It wasn’t as bad as the freeways, but there sure were a lot of boats out last night between San Diego and Catalina Island. Tankers and freighters going in and out of the Port of Los Angeles, tugs towing barge trains, other sailboats, fishing boats, coast guard boats, a navy frigate and an aircraft carrier. And those are just the ones I had to cross. Not a very restful night…
As you’ve guessed by now, I crossed into the United States yesterday evening, after latching onto that low pressure system I mentioned and making great time. It gave me S – SW winds (behind me, yay!) and flat seas, so I averaged 7.5 knots for the whole day, covering 181 miles- much better than expected. I passed very close to Avalon on Catalina Island early this morning, and it was difficult not to stop. I lived in Avalon once, and still love the place. But the weather says “Go!”, so that’s what I’m doing.
There has been a NW gale blowing off the central coast for the last few days, which would make huge winds and seas on my nose and not letting me go, but it is supposed to be done by tonight, take a few days off, then return on Wednesday. So that’s why I am going straight through, to sneak north during its days off. I will still have some winds against me at times, but it shouldn’t be more than 10 or 15 knots, which I can deal with. And the swells will likely be big, maybe 11-15 feet, but if the wind isn’t bad, its just like driving through the foothills, nice and gentle. We’ll see.
Hopefully there will be no bad surprises, I will continue making progress, and will arrive into Brickyard Cove on Tuesday.
6/9 8am 33.30N 118.32W 8449nm gone, 349nm to go