Sunday, October 6, 2013

Four crew... 63 miles to SB island

Here's our crew and route for the first leg of the trip:


The voice of unreasonable wisdom was from my own dad, Bob Beadle, who joined us on the trip to "keep an eye on things."

He steered Aldebaran when we were flying at 8 knots enroute to Santa Cruz island, where we made a pitstop. When conditions aren't thrilling, he gets bored and can be found reading "Voyage for Madmen" inside the cabin.   He makes a mean risotto and secret pancake recipe, as we discovered on days 2 and 4. 




Chris Colajezzi is a lifeguard from Los Angeles joining us on the October cruise, a solid guy, chill, hard-working, good company. On the 7hr, 40mile stretch across lonely ocean to Santa Barbara Island, he was fixing the man-overboard pole and rigging the life ring. Safety first!  Chris seems right at home repairing things underway; because that's how we roll on Aldebaran.




The good ship Aldebaran wouldn't be sailing the high seas without Ed's persistence for "gumption", a quality he brings as director of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition (and boat partner). Gumption is togetherness; it is lastingness; it is maintenance-free-ness.  He grew up sailing with his dad in Catalina; the journey south is a long standing dream, uniting his past, environmental work, and life in Santa Barbara. 





This is me.  I remember the summers that I spent with my grandparents in a small cabin in an island. Since then, islands have always fascinated me. Surrounded by ocean, I felt butterflies in my stomach when I sighted Santa Barbara island in the haze. Then she grew in front of us. Just 63 miles south of Santa Barbara (the town), she is rarely visited, as most people sail straight to Catalina. It is a forlorn, water-less land. But like a poor man's oasis, it is full of life when we look closer. 





Day 1: Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz Island (23nm). The wind was 12-15 knots, beautiful sailing, clear skies, departing 4pm, arriving 7:30pm at Smuggler's Cove. 
Day 2: Santa Cruz Island to Santa Barbara Island (40nm). Light north breeze had us motor-sailing south to make sure we'd arrive before dark. Departure 10am, arriving 5pm at the main landing in Santa Barbara Island.
Day 3-4: In Santa Barbara Island, anchored at the Main Landing, we circumnavigated the island twice. 

No comments:

Post a Comment