Pyrosomes

Have you seen these at Catalina or Santa Barbara Island?

I first saw these creatures in November of 2014, on a three-day Catalina cruise.  They are, uh, surprising.  We were anchored bow and stern at Cabrillo, in the lee of Little Gibraltar, and saw hundreds of these in the water.  We were distracted for a couple of hours, laughing, retrieving a few from deck using a bucket, and then snorkeling and swimming among them.

 When we went ashore at the Isthmus, I visited the Harbor Master and showed the pictures on my phone. He did not what they were but said they had been washing up on the beach.  The water temp was in the low seventies, unusually warm for November.

 After returning to land, a friend Googled the image and found Pyrosomes.  And now they have a Wikipedia page that says they are “…free floating colonial tunicates…”  Basically, a collective organism that filter feeds and can propel itself slowly through the water.

I haven’t seen these in the Northern Channel Islands yet, and we last saw them on our Santa Barbara Island – Catalina cruise this December.  Mother Nature does some amazing things! Keep a sharp lookout and let us know when and where you see Pyrosomes. 

Pyrosomes in the Landing Cove at Santa Barbara Island, December 2022

Northern Channel Islands Passages: Fall Means Flexibility

We departed Long Beach the morning of October 30 for this year’s eighth sailing adventure in the Northern Channel Islands.  Every week of every month in the NCI provides different challenges, and after 20 years of leading sailing trips there, these are my main takeaways:  1) your passage plan must remain flexible; 2) it’s the wind and weather that determines where you can go; 3) crew experience level and training objectives have a significant impact. 

This time of year, there is often a difference between what you can do and what you want to do, and that was the case for this 7-day voyage, October 30 – November 5.  What I wanted to do was visit the Painted Cave, spend a night at Forney Cove and then Willows, and complete our trip with passages to Santa Barbara Island and Catalina.

The Original Plan

The Original Plan (mileage shown is for straight line segments)
Day 1:  Long Beach to Smugglers cove on Santa Cruz Island, 74 NM
Day 2:  Smugglers to Cueva Valdez, 20 NM
Day 3:  Cueva Valdez to Painted Cave, to Forney Cove, 10 NM
Day 4:  Forney Cove to Willows, 15 NM
Day 5:  Willows to Landing Cove - Santa Barbara Island, 54 NM
Day 6:  SBI to Big Geiger – Catalina, 26 NM
Day 7:  Big Geiger to LB, 23 NM

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The weather forecast continued to change right up to the day of departure and on that day, it looked like the opportunity to visit the Painted Cave might be closing out.  We needed calm conditions when we’d be there in three days, and the forecast was for a building westerly on Santa Cruz.  A building westerly would also make it tough to get around the west end of Santa Cruz to Forney Cove.  Hmmm.

I also considered our capabilities and training objectives.  On this trip we had Brian and Caio, two crew who were already at the Bareboat Charter Master level.  While we could choose to make our 15-18 hour overnight passage from Long Beach to Santa Cruz on the first leg, we didn’t have to.  And since it was likely to be windy on our third morning, there was no point in rushing up to position ourselves near the Painted Cave.

We talked about these issues, and it was easy to decide to do things differently.  We’d sail first to Catalina, then to Santa Barbara Island, then to Pelican Bay on Santa Cruz, and decide just how to continue from there.

Once on the north side of Santa Cruz, the forecast was showing winds building out of the northwest into the high 20s, gusting to low 30s.  That meant that the Painted Cave was out.  Should we continue around the west end of Santa Cruz as originally planned?  It was decision time.  Here is what we had to consider.

• The distance from Pelican Bay to Forney Cove was about 15 NM in straight line segments, but it would be straight upwind, and the tacking would double the mileage.

• Though we had two reef points in the main and a roller reefing genoa, we would be seriously overpowered going to windward and it would be a long, wet, and difficult day.

• Reversing our course and sailing downwind in up to thirty knots would be very fast and though still challenging, much easier.

So, instead of pushing to windward we decided to head downwind to Smugglers on day 4, and that would put us in position on day 5 to ride the strong northwesterly downwind about 70 NM to Catalina.  That’s what we did, and we had some adventures on the way.

The Actual Voyage

The Actual Voyage (mileage shown is actual, from the ship’s log)
Day 1:  Long Beach to Big Geiger – Catalina, 26 NM
Day 2:  Big Geiger to Landing Cove - Santa Barbara Island, 28 NM
Day 3:  SBI to Pelican Bay – Santa Cruz Island, 59 NM
Day 4:  Pelican Bay to Smugglers, 14 NM
Day 5:  Smugglers to Isthmus Cove – Catalina, 67 NM
Day 6:  Stayed on the mooring at Isthmus Cove
Day 7:  Isthmus Cove to LB, 23 NM

Highlights: Pelican Bay to Isthmus Cove

On day 4 we departed Pelican Bay at about 13:00, and by 14:00 we recorded winds at 27 knots.  We had just a full genoa up and were making 7-8 knots over the ground, even recording brief bursts of 11-12 kts as we slid down the swells.  It was a trouble-free ride until we rounded the east end of Santa Cruz and began rolling up the aging headsail.  The sail flogged as we brought it in, and a big tear opened on the leach.  We finally got it rolled up all the way and tried to motor into Smugglers, but with 27-31 knots on the nose we were getting nowhere.  So, we kept the engine on and partially unfurled the genoa.  That enabled us to motor-sail into the anchorage, but the tear on the leach got bigger.

The tear in the leach grew bigger as Day 5 progressed

On day 5 we departed Smugglers at 06:27, bound for the Isthmus, with northwest winds 10-12 that increased into the high 20s touching 30.  We don’t know for sure because the anemometer quit spinning at some point.  With a full but torn genoa and the mainsail stowed, we each got our workouts doing half-hour rotations on the helm.  The seas built to 10-12 feet, and at one point we hit 13.9 knots speed over ground while sliding down a large swell.  Wow!  We made it into the Isthmus about 16:20, covering about 70 NM in about 10 hours, and picked up mooring C9.  What a relief.  We still needed to change to the spare genoa for the trip back to Long Beach, but that would wait.  It was time to go ashore.

On Day 6 we stayed on the mooring, rested, ate well, and changed the headsail.  Day 7 had light winds and we motored most of the way back to Long Beach.

Takeaways From the Trip

• A wind forecast is just a forecast, and while it’s a good predictor of the overall trend 7 or more days out, it is much more accurate 1 to 2 days out.

• Position yourself so that when the strong blow comes, you can take advantage of the speed it offers by going downwind.

• Fall in the Northern Channel Islands means keeping your passage plan flexible.

 It’s been said that if you can cruise California’s Northern Channel Islands, you can cruise anywhere. And even when you know the territory, remember that it’s the wind that determines where you can go, your crew and objectives have a big impact, and staying flexible really pays.

See pics and video from this trip on the Santana Sailing Facebook page

See the Channel Islands tab on the website to see what’s on the schedule, and join us for a sailing experience that will add to your confidence and competence.

Marc Hughston, Chief Instructor

The Racing and Yelling Thing

I just want to say a few things about racing and yelling on sailboats.

When I did my first out of town Bareboat Charter in the San Juan Islands in 1993, in Friday Harbor, I noticed a sailing group called Womanship. Their banner said, “Nobody Yells.”  Back then I thought, “Huh?” Now I can see that this yelling thing has been a problem for many decades.

I’ve been at this a long time and over the years I’ve both yelled, and I’ve been yelled at.  As the receiver of the yelled epithet, it was not pleasant.  I quit racing in the year 2000 because I was tired of 1) the yelling, and 2) having to negotiate strategy and tactics with people who didn’t know what I knew but felt that yelling made them more correct.

Tonight, a friend I care deeply about cried on my shoulder about her treatment by captain and crew of an Olsen 30 during an evening race out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach, CA.  From her account, yelling was a big problem.  Lack of clear communication about responsibilities was a big problem.  Uncommunicated expectations about performance were a problem.  Lack of orientation to the responsibilities of the person in the pit and how to accomplish them were a problem.

It amazes me that one could make a post on the GoSailing App with an invitation to join, fail to train, and then demean the crew for not being able to do the thing that is being yelled about.

She’s not going racing anymore.  She’s not joining a yacht club.  She’s not joining your GoSailing thing.

Look, if you want crew to join you on your boats to race on a night like tonight, think about the proper orientation to the boat. Think about assessing your crew and assigning positions based on their capabilities; think about whether the fact that you are racing is more important than treating a crewmember as you would treat a friend, a companion.  Then, see how you do on the racecourse.  You might do better with training, orientation, support and respect.

None of us like yelling. Racing is a poor excuse for it.

So, You Want To Work As Delivery Crew

I’ve been following my friend, Russ Fritsch, around the globe as he makes periodic FB posts from this or that exotic location. His latest message to me was via satellite while he was en route from Fiji to Honolulu. He wondered if I knew anyone interested in a spot as delivery crew for a Honolulu to Long Beach sailing voyage.

I asked Russ if he could write something up about his experience on the Delivery Crew circuit, because I thought a lot of you would be interested. Russ has put together some thoughts about how he does what he does, and what you might want to think about if you have similar aspirations. Follow the blue link below for a downloadable PDF of Russ’s guest blog. Here we go!

So, You Want To Work As Delivery Crew

By Russ Fritsch

Getting Started in this type of sailing life. In the fall of 2016, I was presented with an opportunity to retire early with a sweetener to help make the decision easier. I took the offer and left. After 46 years in telecommunications, I was now retired so what’s a guy to do? My son suggested I go sailing and told me there are a bunch of Crew Wanted pages out there on the internet. I jumped in with both feet.

Most American sailing however, is on the east coast of the United States. There are millions (no exaggeration) more boats on the Atlantic Seaboard than out here on the Pacific Coast. My first sail as delivery crew was in May of 2017 on SV Allora. She was a 2000 Passport, Royal Passport 43 and what a boat she was. I was hooked. As luck would have it, I was picked for crew because, at 5’9” I fit into the sea berth in the salon. If I were 6-feet tall, I might not have been doing this…

Read the Full Blog Post Here

Getting Certified (SLC) - Lat 38 Letters

In the February 2019 issue of Latitude 38, page 28, the first entry is a letter from an experienced cruiser with questions about getting certified to charter in the Mediterranean.

This is all about the question of what credentials are needed to charter in the Med. It’s a real issue, and we can resolve it.

I had to respond. Here’s the letter.

Here was my response.

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Dear Editor,

Responding to Cary and Michele Hansen looking for the easiest way to get their Mediterranean sailing license, the NauticEd SLC route is the quickest, easiest, and least expensive in most cases.

Cary and Michele can do the practical on-the-water assessment for the SLC with me in one day in Long Beach.  I run Santana Sailing in Long Beach, and we're a NauticEd school.  The one-day assessment is an extensive pass/fail evaluation of essential skills, including Med-mooring with an anchor off the bow.  And if they need some practice, a day of on-the-water training before the assessment will help knock the rust off.

There's more to it including documenting sea time, completing on-line course requirements, and knowledge testing which will take some real time on the computer, but a sailor with the skills can knock out the practical portion for the SLC in a day.  With US Sailing or ASA on the other hand, if they don't already have Bareboat Cruising or ASA 104, they do indeed have to start at the bottom with all the basic on-the-water courses. 

Here's a link on NauticEd's website on How to Gain Your SLC Mediterranean Sailing License:  http://www.nauticed.org/sailing-blog/how-to-gain-your-slc-mediterranean-sailing-license/?school=santana-sailing

Contact Grant Headifen of NauticEd for more:  grant@nauticed.org; +1 512-696-1070.  

Here's a link to Santana Sailing's International Sailing License page:  https://www.santanasailing.com/international-sailing-license

To me, it's the grand unification theory in practice - you can use your skills to pass the practical assessment no matter where you got them, without having to start all over again at the bottom of some other system.  That's a beautiful thing.

Best,

Marc HughstonMobile: 949-939-8123Subscribe to Santana Sailing News
Email: Marc@SantanaSailing.comwww.SantanaSailing.com
* Get 2 Free Sailing Courses HERE
* Get your SLC Mediterranean Sailing License HERE

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I hope they post it!

The Best Way to Become a Better Sailor

In the years following my first sailing lesson at age 14, I often found myself wondering what it was like to do the things I saw other sailors doing. 

As a teenager I saw Hobie Cat sailors one windy afternoon on Lake Mojave, flying a hull and capsizing, and then righting the cat and taking off again.  How did they do that?

In college I saw Laser sailors practicing roll tacks on Mission Bay, and I walked by a Hobie 16 skipper with his cat tipped over on the beach, adjusting the mainsail battens to change the sail’s shape.  Why were they doing that?

On vacation I saw cruising boats at anchor in the bay at Cabo San Lucas and thought, what does that take, and how can I do something like that?

You Need More Than Books and Your Own Trial and Error

Over the years I learned by reading, asking questions, and through my own trial and error. But you will need so much more, unless you have an extra decade and a few extra lives to survive the mistakes.  You need outside help to make the great leap forward. It happened for me in the mid to late ‘90s with three fundamental lessons that came from a deeply experienced sailor who had been where I wanted to go, and knew what I needed to know. Mark Howe of Aventura Sailing Association in Dana Point was my original instructor-mentor, and I have him to thank for these.

The Great Leap Forward

The first of these experiences was on a multi-day trip from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico and back, right around the time of the Newport – Ensenada race.  It was on our trip back north, on a black night with a double-reefed main that Mark said, let’s put the autopilot on, I need to start dinner.” (He was making bouillabaisse!)  I started looking for a breaker on the electrical panel, because I hadn’t yet seen any gear at the helm, and he said, “No, just get the sails balanced and lock down the wheel.”  So, the boat didn’t have an autopilot after all – this is just how he got it done.  And Mark strapped himself in at the galley, and we sailed right through dinner and on through the following morning, with our course meandering no more than 5 – 10 degrees.  I learned that a boat can steer itself if we handle the sails correctly, and that it really is possible to eat well and be comfortable on a windy night off the coast of Baja California. (Now I teach this technique on Catalina and Channel Islands cruises.)

Second, during another multi-day trip, we anchored bow and stern, inside one the largest sea caves in the world – the Painted Cave, on Santa Cruz Island.   I never even imagined this kind of thing was possible.  You would never aspire to do this on your own – unless that is, you were on a boat that did it, and saw how it was done.  And we had a champagne brunch, and took a dinghy trip into the blackness at the end of the cave where the Sea Lions were barking like mad.  Wow. (Now I back a 42 footer into the cave - without anchoring - about 4 times a year on Channel Islands cruises.)

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Inside the Painted Cave on the Catalina 42, Betty

Third, I had a heavy weather experience at Santa Cruz Island that showed me some things about boat handling and decision making.  We had a double reefed main and a full genoa, and were hard on the wind from Ventura to the Scorpion anchorage.  When we went to reef the genoa, we had to ease the sheet so we could roll it in part way, and the sail began to flog.  Within about 10 seconds, the sail just exploded, having split at the seams about half way up.  We rolled in as much of it as we could, and anchored near Smugglers while Mark weighed the options.  He decided we should sail back to Ventura, and we did so on a double reefed main alone, making 6-7 knots the whole way.  Another cruisier in the harbor came over to talk to us, and ended up loaning us a spare headsail from his own boat.  I learned that sails have to be handled with care in heavy conditions, and sometimes you just have to head back to the harbor.  And, that other cruisers can be generous people.

That was part of my foundation for being able to handle my first strong gale in the Northern Channel Islands as an instructor - see the video below. I’ve been through a few of these now and while I don’t go looking for trouble, I love to teach the required techniques when the wind pipes up.

The Best Way to Become a Better Sailor

The final lesson is that even after all the reading, talking to others, and trial and error chartering on your own, the best way to become a better sailor is to get out on the water with someone who knows what you want to know, who’s been where you want to go, and can answer questions you didn’t know enough to ask.

That’s the best way to make a great leap forward with your learning.  That’s how we teach.  That’s really what Santana Sailing is here for. Get that same kind of experience by joining us on one of these Sailing Adventures:

• Catalina Sail Training Adventures

• Channel Islands Sail Training Adventures

• Sea of Cortez Sail Training Adventures

Why the Sea of Cortez?

Uncrowded Beauty

Imagine yourself leading family and friends on a week-long charter on a new Lagoon 450 catamaran.  You can do this because you’ve achieved your Bareboat Charter Master Certification and Catamaran Endorsement, having gotten your training in these same waters with Santana Sailing.  Now, this boat is yours for the week.

The air is warm as you depart the marina, and your guests share a bit of excitement with you as a Manta Ray leaps out of the water with great flapping wings.  Your guests don’t know the area but have heard about it, and you feel confident in the training you’ve received.

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Photo: Wes Smith

Good Sailing

It’s the Sea of Cortez.  You could sail anywhere in the world, but you’ve come to this place.  With warm water, uncrowded anchorages and abundant sea life, The Sea has attracted luminaries like Scuba Pioneer Jacques Cousteau, author John Steinbeck, and legendary cruisers Lin and Larry Pardey, all of whom spent significant time in and on these waters.

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The Sea of Cortez is one of the most stunning cruising grounds in North America

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Photo: Wes Smith

Different and Fresh

The Sea of Cortez is a completely different and fresh experience from the Caribbean or Mediterranean.    No crowds, no boat boys, few tourists, no race to the next mooring field – just stunning scenery, a good sailing breeze, and a chance for solitude. 

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Photo: Wes Smith

World Class Instruction

You can also get your International Sailing License (SLC) and/or Bareboat Charter Master training and assessment completed during the week with Santana Sailing.  And, it is very easy to get there – a 2h 30m  flight will bring you from LAX to Cabo. 

Read this blog I wrote, published by NauticEd for additional details:  Cruise The Sea of Cortez

Jaw Dropping Sunsets and Sunrises

Frequently the sunsets are so amazing that the conversation just stops. And when you wake up to the sound of bare feet pattering on deck with hushed oohs and ahhhs, get out of bed and grab your camera.

Contact us to learn more about Instructional Cruises and Slow Cruises on The Sea. Scroll down for a gallery of un-retouched sunsets and sunrises.

Bahia San Gabriel

Back when you could anchor there

The Hook Anchorage

Isla San Francisco

Underway at Sunrise

On the Advanced Cruise

Isla San Fransico

Dawn departure on an Advanced Cruise

Bahia Agua Verde

Quick, get the camera!

Ensenada Grande

Isla Partida

CostaBaja Resort

The best in La Paz

The Beach Club

Across from the boats

CostaBaja Resort

View from the Beach Club

Bahia Agua Verde

On the Advanced Cruise

Water in the Diesel - Ooops!

Which Deck Plate is That?

This might happen to you one day.  I’m glad in retrospect that it happened to me, and right at the start of a trip I was leading. That’s because this is how it always happens - at exactly the wrong time, and it has to be fixed right now! I never would have set this up as an instructional opportunity on purpose, but it worked very well that way.

The start of the trouble was simple enough. We were prepping the Catalina 42 Betty for departure, and I asked a crew member to top-off all the water tanks. There are a series of deck plates on Betty. 4 of them are for filling the water tanks, 2 for pumping out black water in the holding tanks , and one for filling the diesel fuel tank.

As you can imagine, our crew member was mortified when red diesel fuel came spurting up out of what she thought was the starboard aft water tank deck fill. When she realize what happened and came to tell me, she looked like she felt she had sunk the boat, and our trip.

There’s a Straightforward Fix

It turns out that though time consuming, the fix is actually very straightforward.  Click on the thumbnail below to play the video segment and see how we fixed it.

Here’s the fix.

• Get ready with a plastic bottle, and start the engine. 

• Don’t let the water fill the bowl to the top!  Engine off, drain, and repeat. 

• Dispose of the waste fuel-water properly. 

It took about 2 hours to drain about a gallon of water.  We left for our Anchoring At Catalina weekend, kept checking the bowl in the Racor fuel-water separator, and drained a little more water after each time we had the engine on.  At the end of the 3-day trip, we had all but a tiny fraction of it out.

That was a great outcome, and a real test of how well the fuel-water separator works.

What happens after you change that shredded impeller? Clean out the heat exchanger!

Sharp Eye on the Temperature Guage

If you read my last guest blog, you’ll remember that I was over the moon about being able to change the oil on our 1989 Catalina (Universal 25 XP).  Well, that was one of the easy jobs!  A few weeks back as we were motoring back into the harbor after a delicious sail off Long Beach, I glanced at the engine temp gauge and noticed it was 240 degrees.  Yep, panic set in and I quickly shut her down!

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Impeller before…

Impeller after…where’d those pieces go?

Most likely culprit? The impeller.  Marc successfully showed me how to replace the impeller (we always keep spare parts on board) and then we knew we were going to have to get to the heat exchanger!  Project for another day!

Cleaning Out the HX

Of course, the “another day” arrived and armed again with my favorite site on maintenance for our Catalina 34’ (www.realitycheck.me) we prepared for a BIG project.  Thanks again to Steve and Rebecca for such great explanations, instructions and photos!  

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New zinc installed

Impeller pieces removed

One of the first steps was getting all of the coolant out of the engine.  Once that was done, it was safe to remove the heat exchanger.  We replaced a couple of hoses at the same time though it probably wasn’t necessary.  I knew I would need new gaskets for the ends of the heat exchanger and they were readily available from Catalina Direct.  I was so curious to see what would be in the heat exchanger!!  Indeed, we found a good chunk of the pencil zinc anode that had broken off and lots of pieces of impeller! 

After cleaning out the HX,  I flew into artistic mode with a burgundy scotch bright pad, scrubbing all the corrosion off the end caps til they were as shiny as a brand new penny!  

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HX before…

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HX after

She Looks Pretty, Burps, and Runs Cool

I cleaned up the heat exchanger by using a wire brush as per Steve’s advice then, the really fun part, I painted the heat exchanger Old Ford Blue!  It looks beautiful!  Put the gaskets on the end caps, sealed everything up and Marc and I worked together to clamp the heat exchanger and hoses back on.  We filled the coolant and started the engine…. Oh no!! Overheating!  We tried a couple of things, when my brilliant Captain thought there might be an airlock where we previously had the water heater.  That was the ticket!  We released the air (burp!) from that and we were in business!  It’s so important to get that heat exchanger off and cleaned out if you have lost a zinc or have bits of impeller that have broken off.  While it was challenging and an almost all day project for us, being the first time, when we have to do it again, it will be so much easier!

Chrissie - First Mate