Sailing Cat Harbor to San Diego

When we arrived in Cat Harbor, the plan was to do some more projects and have some down time before visiting family in Newport Beach at the end of October. It was cold, cloudy, and rainy – limiting our options for projects, but opening up other possibilities. We discussed, studied the weather, and decided it was time to go to Mexico. Next stop, San Diego!

Pulled up anchor at Cat Harbor at 0800 on 10/14, docked at Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego at 1702 on 10/15.

One of our longest hops – by time spend – because the wind just did not materialize. We pulled up anchor under sail with the genoa, then switched to the drifter for the light wind. We left with relatively low battery on the 48 volt system – 60% – cloudy times in Cat Harbor meant nearly no charging, so our sail plan involved as little motoring as possible. The motor belts were a little too tight following our repair in San Pedro, so we were also not making as much regenerative power as we normally would. Finally, the 12 volt system monitoring has been struggling – neither the windlass or the ElectroScan are monitored through the BMV, so readings were inaccurate. We spent much of the day running the inverter & 12 volt charger. With our cooking, by sunset we were at 47% on the 48 volt.

On overnights like this, we trade off watch casually during then day, then formalize as the evening comes around. Charles takes first watch, usually 8 p.m. until 1 a.m., then I take over until 6 a.m. By the morning, we were getting close to San Diego, but near Point Loma, a wind shift pointed us directly away, with some unfavorable tacks. Eventually we made it into the channel, right as a lightning & rainstorm hit. We were treated to a rainbow after docking, and didn’t even need to spray down the boat.