Catalina Island Water Shortage

Billfletcher

Billfletcher

New Member
Feb 20, 2011
913
San Diego, CA
Boat Info
2014, 44, EC.
Engines
2 X 370HP Volvo D6, DPH Duo Prop's
I am heading out there this summer. I found out today they are on Red Alert when it comes to water. If you go, don't plan on getting any from the dock. I heard the island company is also restricting hotel guests on the island due to water issues. May portend our future here in CA if things don't improve.
 
I head over there frequently. It has been getting progressively worse and the locals are pretty frustrated that they don't have a desalinization plant that is up and running to offset the issue. Restaurants sell bottled water for $.50 a bottle. Other than that, load your boat up before you head over.
 
I've already decided to leave. I love living in California as far as the weather goes and the recreational options available but that all comes at a price. I'm looking to go to the North Shore of Lake Pontchatrain to be near the in-laws and where my dollar will go much further.

And for fun I can become a hurricane tracker and find creative ways to keep my toys and property from ending up 4 parishes away on some guy's roof.
 
NorCal it's a small world. I'm originally from that very same north shore. I miss it and hope to get back one day. You just can't beat the food down there.
 
NorCal Boater said:
I've already decided to leave. I love living in California as far as the weather goes and the recreational options available but that all comes at a price. I'm looking to go to the North Shore of Lake Pontchatrain to be near the in-laws and where my dollar will go much further.

And for fun I can become a hurricane tracker and find creative ways to keep my toys and property from ending up 4 parishes away on some guy's roof.
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estoltz said:
NorCal it's a small world. I'm originally from that very same north shore. I miss it and hope to get back one day. You just can't beat the food down there.
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I lived between Covington and Mandeville on the Tchefuncta River in the late 70's/early 80's - loved the boating (and eating) on the North shore of the Lake...
 
brewster16 said:
Is that 50 foot motor yacht going on Lake P???
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No....the 50 is currently for sale. We bought that boat expecting to retire on her and cruise the coasts for 5 years. I had planned to work until April of 2007 but last November my company had other plans for me and eliminated my position. It's not easy finding another "career" position at 65. We just weren't going to have enough to to that trip so we decided to sell her. At 48,000 lbs, stabilized and the electronics she has she is set up for off-shore extended cruising. Plus she is very roomy and comfortable. Moving her would cost about $25,000 and there is so many boats available on the Gulf Coast.

My wife's Mother will be 80 this year and she wants to spend time with her family in the Covington, LA area. We are also looking at the Eden Isle area of Slidell. I can sell my house here and pay cash for a home on the water there with Gulf access. And I will at least still have the 23' 1985 Cobalt that I am restoring.
 
sfergson727 said:
Not that it would help Catalina Island, as long as California values a smelt over the lives of humans, it will become a less and less desirable place to live. IMHO of course.
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Scott, the smelt is irrelevant, and with all due respect, a ridiculous comment. There is no conspiracy.

We have had dismal rainfalls in CA, and hence low snow packs in the Northern part of the state for years. Agricultural in the Central Valley uses the lion share of water, with homes and businesses after that.

We built a metropolis in a desert, and I am part of the problem by living in it, and using water like millions of others.

We are starting to get serious here about water conservation. The city I live in is building the largest de sal plant W of the Miss. Personally, I do every thing I can around the house to conserve water, and wash the boat onlyy when needed with minimal water.
 
Hello Everyone,

I'm very new to off shore cruising. I recently purchased a 42 Sea Ray and I'm planning my first weekend toCatalina with my family (Wife and 2 small boys).

We've cruised to Mission Bay and back from San Diego Bay and I'm comfortable with cruising in the bay, but I've never taken a boat "over the horizon" before and I've never been to Catalina.

My entire life I've always learned by 'doing', but with my family with me, I felt it was best to look for some advice from this community of experts. I'm looking for any and all suggestions you have for someone new to cruising (bought the boat in April of 2015) that is taking their family on their first multi day boat trip.

Thanks everyone!
Todd
 
Welcome to the club. The best advice I can a first timer going to Avalon is at this time of the year you may not get a mooring if you head over on the weekend. Many people take their boats over on Wednesday and take the ferry back and then over on Friday. It gets a bit better after Labor Day. The other thing is to have a dingy with an outboard. There is a water taxi but last time I was there it cost $4.70 per person one-way.

If you can work that out just check the weather and water conditions, set a course on the GPS and go. (Assuming, f course you mastered all of the proper safety stuff). There is nothing like pulling into Avalon on your own boat.
 
Thanks NorCal Boater !

The plan is to head over on Thursday morning from SD Bay. Leave around 6 or 1st light (which ever is first). We have a dinghy with motor. The plan is to follow the compass on heading 308 after we pass the last buoy leaving SD Bay.

We've been using the boat every weekend for about 4 months. No noticeable issues and everything starts/runs as it should. What 'safety stuff' should I have mastered?
 
Hey Teach!

Make sure before you head west from CA on a compass heading that your compass has been compensated and is giving you an accurate readout. If you have a GPS/Plotter on board all the mo betta because you can zoom out on that and know where the island is and that you're heading in the right direction.

Check the weather, check the wave height forecasts, check your water tanks are full then check to see that everyone is safely on board.
 
You said you were new to off shore cruising. I assumed that you were "new" not a 4-month veteran. I used to go to Avalon out of Long Beach fairly often and used only a compass as that is all I had at the time. I got there. In fact it was in the boat in the pic below. It was 15 years ago and the boat didn't have GPS. Now that I have had full navigation on my boats I can't imagine going to "The Island" without setting a course in the chart plotter. Have you and the Admiral practiced what you would do in the event of an emergency?. Have you prepared a ditch bag? Are you planning to file a "Float Plan"? The fact that you have had "no issues" is great but have you talked about what you will do if you do have a problem? You are going on an 80 mile trip on the ocean.

Going on Thursday morning is no guarantee you will get a mooring in Avalon. August is the busiest time of the year time. You need to prepare yourself to maybe be in Descanso or even another less popular spot further west. If you can't get a mooring do you have enough ground tackle to anchor safely. It gets pretty deep fast off Catalina and with the potential for changing conditions I wouldn't anchor with less than scope of 7:1. That means if you are in only 40' of water you need 280' of ground tackle at a minimum. If there are no moorings available you can start begging those that have one to let you side tie. I have done that and it cost me a bottle of Chivas plus the mooring fees. I have also anchored in calm shelter water and woke at 3 AM with shifting winds and my boat only 30 yards from cliffs and rocks. You might try calling the Avalon Harbor Master the afternoon before and ask about mooring availability.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. Catalina and Avalon on magical places for boaters. I just want you to be prepared and have a great time.

Shawn
 
Thanks NorCal and FirstClass!

Our boat does have navigation equipment, I'm just not that familiar with it. I use the GPS, Radar, and autopilot every weekend, but I've never used them to 'navigate' to someplace. I do know how to zoom out the GPS so that will help to make sure I'm going in the right direction. Any other navigation suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the side tie idea. I didn't know if that was allowed, but now that I do, I'll fallback to that if we don't find a spot. We hope to get a mooring in Avalon or Descanso, if we don't which other mooring would you suggest for us? We have 2 boys ages 5 & 7 and have never been to Catalina. I don't think I have the gear to anchor in most of the spots on Catalina. We have a anchor with 40 feet of chain and another 150 feet of rope. We also have a 2nd anchor (stern) with 75 feet of rope.

We have talked about the ditch bag and we are pulling 2 together this week. Each will have an eperb, life vests, water, and flares. We also have 2 towable inner-tubes with that will be inflated on the boat and we have a 12 foot dinghy. Hopefully we won't need any of it. Is there anything else you would suggest for a 'ditch' scenario?

I don't know what a "float plan" is. Can you please tell me more? I assume we've file it with the coast guard before we left?

Thanks again the advice you two!
Todd

 
NorCal Boater said:
I've already decided to leave. I love living in California as far as the weather goes and the recreational options available but that all comes at a price. I'm looking to go to the North Shore of Lake Pontchatrain to be near the in-laws and where my dollar will go much further.

And for fun I can become a hurricane tracker and find creative ways to keep my toys and property from ending up 4 parishes away on some guy's roof.
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So..... You are leaving CA to live below sea level in hurricane alley and be closer to your in-laws. You're either a saint or on crack!!!! :grin::huh::grin:
 
TeacherProbs.com said:
Hello Everyone,

I'm very new to off shore cruising. I recently purchased a 42 Sea Ray and I'm planning my first weekend toCatalina with my family (Wife and 2 small boys).

We've cruised to Mission Bay and back from San Diego Bay and I'm comfortable with cruising in the bay, but I've never taken a boat "over the horizon" before and I've never been to Catalina.

My entire life I've always learned by 'doing', but with my family with me, I felt it was best to look for some advice from this community of experts. I'm looking for any and all suggestions you have for someone new to cruising (bought the boat in April of 2015) that is taking their family on their first multi day boat trip.

Thanks everyone!
Todd
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Hi Todd,

I too am in SD and also picked up a new to me Sundancer 44 1 month ago, blue hull with dinghy on the back. We're usually always in Glorietta for the day when we're there. We were out the first 3 weekends in July before I had to do an overseas trip the last 2 weeks.

I picked the boat up in Channel Islands on 7/2 and brought it down to San Diego starting at 7 AM on 7/2, it was about 150 miles or so. We took the most direct route down to save on fuel and that route took us 3 miles off the coast of Catalina. Water was FLAT that day, but the island protects for a good distance from the bigger water when the wind is blowing south and into the east.

You're looking about 80 miles each way. Fill up on fuel just before leaving, take it all the way to the top. That should get you there and back to the fuel dock in SD with around 55 gallons to spare, 20-21 knot cruise. Considering that you have the same motors as I (500 Cummins QSC). However the burn on the way up is against the current so you'll burn a little extra there.

When leaving the last buoy south of Point Loma and mark your route to the island, write down all of your headings so that if you do have an electrical issue, you can navigate via compass. Also, download the Navionics app on your phone. That is a great resource as well. You can map it out and get headings from the couch of your home as well. I'd look for the heading from that buoy (last one for channel off Point Loma) straight to Avalon. That will give you the heading to follow as well. I'd do it for both directions from your app so you have exactly what you're doing each way.

We used auto pilot for most of the way, however the last 2-3 hours of our 7+ hour ride, my auto pilot started taking us off course. Didn't know at the time how to fix it so we steered it the rest of the way (60 miles or so). I found out after that sometimes it has to be re-calibrated so I needed to spin the boat in a 360 2 times to re-calibrate. If anyone knows anything different, I'm all ears. So we shut down the autopilot and went by compass. Even though the E120 was accurate, 1 piece of electronics created doubt so following the compass is the way we went. As long as you know your headings, you'll be just fine. Radar for fog and if you've done the bay at night, then you have your radar practice.

One more thing... Top off on fuel before you leave. If so, you should make it round trip no problem unless you tour all over the island each day via Sea Ray.

Regarding a mooring, I'd go a day earlier than the weekend crowd. Plan on a Thursday arrival if heading out for the weekend, but as said I'd call up Wednesday early afternoon to see what it's looking like. As you get to the outer edge of the harbor, you call harbor patrol on the VHF and tell them you need a mooring and how long. You'll get the info and payment to/from them.

There wasn't anything in the water that stuck out as an issue, it's a fairly straightforward route. You'll see a number of whales and I always get big pods of dolphin somewhere off the La Jolla coast (5-7 miles offshore). If you see them, steer the boat over that way and slow it down to 15 or so when you reach the pod. They'll get in the wakes behind the boat and jump. Kids will love it. For whales, you see them, but you have to keep your eyes open. Look for birds circling and light blue, like 40' long in the water. Here's a video of one from the trip July 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6DIEb2cwy8
 
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dpmulvey said:
So..... You are leaving CA to live below sea level in hurricane alley and be closer to your in-laws. You're either a saint or on crack!!!! :grin::huh::grin:
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Hurricanes, earthquakes, water shortages, local government corruption.... It doesn't matter where you live, its always something. I'm far from being a saint but I love my wife and she wants to be closer to her family. It helps that I like them too. Hey, they're boaters....how bad can they be? Right?
 
TeacherProbs.com,
Saw you out on Saturday in Glorietta, I have the 44' Sundancer that was about 100 yards away from you. Passed by in the dinghy, Baby Bella. Will have to stop and say hello next time.
 
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