Catalina Sailing Trip 2020⛵️Hobie Cat 16 Sails 26 Miles Across San Pedro Channel To Catalina Island

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Once a year, we pack our bags and our boats (Hobie Cat 16's) and set sail across the San Pedro Channel to Catalina Island. We leave from the Port of Long Beach for a three day boat-in camping trip adventure in Rippers Cove. This year we had a total of four Hobie Cats, nine adults, and two kids.

The journey across took us nearly four and a half hours to sail the 26 miles across the channel. Fortunately the winds were steady at about 10 to 15 knots out of the northwest, however the seas were a bit choppy which led to a slower sail. With good winds and calm seas you might expect the sail over to take roughly three hours with a close hauled point of sail. We all made it across the channel without incident however it was late in the day and we ended up getting separated by the time we landed on the island.

We landed on Catalina Island at 7:30 pm, just as the last glimmer of sunlight had disappeared. Fortunately, we ended up close to a beach that we could spend the night but it wasn’t our intended destination, Rippers Cove. Two of our four boats had made it to Rippers Cover, the other two landed about a half mile south. This can occasionally be concerning because most of the coastline of the island is a cliff face with occasional coves that have sandy beaches. If you arrive after dark, you may be stuck paddling for a while trying to find a place to pull the boat up on the shore. We spent the night there and then in the calm of the next morning we paddled the rest of the way north to Rippers Cove.

We unpacked our gear and made camp, which in this case means finding our food and throwing our sleeping bags on the trampoline of the Hobie Cats. We spent the rest of the day snorkeling in the cove, playing banana grams, cooking up some fresh fish that we had caught, and playing ultimate frisbee.

As it always is with these short adventure trips, the day to return came all too soon. On day three we had a lazy morning since the wind doesn't tend to pick up before 1 pm on an average day. We ate, packed up our gear, and spent a couple more hours snorkeling. This year the snorkeling was incredible. We got to see an abundance of wildlife ranging from leopard sharks, to an octopus and many colorful fish.

In the early afternoon we launched the boats for the sail home. As it would turn out, the winds on the sail home were very light and we paddled for several hours before we were far enough away from the island to get into the wind. Even with the wind it took us about five and a half hours to get back to the Port of Long Beach. The sail back is usually faster since you can set your sails at a beam reach and you are sailing with the swells rather than against them. It wasn't until the final quarter of the sail across the channel that we finally got enough wind to get some good sailing in. Even so, any wind at all is better than having to paddle for 12 hours to get all the way across so we were grateful for that. In the end, we all made it back to port safely around dusk with another great story to tell. Hope you enjoy!

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