Betty Jean is the opposite of Grand Slam: she is smaller and closer to the water yet almost 20% heavier, with a full keel and bowsprit. She is a ketch, with a main, mizzen main and genoa, as opposed to a sloop with a large main and jib.
After spending the weekend with my mom, grandma and uncle, Adam and I returned to the boat to find a hungry cat and an unbelievable sunset. We walked across the street to Hollywood Beach to witness the result of a week of Santa Ana winds blowing smog, dirt and dust from the mainland off shore.…
Anxious to get to Santa Barbara to recover from our encounter with the Santa Anas and avoid an impending southern storm, we left Becher’s Bay early and headed North. Just outside of Santa Barbara we came across a sea of dolphins looking to play, and we veered off course to join them. Molly went to…
Santa Rosa Island, where we took refuge from weakening Santa Ana winds, is the middle child of the Northern Channels islands in both size and remoteness. Being neither as small and far from shore as San Miguel nor as big and accessible as Santa Cruz, it can be an ideal place for those seeking isolated…
To pick up where we left off…we pulled up anchor at Yellowbanks with the goal of heading to an anchorage on the south side of the island that provides protection from 15 – 25 knot NE Santa Ana winds. But within moments we were in far worse weather than we’d seen the day before –…
We left Channel Islands Harbor and our friends at H Dock Tuesday morning, Adam with a week off of work, the both of us looking forward to several days of exploring new coves and hiking the islands. Adam had listened to the weather report all week and we were expecting steady winds for the day…
Batteries are charged, tanks are full, icebox is stocked, pantry is overflowing, Grandma Jean is healing and we’re off! Here’s where we’re going first: That’s Santa Cruz Island, fifteen miles west of Oxnard, our current location and home for the last 17 days. Santa Cruz Island is roughly twice the size of Catalina and with…
Adam and Molly Go 