The Excape

My bro and I where sitting around doing nothing cause there just isnt anything to do work wise. So we decided to do a buddy boat sail off for a tad. We had no plan's what so ever. The best kind of sail off. All we knew was north would be kinda fun cause we are kinda burnt on Mexico.
First we headed to Mission bay for the night. which turned out to be 3 nights. Cause it's soo cool !! Easy anchor, easy row in, easy walk to beach, easy to store, easy bike or skateboard down the boardwalk and no check in or out and free for 3 days !! Oh and humm the girl watching is just insaneley good. All within a 4 hour beam reach of sailing. So yea why not.
Then I guess it was time to leave paridise. We headed to Oceanside but blew it off. Yea the beach is easy. The surf is realy good, the stores kinda easy the bike or skateboarding killer and the girl watching is allmost as insane. But it's 25 bucks a night and no where to anchor free. And well the Habor folks just dont like thier jobs. Even thou they have the best ocean view of all the cop docks Ive ever been to. And althou very helpfull the Harbor police dont seam to like boaters, go figure. So we just kept going.
We ended up sailing to Dana Point, No the row in is not easy, The surf,very tame and crowded, no real boardwalk for skating or biking. But Ole Libbys from there and we have friends there.
We anchored on the south side of the inside jetty. Straight in front of Doweney beach. Yes it's free. A little rollie but not enough to spill a beer. So thats all good. I dont think the Harbor guys like boaters there iether. Well maybe if we went inside and paid 25 a night for a guest slip. But gee why? They just came by sniffing around and informed me my anchor light was not strong enough. Good job guys!! So I happened to have another one I put out to conform. You can anchor free in the turning basin but you cant leave your boat. That didnt work for us cause we needed humm food. While there, I ran into some friends from 20 years ago! Wow that was the best treat!! We hit it off like no years had gone by at all. Loved it !!! Then good ole Dana Doug rowed his kayak out just as my anchore was dragging past SHADOW. We all took Libby into an open slip near his boat and he gave a us a ride to the market for hummm food. Thanks Doug!!
It must have been Saturday cause the place was going off!! Jet skies, kayaks, fishin boats ,sail boats, ski boats just anything that floats was out there. So yeup the girl waching was pretty good.
After 3 days I guess we got bored and left paridise again. And headed to Catalina. When we woke up there was a nice SW wind but someone forgot to put another quarter in the wind machine and it died big time. Bummer I have a sail boat for sailing not for burning fossil fuel. But I also just hate siting and listening to my rigging just flap for hours and hours so we ended up turning the motors on. We arrived at sunset which is a good thing cause ancoring at Catalina is an art all to it's self. It dropes off like crazy like 50ft in 50 yeup a one to one slope in most places. The good thing is you can see the bottom and make sure your hooked. We where going to a place called Whights landing but ended up near frog rock. Real rollie and we where beat. But it worked and it's free. One night there and it was time for laundry and showers and more hummm food. So we went into Avalon. I mean it's the law you have to go into Avalon. Luha Larrys for a beer. Then Ice cream at Olagfs. And a cheesh burger from the place below the Blue Parrot. Yea Avalon is a cool spot and soo freakin close. We where hanging out BS'n about all that time in Mexico and started laughin cause Catalina's got it beat. Sure ya might think Mexico is soooo cheep. And it is if you anchor out, fish and only hit the market's when needed. But so's Catalina if you play it the same way. And they have ice, yellow cheese, and meat that has had the head removed. We paid two nights in Avalon to eat headless yellow cheese burgers and wash it down with an icie soda. Real nice and the girl watchings pretty darn good to.
We sat around looking at the flags waiting for a breeze to pick up. Cause it was time to leave paradise again. As soon as a hint of wind kicked we where out the door and heading north to the Istmas. And as all to often saling it's iether none or to much wind and sure as shit bame!! 30 knots staright on the beak. Damn that sucked all reefed up and beating. Granted it's only like 10 miles but dang I was spilling my beer. Ole Libs only wieghs 6000 lbs she gets tossed around pretty good when it's blowing over 20. But hey what do ya do ? Ya secure your beer and hang on. We landed at the Istmas around midnite and opted for a mooring. 27 dollars a night but it sure felt good that night.
To be continued