We've been talking about sailing to Santa Catalina ever since we brought our boat Escape north from Baja, so we finally picked a date and headed south to Catalina on 29 June 2015. It's about 54 nautical miles from our harbor in Oxnard, CA so we stayed on the boat the night before and headed out early around 0630 on the 29th. Here's a picture of the sailing plan for that day. Our crew consisted of Elaine, Heather, Jay, Séamus, and me.
At 1300 the wind picked up to 13 knots so we put up the screecher on a broad reach and we were sailing at 8 knots with the engines off. You can see a movie of us sailing on our way to Catalina at http://youtu.be/2z9Tz4Sajf4 and below left is a picture of the screecher (our version of a spinnaker) and the mizzen sail as we sailed toward Catalina and a picture of Jay and Séamus with Catalina in the background as we approached the island.
We arrived at Two Harbors which is on the north side of the island about 1/3 of the way from the West end towards the East end around 1600 and tied up to a buoy. Most harbors on Catalina require you to tie up to a buoy unless you anchor completely outside the harbor in about 70 feet of water. It's called Two Harbors because there Isthmus Cove and Catalina Harbor are directly across from each other on the north and south sides of the island and only 0.3 mile separates the two as shown in the picture below from our chart plotter. It only took a few minutes to get tied up
pretty good time it appeared to me. Elaine took up a good position on the back deck to keep an eye on the brigand ships and to watch for a nice sunset (that's one of her favorite activities on these adventures). Unfortunately we didn't get much of a sunset that night, but we did get 
Harbor. Here's a picture of Elaine, Jay, Heather, and Séamus as we started out toward the Little Red School House 
that was used for the children of the people who originally lived on the island and below it is a picture of Heather looking in the front door (we couldn't go in because it was locked). I also took a picture of this bell, which I assume was used to call the students in after recess. We could see posters and assignments on the 
boards and walls for what looked like 1st through 6th grades or so all in one room. It reminded me of my early childhood when I was in the 1st and 2nd grades on a ranch north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We had 1st through 8th grades all in a one-room school house. 
The next historical site we went to see was this Union Army Barracks. It was only about 50 yards from the Little Red School House and had a plaque that said it was built in 1864 as quarters for Company C, Fourth California Volunteer Infantry, which maintained order among the miners, discouraged smuggling of Chinese, prevented use of Isthmus Harbors by Confederate privateers, and left the island and its mines secure. The garrison, commanded by Captain R. B. West, was in place from January to December 1864. It was in remarkably good shape for being there over 100 years.
Next to the barracks was this old windmill. I suppose it was there to pump water for the troops and other inhabitants around that 1864 time frame. After seeing the barracks, Jay, Séamus, and I took the trail to the other side of the island and Catalina Harbor while Elaine and Heather lingered in the area and then mosied over our way. on top of the high point beside Catalina Harbor they have a couple of benches that overlook the harbor and look south out over the Pacific Ocean. Séamus and I took advantage of 
one of the benches to rest our weary legs and to take in the view. Off to the east as you can see in the picture below, there was a trail leading down to the beach and along a series of tide pools so we couldn't 
While we were gone, Heather found a playground of her own and was busy going up and down the slide when we came by. I also took this shot of a prickly pear cactus in bloom with a couple of bees going after the nectar in the flower and this old relic of a chain beside the old Union Troop barracks. 
Later we had lunch at one of the local restaurants and then headed back to the boat around 1400. Jay did a little snorkling while I downloaded all the pictures and then went to link up with him and Séamus with the dinghy. It started to rain while we were out snorkling so I brought Séamus back to the boat on the dinghy. Back on the boat that night, 30 June, Elaine got her wish for a nice sunset as you can see below. Séamus and I sat out on the
front deck as the sun began to fade and took in the whole 360˚ view of Isthmus Cove because we were going to depart early in the morning and head for Avalon. You can see what we saw at: http://youtu.be/52AhcLCKQz0Later that evening the winds really picked up with gusts up to 36 knots and the sea got real rough for a while but then it calmed down and we had a very restful night.
We departed Two Harbors around 0630 and headed for Avalon which is about 12 nm east of Isthmus Cove on the north side of the island. There was almost no wind
(around 6 knots) so we motor sailed with the port engine at 2500 rpm and the sails deployed and we were going around 6 knots. On the way, we ran the water maker to convert sea water to fresh water and filled up two 5 gallon jugs for drinking and started filling the water tank. Tied up to buoy 232 at 0900. Here's a picture of us following the harbor patrol boat to our buoy as we pulled into Avalon Harbor. I turns out Avalon Harbor Patrol is on Channel 12 rather than Channel 09 as stated in our cruising guide. As we were preparing to go ashore we saw some paragliders being pulled by a boat. I took a movie of it as well and you can see it at: http://youtu.be/kHpy3KYb9CM. 
We spent the rest of the day exploring Avalon. Elaine, Heather, and I went to the museum in the Casino while Jay explored the town with Séamus.On the way the the museum which is on the first floor of the casino, the wall beside the walkway is adorned with these fantastic tile mosaics of the sea life around Catalina. There's a larger picture with Heather below so you can get a feeling for the size of the pictures. There were probably 50 pictures along the walkway on the way to the museum. 
Here's a picture of Elaine and heather on the way to the casino, a close up of the casino and at the entrance to the museum. Inside the museum are hundreds of pictures of famous movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne and I took this picture of an advertisement for
Wrigley's Spearmint Gum. It's hard to talk about the development of Catalina without mentioning William Wrigley Jr. and the role he played in that development. I extracted the following information from the internet: William Wrigley Jr. was born in September 1861, during the Civil War, in Philadelphia, Pensylvania. He bought a controlling interest in the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1919 and with the company received the island. He improved the island with public utilities, new steamships, a hotel, the Casino building, and extensive plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers. He also sought to create an enterprise that would help employ local residents. By making use of clay and minerals found on the island at a beach near Avalon, in 1927 William Wrigley, Jr., created the Pebbly Beach quarry and tile plant. Along with creating jobs for Avalon residents, the plant also supplied material for Wrigley's numerous building projects on the island.[2] After the building of Avalon's Casino (see Avalon Theater (Catalina)) in 1929, the Catalina Clay Products Tile and Pottery Plant began churning out handmade glazed tiles, dinnerware, and other practical household items such as bookends.[3] Mr. Wrigley also owned the Chicago Cubs baseball team and brought them out to the island for their summer practice sessions.
However, William Wrigley, Jr.'s greatest legacy was his plan for the future of Catalina Island—that it be protected for all generations to enjoy. His son, Philip K. Wrigley, in 1972 established the Catalina Island Conservancy for this purpose and transferred all family ownership to it.
After going to the museum we walked around the town checking out the shops etc., until 1400 when Elaine and Heather went to the guided tour of the Casino, and Jay paddle boarded over to Lovers Cove to snorkle. I walked over there to keep track of Séamus whenever he came on shore. To the right is a picture of the inside of the casino where there was a huge dance floor to accommodate all the famous people that visited the island. Below that is a picture of the bay just north of Avalon from the second story window of the casino. Below is a shot of Jay snorkeling and Séamus on the paddle board with one of the "submarine" tour boats from Avalon Harbor next door. These boats have a compartment below the water line so people can go down there and see the sea life around Avalon Harbor and Lovers Cove. You can see a movie of Séamus jumping off the paddle board and swimming ashore at http://youtu.be/_X7JP7GEovs and you can see him going back out and getting Jay all tangled up at http://youtu.be/DdaoqI3f0ew. After Elaine and Heather finished the casino tour we met at Antonio's Pizzeria for dinner. We hiked around town a little more and then headed back to the boat. Here's a movie that gives you a 360˚ view
of the town of Avalon and the harbor from the malacon along the harbor near the center of town: http://youtu.be/2vy4TME7qvE. Before we got in the dinghy, we had one more landmark to see. Between 1898 and into the 1920s there was a large and very friendly seal everyone called Old Ben. He became such an attraction that many people posed for pictures with him and gave him raw fish snacks in return. Here's a picture of Elaine and Heather posing with Old Ben. On the way back to the dinghy we came across this buffalo outside one of the restaurants
We departed Avalon around 0645 and headed for Catalina Harbor on the south side of the island directly across from Isthmus Cove where we stayed the first and second nights at Catalina. There was no wind so we motored at 6.3 knots. Here's a movie of the departure: http://youtu.be/11_GSY_Fpps
We contoured along the south side of the island changing directions by over 50˚ but each time we changed direction, the wind changed too so it stayed right on our nose . We had an AWS of 16 to 21 knots. About half way along the south side of the island on our way to Catalina Harbor, I spotted a small bay called Little Harbor on the chart plotter and from a distance, it looked pretty good so we went in for a closer look. Once we got in the bay it looked like a pretty good little harbor and there were several other small bays near by with beaches that looked pretty good for kayaking or snorkling so we decided to stay there instead of Catalina Harbor. We pulled in to Little Harbor and anchored with a bow and stern line because it was pretty small with just three boats including us. It's a nice little bay with good beaches that are fairly easy to get ashore on and there is a big camp ground there that can be accessed from Isthmus Cove or Avalon Harbor. Here's a movie showing a 360˚ view of Little harbor: http://youtu.be/HQRPoO1mY08. 
Elaine and Heather decided to not go ashore so Jay took Séamus ashore on the paddle board and I took my Epic Kayak ashore with my hiking boots and camera gear stuffed in the front waterproof compartment inside a waterproof bag. Once ashore I changed my shoes and hiked up onto the ridge above the kayak. Here's a picture of what the beach looked like where I left the kayak and a view of the bay from the small ridge above it. Later that day, Jay and I went snorkling out around the point between Little Harbor and Shark Harbor which are really two
lobes of the same bay. On the other side of the ridge there were some people surfing and playing on the beach. Below left is a picture of Shark Harbor from the ridge between Little Harbor and Shark Harbor. We were trying to get a couple of fish for supper with our spear gun, but although we saw some they were a bit elusive. Jay did find a couple of huge sheeps head crabs so we went back to the boat and got a bag to put them in. They were in about 20 feet of water. 
Here's a picture of Jay holding the crabs. Although the crabs were big, they didn't look like they had much meat on them so we went back in the water to see if we could get a couple fish to supplement the crab dinner. After about an hour of not getting any more fish, we decided to BBQ some hamburger instead and let the crabs go. We departed Little Harbor at 0630 on 3 July heading back to our marina in Oxnard. Getting the stern anchor up was tough because we had to back Escape up into only 5.5 feet of water to be above it and lift it up. Once we had the anchors up we motored out of Little Harbor and headed west toward Catalina Harbor.
Heading northwest toward Oxnard was tough going. At times we had 38 knot winds right on our nose so we were motoring most of the way. Around 1030 the starborard engine sputtered and died. I changed the fuel filter on the engine and it started up and seemed to be running fine but it died again around 1630 so I changed the filter between the fuel tank and the engine. The engine ran well after that. It made me suspect of the fuel we got at the Oxnard Harbor. We pulled into the Oxnard Harbor around 6 PM after beating into the wind and big waves most of the day. It was good to be back at the dock. Overall, I think Catalina is a great island to visit and explore. I want to go back and spend more time there. I didn't really get a chance to hike many of the trails, but did get a pretty good chance to explore the Isthmus Cove, Avalon Harbor, and Little Harbor. I definitely want to spend more time in Little Harbor the next time we go down there.
