Originally Posted by
Clyde1820
Did sailing all around the Channel Islands, back when. Before everything got crowded and, um, different. Parked at Forney Cove (on the western end of Santa Cruz) once for a couple of days, feasting on Abalone and halibut. Made it out to Santa Rosa, then spent the night riding out a gale. Looked out across at San Miguel but decided against it. Kept off-shore of Anacapa, watching all of the wildlife. Overnighted at Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. Loved the lifestyle, but never did do the "bluewater / live-aboard" thing.
Lovely spot of the world, out there.
What was your boat back in the '70s, by the way? Clearly large enough for two to live 10+ years and survive it relatively intact.
It's interesting to watch the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, and the RORC Caribbean 600, among others. Those Cherubini 48s have logged races at better than 12kt average, and won their class. Would love to have one built, though they're well north of $2M these days. Can be found on the pre-owned market in the $300-500K range, now and then. Always seems to be at least one of them for sale. So far as I know, nine have been made over the years. Not many, but they seem to take a lickin' and keep on tickin', so to speak. Not exactly priced like a Sunfish, or Lido 14, or Hobie Cat, to be sure.
We lived on an Ericson 35 tall rig(double spreader). It was a race boat when we bought it but I added a water tank and refrigeration after a few years for comfort. We were not into racing , just cruising the islands . I have been those places you mentioned and stayed at others , sometimes for days and sometimes a couple of weeks . We would sail into Santa Barbara to get provisions and anchor off Stearn's Wharf for the night only to return to Pelican Bay the next day. Many happy times as well as time we were scared out of our wits. The wind can come up really bad and you have to find refuge, you get to know the islands real well. I am an open water certified diver so sea food was abundant and I always had a couple of tanks on board. It was a minimalist existence in the true sense. The name of our boat was Legacy and she lived up to her name. The memories and what we have seen, few have ever seen, good and not so good. We survived in spite of being human and I know in my heart we could have gone to the depths at any time, that ocean is so powerful!