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Putting faces to names: Norm Bundek on the camera says: " How many Monty folks does it take to set up a mast carrier? And the answer is FIVE: Front right is Sean Mulligan giving the process a thoughtful look. Behind Sean is Jason Thompson (white shirt) looking like something should be done. Dan Hall in the blue shirt actually doing something and Dan's crew in the red hat agreeing with Jason, that something should be done.
The next photo is taken at the Whales Tail Restaurant. From left to right in the front: Jason, Dan and Sean. Behind them is Dan's crew and the person to thank for setting up the cruise... Norm Bundek.
The next photo is taken at the Whales Tail Restaurant. From left to right in the front: Jason, Dan and Sean. Behind them is Dan's crew and the person to thank for setting up the cruise... Norm Bundek.
The Following written by Sean Mulligan:
It seems like maybe the SoCal and AZ Monty owners might be on track to start getting some gatherings together like our Pacific Northwest and East Coast cousins! Last weekend a few of us got together to try a trip to Anacapa Island, about 11.5 miles off of the Ventura/Oxnard area of the California Coast.
The initial spark came from Jason Thompson, owner of M17 #313. Jason is soon relocating to Idaho from Southwestern AZ. He grew up in the Oxnard area of California but never sailed while he lived there. After moving his family from that area to Lake Havasu City, AZ he took up sailing a Sunfish and soon transitioned to his M17. His wish was to take his M17 out on the Pacific Ocean from the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard and sail to Anacapa Island before he made the move to Idaho. I was thrilled when he asked me if I would make the trip with him and signed on immediately! Due both of our unusual work schedules and prior commitments the date of the trip was pretty much picked out for us.
Both of us like to sail in the company of others so we posted the dates on the MSOG E-mail Forum in the hopes we could entice some other Monty crews to tag along. A number of folks expressed interest but when all was said and done it was Norm Bundek M15 and Dan Hall M15 that made the trip with us.
Norm lives right around the corner from the harbor. He was great; A month out he started gathering info for us on directions to the harbor, contacting the harbor patrol for slips, and constant updated weather reports. The Channel Islands area succumbs to a phenomena known as June gloom each year when the fog gets real thick every day along with lots of drizzle, mist and light wind. Most sailors from AZ will not travel over there during June gloom fearing that their trip will be wasted waiting on bad weather. Constant fog and light wind threatened our trip. Norm sent us daily forecasts once we were about 10 days out. They were not very favorable; Most indicated light wind, fog and drizzle.
Two days out Jason and I decided we would roll the dice and make the 7 hour trip regardless of the forecast. The only certain thing was that we knew if we did not make the drive we had zero chance to sail. Other than that everything was a crap shoot. Friday afternoon we headed out. Norm was going to get to the harbor ahead of us in the late afternoon and meet us there. Dan would drive in from Redlands, Ca early on Sat morning.
About 20 miles from the coast we popped through a mountain pass and went from sunny skies right into thick soupy low lying clouds, mist and fog. We arrived late Friday around 7:30pm. Norm met us in the parking lot/prep area. He was already in the water and had made arrangements for us to have a berth right behind his at visitors dock. I stepped the mast while Norm and Jason drove over to the Harbor Patrol Office to get the paperwork shuffle completed. 20 minutes later we were in the water and tied up behind Norm. We threw up a quick poor man's boom tent and checked out each others boats.
The weather forecast sounded slightly better and three different forecasts all agreed that we would have light breezes out of the south which would eventually clock around to the northwest later in the day with a 20% chance of rain. Not great, but do-able. We would have to motor out to the island and hope to sail back.
Jason won the toss for the V-berth on night number one. That put my 240 pound, six foot four frame in the quarter berth. Those who have sailed an M17 need no further description of how that went! Oh well, anything for a chance at a good sail!
Sat morning came quick. Quick trip by foot for coffee and doughnuts and time to get the boats ready. Our dock was very close to the launch ramp so we kept looking for Dan Hall to arrive. We tried calling him on his cell but had no success. 9am came and went and we started wondering if he was coming. At 9:15 we decided we could not wait any more, not knowing if he was going to show up or not so we headed out.
Three fourths of the way out of the harbor and suddenly we are being approached by Harbor Patrol and Police boats with their lights on. We were right in the middle of Safety Day while they participated in a mock fire and rescue. We were delayed about 20-30 minutes before we could proceed out of the harbor to open water. Little did we know that right behind us Dan and his crew were putting on the water at the ramp. As soon as the demo was over we headed out past the breakwater and took up a course of 204 degree mag bound for Anacapa Island. We never knew that Dan and his M15 was on the water and we would not hook up with them until we had been at the island for over an hour and were leaving for the three hour trip back to the safety of the harbor.
We got past the breakwater and quickly had a 10-12 knot breeze off the starboard bow that let us sail at 5 knots almost exactly 204 degrees. The trip out was beautiful. Slight swell but not much. Visibility was pretty good. We made a total of two tacks for the only reason being that we did not feel like playing chicken with the big boys in the shipping lanes. One tug/barge combo seemed like it would pass close so we tacked over to port for about 5 minutes to let him pass ahead and then resumed course. A container ship passed ahead of us that had a bow wave bigger than our boat, and that's not much of an exaggeration. When we first saw it in the distance we both thought it was an island!
Arriving at the island was beautiful except that that is where the winds left us. For good. From that point on it was motoring. We motored around the east end of the island so we could see the backside, exposed to the full force of the Pacific Ocean we expected to see the surf crashing onto it. As it turns out the ocean was so flat that it would have been possible to anchor and go ashore even on that side of the island, which, according to Norm is very unusual. A funny thing happened while motoring along the back side. We were joined by a Catalina 40. After motoring along with us in close company, the skipper closed the distance even further, moved up to the rail of the boat and yelled out: "What kind of boats are those? They are really nice!" We all found ourselves with our heads swelling slightly!
We motored about 1/3 of the way around the backside of the island then turned around, went back around the east end where the lighthouse is and motored up the front side of the island to Frenchy's Cove which is one of the only places to go ashore on the front side. The water was crystal clear making Jason and I wish we had some dive gear or at least snorkeling stuff, but we did not. Being that it was getting onwards of 3 O'clock, and also because from the time we had arrived at the island the flies had been terrible, we decided to start the long motoring slog home.
About 5 minutes from departing the island suddenly there was a small sailboat motoring towards us like a rocket ship. It was Dan Hall. Unfortunately, the wind had left them and they had motored the whole way. I felt really bad telling them that we were departing but we really wanted to make sure we got home before dark and speaking for myself, I had had enough of the flies! Off the three of us went at five knots. The trip home was pretty uneventful. We thought for a second that Norm's motor crapped out but a quick check by Norm revealed that his fuel tank vent had closed. The motor actually sucked the fuel until it collapsed the fuel tank and could suck no more. As soon as he opened the vent she fired right up and we were on our way again.
After arriving back at the dock, we helped (harassed) Dan get his boat ready to go as they were hitting the road after dinner. Then we all piled into Jason's truck and headed to the Whale's Tail restaurant right on the water in the harbor for some awesome seafood. Then we bid farewell to Dan and his crew and headed back to the boats.
We spent the night at the dock as did Norm. By 9pm everyone was ready to call it a night Jason graciously took the quarter berth and gave up the large v-berth to me which was way cool since it is his boat after all! By 2 am it was raining again and the morning dawned with rain/mist and haze. Doughnuts and coffee first of course. Then a brief attempt at sailing before trailering the boat was unsuccessful due to lack of wind so we motored the harbor gawking at the beautiful boats there.
We really got lucky on the weather. Norm reported that it rained all day on Sunday after we left! What made the trip great? The sailing? Well in my opinion….No. The sailing going out was pretty good, yes. The motoring? Let's not talk about 3 hours of motoring as we have all been there. The best thing to me was spending time with, and making new friends. It was a great time. Thanks to Norm who really helped show us around and gave us tons of great information. (Like do not pass between that sea tug and that barge that is about a mile behind it or you might get a surprise!) Dan says lets do it again down in his neck of the woods, Long Beach. Maybe even start an every other month get together. Sounds good to me!
Thanks guys , Jason we will miss you. But who is to say we will not head up to see the Idaho guys next year!
Sean Mulligan
The initial spark came from Jason Thompson, owner of M17 #313. Jason is soon relocating to Idaho from Southwestern AZ. He grew up in the Oxnard area of California but never sailed while he lived there. After moving his family from that area to Lake Havasu City, AZ he took up sailing a Sunfish and soon transitioned to his M17. His wish was to take his M17 out on the Pacific Ocean from the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard and sail to Anacapa Island before he made the move to Idaho. I was thrilled when he asked me if I would make the trip with him and signed on immediately! Due both of our unusual work schedules and prior commitments the date of the trip was pretty much picked out for us.
Both of us like to sail in the company of others so we posted the dates on the MSOG E-mail Forum in the hopes we could entice some other Monty crews to tag along. A number of folks expressed interest but when all was said and done it was Norm Bundek M15 and Dan Hall M15 that made the trip with us.
Norm lives right around the corner from the harbor. He was great; A month out he started gathering info for us on directions to the harbor, contacting the harbor patrol for slips, and constant updated weather reports. The Channel Islands area succumbs to a phenomena known as June gloom each year when the fog gets real thick every day along with lots of drizzle, mist and light wind. Most sailors from AZ will not travel over there during June gloom fearing that their trip will be wasted waiting on bad weather. Constant fog and light wind threatened our trip. Norm sent us daily forecasts once we were about 10 days out. They were not very favorable; Most indicated light wind, fog and drizzle.
Two days out Jason and I decided we would roll the dice and make the 7 hour trip regardless of the forecast. The only certain thing was that we knew if we did not make the drive we had zero chance to sail. Other than that everything was a crap shoot. Friday afternoon we headed out. Norm was going to get to the harbor ahead of us in the late afternoon and meet us there. Dan would drive in from Redlands, Ca early on Sat morning.
About 20 miles from the coast we popped through a mountain pass and went from sunny skies right into thick soupy low lying clouds, mist and fog. We arrived late Friday around 7:30pm. Norm met us in the parking lot/prep area. He was already in the water and had made arrangements for us to have a berth right behind his at visitors dock. I stepped the mast while Norm and Jason drove over to the Harbor Patrol Office to get the paperwork shuffle completed. 20 minutes later we were in the water and tied up behind Norm. We threw up a quick poor man's boom tent and checked out each others boats.
The weather forecast sounded slightly better and three different forecasts all agreed that we would have light breezes out of the south which would eventually clock around to the northwest later in the day with a 20% chance of rain. Not great, but do-able. We would have to motor out to the island and hope to sail back.
Jason won the toss for the V-berth on night number one. That put my 240 pound, six foot four frame in the quarter berth. Those who have sailed an M17 need no further description of how that went! Oh well, anything for a chance at a good sail!
Sat morning came quick. Quick trip by foot for coffee and doughnuts and time to get the boats ready. Our dock was very close to the launch ramp so we kept looking for Dan Hall to arrive. We tried calling him on his cell but had no success. 9am came and went and we started wondering if he was coming. At 9:15 we decided we could not wait any more, not knowing if he was going to show up or not so we headed out.
Three fourths of the way out of the harbor and suddenly we are being approached by Harbor Patrol and Police boats with their lights on. We were right in the middle of Safety Day while they participated in a mock fire and rescue. We were delayed about 20-30 minutes before we could proceed out of the harbor to open water. Little did we know that right behind us Dan and his crew were putting on the water at the ramp. As soon as the demo was over we headed out past the breakwater and took up a course of 204 degree mag bound for Anacapa Island. We never knew that Dan and his M15 was on the water and we would not hook up with them until we had been at the island for over an hour and were leaving for the three hour trip back to the safety of the harbor.
We got past the breakwater and quickly had a 10-12 knot breeze off the starboard bow that let us sail at 5 knots almost exactly 204 degrees. The trip out was beautiful. Slight swell but not much. Visibility was pretty good. We made a total of two tacks for the only reason being that we did not feel like playing chicken with the big boys in the shipping lanes. One tug/barge combo seemed like it would pass close so we tacked over to port for about 5 minutes to let him pass ahead and then resumed course. A container ship passed ahead of us that had a bow wave bigger than our boat, and that's not much of an exaggeration. When we first saw it in the distance we both thought it was an island!
Arriving at the island was beautiful except that that is where the winds left us. For good. From that point on it was motoring. We motored around the east end of the island so we could see the backside, exposed to the full force of the Pacific Ocean we expected to see the surf crashing onto it. As it turns out the ocean was so flat that it would have been possible to anchor and go ashore even on that side of the island, which, according to Norm is very unusual. A funny thing happened while motoring along the back side. We were joined by a Catalina 40. After motoring along with us in close company, the skipper closed the distance even further, moved up to the rail of the boat and yelled out: "What kind of boats are those? They are really nice!" We all found ourselves with our heads swelling slightly!
We motored about 1/3 of the way around the backside of the island then turned around, went back around the east end where the lighthouse is and motored up the front side of the island to Frenchy's Cove which is one of the only places to go ashore on the front side. The water was crystal clear making Jason and I wish we had some dive gear or at least snorkeling stuff, but we did not. Being that it was getting onwards of 3 O'clock, and also because from the time we had arrived at the island the flies had been terrible, we decided to start the long motoring slog home.
About 5 minutes from departing the island suddenly there was a small sailboat motoring towards us like a rocket ship. It was Dan Hall. Unfortunately, the wind had left them and they had motored the whole way. I felt really bad telling them that we were departing but we really wanted to make sure we got home before dark and speaking for myself, I had had enough of the flies! Off the three of us went at five knots. The trip home was pretty uneventful. We thought for a second that Norm's motor crapped out but a quick check by Norm revealed that his fuel tank vent had closed. The motor actually sucked the fuel until it collapsed the fuel tank and could suck no more. As soon as he opened the vent she fired right up and we were on our way again.
After arriving back at the dock, we helped (harassed) Dan get his boat ready to go as they were hitting the road after dinner. Then we all piled into Jason's truck and headed to the Whale's Tail restaurant right on the water in the harbor for some awesome seafood. Then we bid farewell to Dan and his crew and headed back to the boats.
We spent the night at the dock as did Norm. By 9pm everyone was ready to call it a night Jason graciously took the quarter berth and gave up the large v-berth to me which was way cool since it is his boat after all! By 2 am it was raining again and the morning dawned with rain/mist and haze. Doughnuts and coffee first of course. Then a brief attempt at sailing before trailering the boat was unsuccessful due to lack of wind so we motored the harbor gawking at the beautiful boats there.
We really got lucky on the weather. Norm reported that it rained all day on Sunday after we left! What made the trip great? The sailing? Well in my opinion….No. The sailing going out was pretty good, yes. The motoring? Let's not talk about 3 hours of motoring as we have all been there. The best thing to me was spending time with, and making new friends. It was a great time. Thanks to Norm who really helped show us around and gave us tons of great information. (Like do not pass between that sea tug and that barge that is about a mile behind it or you might get a surprise!) Dan says lets do it again down in his neck of the woods, Long Beach. Maybe even start an every other month get together. Sounds good to me!
Thanks guys , Jason we will miss you. But who is to say we will not head up to see the Idaho guys next year!
Sean Mulligan
May 2006 Anacapa Island Day Sail
Click on photo to enlarge
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