Heading South

Day 4: On deck at 4:15am under way 4:45am on a foggy morning with no wind again. More motoring. The fuel bill in San Diego is going to be huge. We are headed to Catalina Island (90 miles) via Anacapa Island. Crossing to the islands we came a cross several long lines of dolphins moving west. There are a few hundred, in groups of 25-40 spread out over a ½ mile long and ¼ mile wide. It reminded me of the herd of gazelle that I had seen on National Geo racing across African plains. As we were half way through a group of 7 came galloping towards the middle of the boat fin tip to fin tip. I watched in awe as they flew at us with precision greater than the Blue angels. 20 yards out I saw them head-on as they hurdled one last time and dove under the boat.
The waves were 12-15 ft. until the islands, then it was flat, blue, and sunny. We practiced flying the spinnaker in light air and it went well. The Litha arrived at Catalina Island just before sunset and found a protected anchorage in Catalina Harbor, but this was well after dark -7:45 pm. Hunting for a good spot to anchor using a 1,000,000 candle watt light, a pelican seized the opportunity to nabbed a few bait fish brought to the surface by the light. The 90 mile day was completed and the crew enjoyed an appetizer of a nice bottle of Cabernet Sav, French bread, and Brie cheese. In the starlit cockpit we had a wonderful dinner of steaks, veggie chilli, salad, and mash potatoes, washed down with a nice merlot.