Finally some warmer weather: we arrive in Southern California

San Miguel Island

We’ve been chasing the warmer the weather on our trek south and finally we have arrived. Gone are the down jackets and pants during night sailing and hello t-shirt and shorts. Our first stop in Southern California after rounding Point Conception was San Miguel of the Channel Islands. Arriving in the night to Cuyler Harbor sounded like something out of Jurassic Park with unrecognizable sounds coming from shore. Come morning we realized we anchored near a herd of elephant seals that make the most impressive barking and snorting sounds. Elephant seals are quite unlike the seals and sea lions we’re used to in the PNW, and we enjoyed watching their unique behavior of flipping sand on top of themselves to protect their skin from the sun as they were molting.

San Miguel Island was like stepping into another world, with white sandy beaches, strange looking plants, and new animal sounds. We had the anchorage to ourselves most of the time but were joined by a few boats of urchin (uni) divers looking for a calm place to spend the night. We thought San Miguel was the most impressive of the Channel Islands with colonies of birds on the white sand beaches and small island foxes in the meadows further inland.

Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands

We hiked and explored Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands with our favorite anchorage in Little Scorpion on Santa Cruz where we had a spectacular free dive through a kelp forest. The water was clear and warm by our standards, though we still wore wetsuits. Many of the Channel Islands have impressive sea caves, and it quickly became a favorite activity to hop in the dinghy and explore the majestic sea caves found all along the shoreline.

Santa Barbara and Anacapa Island

A short hop across the channel took us to Santa Barbara where we explored the surf town and met up with an old friend. We didn’t stay long as some unfavorable weather was coming through, so we crossed the channel again for a brief overnight stop at Anacapa Island with the most rugged anchorage yet. In fact, we may have been one of the few boats bold enough to anchor here. After a night in Anacapa, we made our way to Catalina.

Catalina Island

Catalina is a stark contrast from the remote Channel Islands we just visited, and we were overwhelmed by the luxury condos, designer retail, and golf course. We first stopped in Twin Harbors to the north and walked around the now dusty, cactus filled terrain. Sailing between anchorages, dolphins would always come over and play in our bow wave. While anchored outside of Avalon Harbor we met Tripp, Kiera, and Brooke with the non-profit, Apparent Winds, and were welcomed aboard for dinner and drinks.

Our initial plan was to stop into San Diego as our final port in the U.S., but a cruisers rally, the Baja HaHa, had filled up all the available moorage. In an effort to stay ahead of the wave of rally cruisers that would fill up the small anchorages of the remote Baja Peninsula, we took our last steps on American soil for a while and set sail for Mexico.

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Our cruising plans

Trying to remember where we’re headed? Check out this post!