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Splashed!
The Southern California (SoCal) Potters had already planned a sail out of Channel Islands Harbor to either Anacapa Island or Ventura. Friend and fellow Monty owner Norm Bundeck who has sailed with the group before encouraged us to tag along. Turns out the Potters host not only West Wight Potters, but are friendly to all trailer sailors. Along with the Potters were three Montgomery, an International Marine Sanibel, and a Hartley. It seems anyone can be a Potter-for-a-Day!
DAY 1: We left the harbor and headed out into the Pacific for a short jaunt before heading back in to call it a day. We were both BEAT! We got some food and settled in early for a good nights sleep. The group had decided to split in two for the following day's trip.
Some would go to Anacapa Island, about 14 miles offshore. The rest wanted to head up the coast to Ventura for lunch and sightseeing, then return to Channel Islands Harbor. Since we hadn't been into Ventura from sea before we chose the latter. Plus we thought it would be fun to dock, have lunch, and sightsee with some new friends.
DAY 2: The group of Potters leaving for Anacapa got an early start. Most were off by 8am as they had almost a 30 mile round trip. Since the Ventura trip we chose was much shorter, about 14 miles round trip, we had a lazy morning which was really nice. Coffee and doughnuts followed by conversation with other members of the group. Then we motored out of the harbor headed for Ventura.
After about a 2 hour sail we docked in Ventura for lunch and sightseeing. What a perfect day so far!
Everybody got something to eat at Ventura and there was time for sightseeing and gift shops. Then it was back to the boats for the trip back down the coast to Channel Islands Harbor. Leaving the breakwater this time gave us some more wind and a bit more swells. We actually made the return trip in just over an hour.
Sunday came leaving us the lone survivor of the weekend still at the guest docks. Norm and Capt Howie were the last two to leave the dock areas. We spent the morning relaxing and planned on a daysail for the afternoon. Mother nature was a little more revved up this day. Jo and I headed out to the breakwater with a 120% and a full main. We were instantly powered up, maybe a little overpowered, but the boat was handling it fine. The swell was quite a bit larger than on Saturday. We set a course out towards the oil platform Gina and enjoyed the ride. It was a bit "spirited". The 23 handled it fine but we both ended up with a few extra bruises from bouncing around so much. All in all it was a fun sail for about an hour, then we'd had enough and headed in.
Unfortunately, all good things must end and Monday morning came all too quick. We awoke to a foggy morning, got the boat on the trailer and de-rigged, and headed for home 400 miles to the east - Arizona.
DAY 1: We left the harbor and headed out into the Pacific for a short jaunt before heading back in to call it a day. We were both BEAT! We got some food and settled in early for a good nights sleep. The group had decided to split in two for the following day's trip.
Some would go to Anacapa Island, about 14 miles offshore. The rest wanted to head up the coast to Ventura for lunch and sightseeing, then return to Channel Islands Harbor. Since we hadn't been into Ventura from sea before we chose the latter. Plus we thought it would be fun to dock, have lunch, and sightsee with some new friends.
DAY 2: The group of Potters leaving for Anacapa got an early start. Most were off by 8am as they had almost a 30 mile round trip. Since the Ventura trip we chose was much shorter, about 14 miles round trip, we had a lazy morning which was really nice. Coffee and doughnuts followed by conversation with other members of the group. Then we motored out of the harbor headed for Ventura.
After about a 2 hour sail we docked in Ventura for lunch and sightseeing. What a perfect day so far!
Everybody got something to eat at Ventura and there was time for sightseeing and gift shops. Then it was back to the boats for the trip back down the coast to Channel Islands Harbor. Leaving the breakwater this time gave us some more wind and a bit more swells. We actually made the return trip in just over an hour.
Sunday came leaving us the lone survivor of the weekend still at the guest docks. Norm and Capt Howie were the last two to leave the dock areas. We spent the morning relaxing and planned on a daysail for the afternoon. Mother nature was a little more revved up this day. Jo and I headed out to the breakwater with a 120% and a full main. We were instantly powered up, maybe a little overpowered, but the boat was handling it fine. The swell was quite a bit larger than on Saturday. We set a course out towards the oil platform Gina and enjoyed the ride. It was a bit "spirited". The 23 handled it fine but we both ended up with a few extra bruises from bouncing around so much. All in all it was a fun sail for about an hour, then we'd had enough and headed in.
Unfortunately, all good things must end and Monday morning came all too quick. We awoke to a foggy morning, got the boat on the trailer and de-rigged, and headed for home 400 miles to the east - Arizona.
Story by Sean Mulligan
The whole story with more photos can be visited at Sean's site. Click ( Here )
The whole story with more photos can be visited at Sean's site. Click ( Here )
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Almost 10 months of anticipation and a 400 mile drive across the desert, Dauntless was finally ready for her first dip back into the water. Mari Jo and I decided to just go for broke and instead of launching her in our local lake to test things out, pack her up and head for the West Coast.
Click on photo to enlarge
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