trails. The beach was full of sunbathers right on top of the rocks. It was as if they weren't there. Very bizarre to see. As we walked towards the interior we saw a kayak rental and dive shop, a welcome center and some old relics that were left behind when the island used to house a watchman. Jeff found it more interesting then I did per the usual. Our hike/walk was simple it circled the interior of the island and around the campgrounds. We did come across several island foxes just walking around and  totally comfortable with people. The walk and the island were nice and we were both glad that we figured it out. When we got back to the boat everything changed. We now were right on top of one of the three sailboats and the fog was drifting in. We quickly began to scurry to raise the kayak, get all the sand out and raise and secure the dingy. I kept saying to Jeff while all of this was happening - "we are getting really close to the sailboat." Being a man and focused on another task he couldn't really take the time to access the situation until the small boats were secure. Once they were we talked with the passengers on the sailboat and they confirmed they thought that we had dragged our anchor. The tide had shifted, lifted up our anchor and took it for a ride before it eventually caught sand on the bottom again. We kept studying the anchor tracker and contemplated what to do. Neither of us would sleep at all if we stayed where we were. Would the anchor drag again? Would we get closer to the sailboat eventually hitting them? Too many scary questions to think about in the fog and the dark. So, we up anchored and headed over to Scorpion Bay where there was plenty of room. This time situating ourselves next to another sailboat and a small fishing boat. Understandably shook that our anchor had dragged we felt better in our new location where it was shallower and we had more scope to let out. Still another sleepless night for me but the hopes of going to Catalina and being secured to a morning ball in the morning got me through. 

Foggy Ride to Little Scorpion 

Approaching Little Scorpion 

Little Scorpion 

Tiding of Joy at Little Scorpion

Island Fox

Interior Hiking Trail

Scorpion Hike

Interior of Scorpion 

Old Windmill

Dive and Kayak Rentals - Interior of Scorpion 

New Anchorage - Scorpion 

Scorpion Bay

Sunset Scorpion Bay

Fog Rolling In

Santa Barbara

When I first moved to California 20 years ago one of our first road trips was to Santa Barbara. I can't say I remembered much with the exception of State Street and the courthouse. The cruise up from Ventura was uneventful and we were happy to leave Trumpland. When we pulled into the harbor we were asked to dock at the accommodations dock while they dropped a pellet into our holding tank (making sure we weren't going to pump overboard while in the harbor) and then checked in at the office. The marina was huge. I read they had over 100 guest docks in addition to their full time docks.  We got settled in to our end tie with a gorgeous view of the entire harbor and the city and decided to check things out a bit. We took a short stroll through the marina area which consisted of shops and restaurants and then out to the pier. It was sunny and the pier was bustling with weekend traffic and we were very happy to be back in Santa Barbara.

Accommodations Dock Santa Barbara

View From Bow of Boat

Fishing Boats in the Harbor

We would end up spending five more days in Santa Barbara. Each day we tried to do something different and new. We took a long walk to the famous State Street and looked at all the shops and found a good vegan lunch. Jeff got some of the famous McConnell's ice cream and was quiet happy. We took our bikes down and rode down the boardwalk as far as it would go from end to end enjoying the ocean views. There was an area next to downtown called "The Funk Zone" that was full of wineries, breweries, art galleries and a few shops. Apparently you can take your own wine tour if you download an app. We did not. Instead we had a bottle of wine at a restaurant called The Lark. It was charming and had a bizarre menu consisting of lots of meats. Jeff had been wanting to see the Avengers movie since it came out and he found Santa Barbara an opportune time to do that. Those type of movies aren't my thing but I'm a sucker for popcorn so I went. 3 long hours later it finally ended. Again, not my thing. We were scheduled to leave the next day for the channel islands but a small craft warning kept us in port one final day. We took a lyft and provisioned for the remaining 3 weeks of our trip. It was not easy. To get to our boat from the top of the ramp its a half a mile walk (Jeff calculated it). There were no dock carts to be found so we chained my cart to a post and got it when we returned. In addition to the full cart Jeff carried an additional four bags and I one. Not fun. Once provisioned we felt better like we could make it for the duration but man so much work.  In the morning we would venture out to Santa Cruz Island one of the Channel Islands. 

"Lil Toot" Water Taxi

Sailboats Right Next to Us

Santa Barbara at Sunset

Vegan Lunch Downtown Santa Barbara

State Street

Beach Santa Barbara

Bike Ride Santa Barbara

The Lark

Sunset

Ventura Highway/Trumplandia

As we pulled into Ventura Isle Marnia (another sister marina) we were overwhelmed by the vast amount of Trump flags flying atop the boats. I think we counted a total of 20. Where were we?! As we got settled in and tried to digest the bombardment of Trump fanfare we realized that we were far from home. Neither of us knew much about Ventura. I knew my aunt lives there and that's about it. The first night we took a stroll around the harbor and got our barrings. The harbor was really nice it had shops, restaurants and a large boatyard. We found a cute little Mexican restaurant perched high above the water with a  good view. You know it's rare we get to see the water;) We had some margaretta's and eventually some dinner. We were tired from the day and settled back in on the boat for a quiet evening.

Trump land

Joyride Like Our Old Boat

We woke up feeling refreshed and ready to explore Venture. We lowered our bikes and hit the bike path. Venture has an great bike path that goes all the way to Ojai. Feeling less adventurous we rode the path along the boardwalk and into their adorable downtown. Main street goes for about 7 blocks and is lined with local shops and restaurants. One of the girls at the marina gave us a few recommendations for lunch so we partook. Paradise Pantry is a wine shop/restaurant. They do both tasting and also have a full menu. Since we had more riding to do we skipped the tasting and just had lunch. Afterwords we strolled the downtown realizing that despite the Trump infection at the marina that the rest of the town was pretty great. 

Bike Path 

Old Mission Downtown Ventura

County Seat Ventura

The 3rd of July was our provisioning day. Since we didn't have a car and the market was too far to bike we had to take an uber to Whole Foods. We took our time and made sure we were set up for the next week and then promptly ubered back to the marina. Not wanting this to be our only event of the day we decided to stroll over to the Boatyard Pub which was right in the harbor. Everyday they had a nice happy hour and live music. Today it was s single guitar player who played a lot of our classic rock favorites. 

Guitar Player at Boatyard Pub

The next day was the 4th of July and a very big day for us. Not only because it was a holiday but because we had plan to meet up with my Aunt Susan (my dad's sister) who I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Aunt Susan is a true California girl. She moved here in the 60s and hasn't looked back since. I still can recall visiting her in San Diego as a kid and knowing that some day I too would live in California. I was so excited to see her again! The city of Ventura puts on a street fair for the 4th where they block off downtown to make room for vendors - clothes, goods, food and two stages for music. That is where we met Aunt Susan. The minute I saw her it was as if no time had passed at all. She was exactly the same and I felt like a little girl again. The three of us walked around stopping periodically to duck into a bar to sit and quench our thirst. We caught up and reminisced about the old days. It was great being around family again. After hours at the street fair we all decided that was enough so we parted ways and made a plan to hook up the next day.

4th of July Street Festival

Downtown Bar

Me & Aunt Susan

 Jeff and I took our time in the morning and decided to meander over to the beach which was right across the street from the marina. It wasn't warm enough to lay out so we took a long walk along the water and watched the waves and the birds. It was a clean and quiet beach with a bird sanctuary located right down the way. 

Pelicans at Ventura Beach

Our Walk Along the Beach

After a long meandering walk we made our way back to the boat just in time to meet Aunt Susan again. She had never seen the boat so we wanted to have her over to show her around. I forewarned her about the Trump invasion that was happening there but she still found it to be a shock. Jeff made his famous guacamole and we had some chilled rose and continued to catch up and reminisce. I had some old photos from her childhood that we looked at and just enjoyed our last day together. A few hours later we said our goodbyes and vowed to stay in touch and get together sooner next time. 

Jeff and I strolled to a fish restaurant on the harbor he wanted to try for dinner. That evening as we were enjoying a quiet night aboard we felt a shaking. I looked outside and simultaneously every boat across from us was moving back and forth in a massive shift. I didn't realize what was happening and thought there was a large surge in the harbor. It continued for several minutes and finally I went outside. Other boaters were doing the same thing and looking all around. I glanced over at a boater a few slips down who hopped off his boat while saying, "earthquake" and walked down the dock. Whoa. Our first earthquake abroad the Tidings. Jeff quickly turned on the t.v. and we learned that a 7.1 aftershock from 150 miles away was what we felt. Crazy! It took us awhile to settle down and really grasp what we had just felt but finally we went to sleep ready to head to Santa Barbara in the morning. 

Me & Aunt Susan

Boats Moving During Earthquake

Oxnard - Our Sister

After several days in L.A. with the kids it was finally time to head out. 7a.m. on Friday June 28th we said out goodbyes to Sam and left Marina Del Ray for our 51 mile cruise to Oxnard. Neither of us really knew what to expect in Oxnard. We had both only been there once on a long train ride to the winery for my birthday but never saw the water or the town. The cruise up was uneventful- light fog, small seas and low wind. Jeff enjoyed following the coast along Malibu and remembering times from his college days. Our arrival like the cruise was uneventful. Anacapa Isle Marina (our sister marina) was nice and clean. The office staff was friendly and it was a nice change from the park at Marina Del Rey. After all the go-go-go it was nice to be in a quiet place to unwind.

Tidings of Joy Entering Oxnard Harbor

Oxnard Harbor

Friday afternoon and evening we didn't do a whole lot. We walked the property and got the lay of the land. Anacapa Isle Marina was really nice. It had a pool, gym, locker rooms, boaters lounge and laundry facility. Everything a boater would need. We took a dip in the pool and just enjoying being in our new spot. That night I made dinner on the boat and we relaxed. 

Saturday we were eager to start exploring. We took a really long walk all around the harbor and saw all the restaurants and shops. It was such a peaceful nice place that wasn't over crowded but had such a nice vibe to it. We saw families handing out in the park, couples taking a walk. It just felt sweet and mellow and a nice contradiction to Marina Del Rey.

Pool at Anacapa Isle Marina

Fishing Boat in Oxnard Harbor

Custom Duffy Boat 

Saturday night Jeff wanted to go to the pizza place that was right outside our door. Pizza Palace. I was less then excited but figured there was probably wine so who cares. It was a funny place the Palace. There was a wait out the door and when you were called you were to walk to the counter and order an then be seated. Employees ate in full uniform at the tables while patrons waited outside. The place was humongous- two stories hollowed out in the middle so you could see between the levels. My wine was gross but Jeff liked his pizza so I guess it was alright. Defiantly an experience. 

Pizza Palace - Our View From The Stern

Sunday morning we were told there was a farmers market access the bridge. I love a good farmers market so I was excited. We lowered our bikes from the boat and rode over. The ride was short and easy and there was a good place to tie up the bikes. After a less then a 5 minute walk through Jeff and I were both done. It was just a standard run of the mill farmers market - produce, clothes, jewelry and some food. Nothing out of the ordinary or special. We were hoping to have lunch there but that didn't pan out. We continued our ride towards the beach. Oddly enough there isn't a boardwalk in Oxnard so we rode on a street that paralleled the beach and looked between the houses as we rode for a glimpse at the ocean.  During a walk the previous day Jeff saw a restaurant that he wanted to try so we went. Another order at the counter place where Jeff got a Swordfish sandwich and I got a salad. Nothing special and neither of us really liked our lunch. I'm learning unless it's a place people tell you to go or we have read about I can usually make better food on the boat. Oh well. Just another meal as Eddie likes to say. We hit the pool and the jacuzzi for the final time that afternoon and settled in for a quiet night. The next morning we would leave for a short cruise to Ventura. 

Sunset from Anacapa Isle Marina