Here you will find tales of voyages past and present on our trusty Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, "Sockdolager," and our Bigfoot29 powerboat, "Raven," from Port Townsend, Washington, USA. In 2009 we sailed north from Puget Sound up the west coast of Vancouver Island to the Queen Charlotte Islands (now called Haida Gwaii.) In 2010 we went back to the west coast of Vancouver Island. In July 2011 we left the Northwest, sailed to Mexico, and in March 2012 we crossed the Pacific to French Polynesia, then on to the Cooks, Niue and Tonga. We spent several months in New Zealand, and in May 2013 loaded Sockdolager (and ourselves) on a container ship for San Francisco. In June and July 2013 we sailed north along the California, Oregon and Washington coasts, and in August we arrived home. In October 2016, Sockdolager found new owners, and we began cruising on Raven, a unique wooden 29' powerboat. In 2018 we cruised up to Glacier Bay, Alaska, and back. But in 2024 we had the chance to buy Sockdolager back (we missed her), so we sold Raven. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them. (And there will be more.)



Wednesday, October 5, 2011

At Anchor in the Channel Islands - 10/5/2011

After a nice 2-day passage from Monterey, we arrived here at uninhabited San Miguel, northernmost of the Channel Islands. It's one of the prettiest harbors we've seen so far, and we have it all to ourselves. Rode out some iffy weather last night and are waiting for it to clear. A large herd of enormous elephant seals on the beach sounds like a PA system that's been commandeered by a passel of twelve year-olds holding a belching contest. What wildness here, so close and yet so far from the huge cities nearby to the east. We'll roam the islands for awhile and then head for the mainland.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 8, 2011 at 3:33 PM

    I live and sail out of Channel Islands Harbor, so I know the Islands well. If you have time, check out Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island, it is to deep to anchor so you will need to go in one at a time while the other stays aboard the boat. Pelican, Frys, Prisoners and Little Scorpion are all worth anchoring in. They are all two hook anchorages, except Prisoners if you sit outside the pier. If you need any ground transportation, call me and I can run you around, Greg Coats (805) 607-5190 West Marine is within walking distance of CHannel Islands Harbor and there is a nice marine store within walking distance of Ventura Harbor as well. Santa Barbara Harbor has a West Marine in the Harbor. Costco is in Oxnard, but you need transportation.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 8, 2011 at 6:00 PM

    Gees I hope you make it over to Long Beach...specifically Shoreline Marina...my Dana is over there...same year as yours....such a dream realized....have a blast.

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  3. Karen Sullivan and Jim HeumannOctober 19, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    Just wanted to check in with you both--thanks Greg for the kind offer. We were using the ham radio to send the updates and didn't see your comment until a couple days after we got to Marina del Rey. The world's largest marina doesn't offer internet, so we are using the local Starbucks. Wish we could have seen the Painted Cave, but the winds were really honking from the NW and we didn't see many good anchorages on that side of the island east of there. You have a real gem with the Channel Islands. Perhaps we'll see you down the ocean road somewhere.

    Anonymous, which Dana do you have? We're heading for Catalina Island later this week, and then Dana Point. Not planning to visit Long Beach. Gotta get to Mexico!

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