Greetings from the Channel Islands
A typical Sunday…Get up, make breakfast, I clean the boat while Peter is working on a boat project (getting the water maker up and running). All is normal except for the small fact we’re not in the Bay Area anymore.
Our maiden voyage started at 4pm on Wednesday Sept. 5. Though we had months of planning, like most trips, we were scrambling to get everything ready right before we left. One of the most important pieces was getting Chris (our neighbor/friend/crewmember) on board to join us. Once he did, we slipped out of our dock, waved goodbye to our home Galillee Habor and headed out to catch the last of the ebb tide to take us out the gate. We stopped for a quick moment so Peter could work on the paravanes and then we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and took a left, headed south. After imagining, planning, building and living on Kama Hele, for the last 10 years, we were finally taking her cruising out into the Pacific. It was a great feeling.
The first 16 hours passed relatively calmly. Everything was working well and the seas were very cooperative. We settled on four-hour watches and ate/slept/relaxed while not on duty. Our cat Kona had a rough 12 hours – between the noise of the boat & the motion she was not a happy camper. She got sick but then quickly got better. Before we knew it she was meowing for her breakfast as her usual routine, and was up in the wheelhouse joining us on our watch getting excited every time she heard or saw something that caught her attention.
Midway through our 2nd day the swell got a bit larger and the boat started to roll a bit more. I stayed down below a little too long before I realized I was starting to get seasick. Getting back up into the wheelhouse and having fresh air helped though a general malaise & headache lasted for a couple of days. We also put out the fish which helped tremendously on lessening the roll of the boat though we
did lose .6 knots while deployed. Our speed overall on the journey averaged 6.0 knots which is what we had planned. The only issue we had to deal with was our autopilot – a very useful piece of equipment I quickly learned. Every time the boat had a bit of a corkscrew roll, the Sat Compass would cut out causing the autopilot to stop working & many alarms to go off. Luckily Peter was able to get a cell signal and call FURUNO. Within a few seconds of hearing what the problem was Larry the tech guy told us the solution was a quick fix (just something we had missed in the settings after some recent repairs) then the cell signal dropped. Whew, glad it was an easy fix.
Amazing how the seas quieted down as soon as we went around Pt. Conception and got into the Santa Barbara Channel.
The highlight of the trip so far started right around then. We would be cruising along and suddenly these pods of dolphins would come jumping out of the water over to us. At one point we had over 20 dolphins riding & playing in our bow wave. Not to mention the hundreds around the boat jumping and swimming along w/sea lions. Leaning over the bow and watching them and looking around at all the sea life – two words capture the feeling I had. Pure joy.
On Friday around 2pm Peter sighted our destination – Santa Cruz Island. Another 3 hours and we dropped the hook at Prisoners Harbor and turned off the engine. Silence welcomed our ears and we toasted the success of our first journey.
A quick dinner and then we all snoozed hard for 11 hours. Peter and I did wake up briefly and discovered the most amazing sky with tons of stars, planets and the milky way directly overhead. Haven’t seen a sky that clear in a long time. Too much city living for me.
So strange to wake up at home and yet be somewhere far away. After breakfast we got into our dinghy and motored around before going onto shore for some exploring.
Santa Cruz Island used to have a ranch so there is still signs of livestock pens and barns around though most of the island now is owned by the Nature Conservancy.
Back to the boat for lunch and then some fishing on the back deck. We all got excited when something big bit but it turned out to be a ray, unfortunately not dinner.
Later, our crew member Chris hopped on the Island Packer boat headed back to Ventura. We were so happy to have him on our first trip – he was the perfect crew member. Now it’s just Peter and myself. Our plan is to head to another anchorage on the island and then head down to Santa Catalina for a few days.
We will then work our way north stopping at some other islands if the weather cooperates.
While writing this Peter has been working on the water maker and I’m happy to report he’s got it working. Just had my first taste of salt water that was made into drinking water. It’s delicious.
On Friday around 2pm Peter sighted our destination – Santa Cruz Island. Another 3 hours and we dropped the hook at Prisoners Harbor and turned off the engine. Silence welcomed our ears and we toasted the success of our first journey.
A quick dinner and then we all snoozed hard for 11 hours. Peter and I did wake up briefly and discovered the most amazing sky with tons of stars, planets and the milky way directly overhead. Haven’t seen a sky that clear in a long time. Too much city living for me.
So strange to wake up at home and yet be somewhere far away. After breakfast we got into our dinghy and motored around before going onto shore for some exploring.
Santa Cruz Island used to have a ranch so there is still signs of livestock pens and barns around though most of the island now is owned by the Nature Conservancy.
Back to the boat for lunch and then some fishing on the back deck. We all got excited when something big bit but it turned out to be a ray, unfortunately not dinner.
Later, our crew member Chris hopped on the Island Packer boat headed back to Ventura. We were so happy to have him on our first trip – he was the perfect crew member. Now it’s just Peter and myself. Our plan is to head to another anchorage on the island and then head down to Santa Catalina for a few days.
We will then work our way north stopping at some other islands if the weather cooperates.
While writing this Peter has been working on the water maker and I’m happy to report he’s got it working. Just had my first taste of salt water that was made into drinking water. It’s delicious.
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