Thanksgiving at Catalina Island

I thought I'd share our special Thanksgiving 2014.
We spent it at Two Harbors, Catalina Island.
The weather looked perfect, wifey was ok with it, so why not?

We left Ventura Harbor later than I would have liked, but once outside the harbor we were greeted with fantastic weather!

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great photos, Tuna Joe. Thanks. Love Catalina!

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The trip was a great success, primarily due to outstanding weather.
Incredibly flat seas with no wind on our trip there.
I motored there initially at 9 knots, but after several hours and seeing that we'd be getting in the Isthmus very late....I kicked it up to 14.5 knots for the last 2 hours.
We still got in after dark and my wife was stressed about mooring in the dark, but we survived.
Once we got settled, I had a cold one to celebrate making it with no problems.
I gotta tell ya...... I felt like I had just circumnavigated the world!

Got up the next day and the weather was HOT! So I took the kids to a secluded cove to go play around in, but the sun was going in the wrong direction.

Had a wonderful dinner at Harbor Reef Restaurant.

It took 6.75 hours coming home at between 9-10 knots. The weather wasn't nearly as nice as the trip there, but still was good. Not even a drop on the windshield.

Thanks for letting me share!

Tunajoe said:

The trip was a great success, primarily due to outstanding weather.
Incredibly flat seas with no wind on our trip there.
I motored there initially at 9 knots, but after several hours and seeing that we'd be getting in the Isthmus very late....I kicked it up to 14.5 knots for the last 2 hours.
We still got in after dark and my wife was stressed about mooring in the dark, but we survived.
Once we got settled, I had a cold one to celebrate making it with no problems.
I gotta tell ya...... I felt like I had just circumnavigated the world!

Got up the next day and the weather was HOT! So I took the kids to a secluded cove to go play around in, but the sun was going in the wrong direction.


Had a wonderful dinner at Harbor Reef Restaurant.

It took 6.75 hours coming home at between 9-10 knots. The weather wasn't nearly as nice as the trip there, but still was good. Not even a drop on the windshield.

Thanks for letting me share!

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Thanks for sharing your adventure

Great fun and Great memories

What an ideal first cruise. Spectacular.

Thanksgiving???
How could you ask for anything better???
Ted

Oh Yea!

I had flown down from wet and cold Northern California the week before and ended up at the beach in Costa Mesa looking across a relatively flat sea to Catalina. It was a mild and beautiful day and I could easily imagine myself going across (for the first time). What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Jeff

Some years ago, we visited the Isthmus and took our dinghy and landed (illegally) at the quarry just north of the Isthmus. The quarry is no longer being used, but all the machinery and rock chutes are still there due to the high cost of removal.

ancora said:

Some years ago, we visited the Isthmus and took our dinghy and landed (illegally) at the quarry just north of the Isthmus. The quarry is no longer being used, but all the machinery and rock chutes are still there due to the high cost of removal.

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All that quarry stuff is still there.
We always go to Rippers Cove and pass right by it.

Tunajoe,

What a great way to spend Thanksgiving. Your photos are just awesome-- so clear and colorful.

Is that you jumping off the boat? What's that water temp? We are wearing wetsuits freezing our arses off trying to surf here in the Gulf of Mexico and you are trunking it. That's tough.

cardude01 said:

Tunajoe,

What a great way to spend Thanksgiving. Your photos are just awesome-- so clear and colorful.

Is that you jumping off the boat? What's that water temp? We are wearing wetsuits freezing our arses off trying to surf here in the Gulf of Mexico and you are trunking it. That's tough.

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Thank you for the compliments!
Yes, that's me in all my glory jumping from the pilot house roof.
I suspect the temp was 68-69f?
Not freezing, but I got right out....in a hurry

Wonderful picture of a happy family, thanks for sharing!

May all your cruising be as enjoyable! Great pics from your inaugural cruise.

Great trip! Glad you are enjoying your boat.

What great pics! Thanks for sharing them with us.

One question for you--when you come into a mooring field like that one, how do you know where to go? Do they assign you to a specific mooring? How do you know where it is?

I've (obviously!!) never cruised to a place like that. What a beautiful spot for Thanksgiving!

Tunajoe, don't know how we missed you. We were also at Two Harbors for two days during the week of Thanksgiving then decided to make the trip to the west side of Two Harbors. Ended up staying on the west side of the island for three days before traveling down to Avalon. Saw a few lobster fisherman and maybe two boats. The weather was unbelievable. We left Sunday afternoon fighting the wind and waves. Then the phenomenal weather set in. The water clarity was extraordinary. The calicos and rockfish were very cooperative on the west side of the island. Found several great anchorages. We pulled out trailerable trawler for 15 hours. Well worth the drive. Thanks for sharing your pics.

GFC said:

What great pics! Thanks for sharing them with us.

One question for you--when you come into a mooring field like that one, how do you know where to go? Do they assign you to a specific mooring? How do you know where it is?

I've (obviously!!) never cruised to a place like that. What a beautiful spot for Thanksgiving!

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Thanks!
When you approach the runway at two harbors, you radio the harbor master on channel 9 and they assign you a mooring based on your boat size. Each mooring bouy has a letter and number....example B-5.
If you have never been there before, there are harbor patrols in boats will guide you and assist you.
The mooring is a bow and stern tie-off.

ufish2 said:

Tunajoe, don't know how we missed you. We were also at Two Harbors for two days during the week of Thanksgiving then decided to make the trip to the west side of Two Harbors. Ended up staying on the west side of the island for three days before traveling down to Avalon. Saw a few lobster fisherman and maybe two boats. The weather was unbelievable. We left Sunday afternoon fighting the wind and waves. Then the phenomenal weather set in. The water clarity was extraordinary. The calicos and rockfish were very cooperative on the west side of the island. Found several great anchorages. We pulled out trailerable trawler for 15 hours. Well worth the drive. Thanks for sharing your pics.

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What days were you there? I arrived Wednesday evening till Saturday morning.
Water clarity was unreal.
Glad you too had a great time!
Maybe we need to have a TF get together at Catalina?

Great dolphin shot. That must have been very cool to watch.

We left Sunday afternoon from Davies Launch in Long Beach. Took 5 hours to get across in some pretty rough conditions but safely. We spent Sunday and Monday on the east side of Two Harbors. The Harbor master indicated the west side was calmer but water not as clear. She was correct. We stayed Tuesday and Wednesday on the west side of Two Harbors and had the fish and chips at the Harbour Reef Restaurant. We were moored at B8 if I recall correctly. We then traveled south desiring to circumnavigate the island. We spent Thursday and Friday at a very nice sandy anchorage called Silver Canyon. We then got up early and headed to Avalon to satisfy my wife. Toured the town, bought a Christmas ornament, and headed back to Long Beach Saturday morning. I made an effort to download some pics but failed. I'll try again. We purchased a Outer Reef 26 a couple of months ago. Totally refurbished the interior however a Nordic Tug 32/34 will be my retirement trawler some day.

We were there Wednesday - Sunday, our first Thanksgiving on the island. The weather was amazing.

Thanks for the pic (Time Bandit)!

Wifey B: We went to Catalina on Saturday and amazingly since my hubby is really scared of heights, I talked him into zip lining. I never ever ever thought he'd agree. Guess I have my ways of persuasion. The first section he was shaking but he did it. Better each section. I thought it was freaking awesome. Then we went on a land tour. It was all so beautiful. The ride over, just approaching was super cool. Then back to the coast. Just a super day. Wish the days weren't so short here right now.

Omg we were so exhausted at the end of the day between zipping and bouncing along the roads, if you call them that, and walking and just a long day.

winty said:

We were there Wednesday - Sunday, our first Thanksgiving on the island. The weather was amazing.

Thanks for the pic (Time Bandit)!

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Winty welcome aboard

winty said:

We were there Wednesday - Sunday, our first Thanksgiving on the island. The weather was amazing.

Thanks for the pic (Time Bandit)!

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Ha! Awesome!

We were moored up 2 rows behind you!

Weather was amazing, Welcome to the forum.

PM me an email address if you'd like me to send you the picture of your boat.

You had a great trip. I love Catalina and have never gotten bored of going there even after 30 years. I've been there a few Thanksgivings and one in particular I stayed too long. That Saturday a Santa Ana blew in and we had 10-12' seas hitting the boat. Not much sleep that night but after 18 hours we finally got off the mooring and made it back to LA.

I love your pictures. Makes me want to finish my extensive deck project even more.

The Harbor Reef puts on a good spread, we've done Thanksgiving there several times. Great to be able to take home the leftovers!

Great pictures, thanks for the memories!