Yesterday we checked our email for the first time in awhile (scamming free wireless signals is our usual routine when ashore). It’s nice to get in touch every now and then, but we have to admit that we love being disconnected from the mod-cons of civilization for periods of time. We’ve spent the last ten days of ‘disconnect’ sailing through the Channel Islands. Getting there was delightful – our best day and night of easy sailing, without even starting the engine to pick up or drop the anchor. This was when we rounded Point Conception – the big elbow of the California coast, where the Channel Islands sit just south in an eddy of warmer current. We’ve had it all for weather; sitting out a gale, gorgeous hot and dry days of hiking and even a couple days of mist and rain, a relative rarity in this semi-desert climate. While we seem to have left the forests well behind us, the wildlife is still prolific and interesting: curious and endemic island foxes, loads of common and bottlenose dolphins, elephant seals snorting through the night at our anchorage, weird and wonderful Risso’s dolphins and bright orange Garibaldi’s (damselfish) are now swimming through the kelp, a sign of even more colourful fish to come as we head toward more tropical communities.
We are now anchored at Santa Catalina Island, still considered part of the Channel Islands, but not part of the National Park, a gradual re-intro to the civilized world. There’s a pub and a general store (we ate the last half onion last night, so fresh food is welcome) and lots of big shiny yachts and powerboats. We are definitely well below the average size of cruising boat down here.
We are now anchored at Santa Catalina Island, still considered part of the Channel Islands, but not part of the National Park, a gradual re-intro to the civilized world. There’s a pub and a general store (we ate the last half onion last night, so fresh food is welcome) and lots of big shiny yachts and powerboats. We are definitely well below the average size of cruising boat down here.
