Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and Channel Islands

Outlook summary for the weekend:

Wet on Friday, partly cloudy the rest of the weekend. Temps 50-60, standard (10-15 kt. west wind.


Sailing News and Views

SailTime Channel Islands Navigation Class Graduates!

Congratulations, shipmates


Local Adventures and Adventurers -
I was invited to accompany Rich and Lori Boren on their first cruise aboard Third Day, their Pearson ketch. Our mission was to move her from her former home in Santa Cruz harbor to their new mooring near Pismo Beach.

Sailing - Get on the Water in a New Boat

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California Sailing-Channel Islands National Park

The Visitor Center at National Park offers a great selection of marine and Channel Islands historical, geographical and educational presentations including the kids favorite, the rocky tidepool, the popular elephant seal exhibit plus pygmy mammoth exhibit. There is also an informational movie theatre, local bookstore and Channel Islands Information Center. The address of the Visitor Center is 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, California 93001. Sailors can Phone: 805-658-5730.

8/18/06 - Sailing Channel Islands, Ventura, Oxnard

Scorpion Anchorage report

The water is warm and there are a lot of people in it.

At least yesterday the kayaking was fine with low winds, no swell and only small wind waves after 1400.

Of course, those conditions are pretty unusual into the afternoon and the forecast is for increasing winds through the weekend. Nevertheless, take your kayak - it should be smooth in the morning.

 .TODAY...W WIND 10 KT...
BECOMING W 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.
WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BECOMING 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL
2 TO 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
.TONIGHT...W WIND 15 TO 20 KT...STRONGEST IN THE WEST
PORTION...DECREASING TO 10 KT OVERNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 4 FT IN THE
EVENING...BECOMING 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT AT 8 SECONDS. PATCHY
FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.SAT...W WIND 10 KT...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.
WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BECOMING 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL
2 FT AT 8 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
.SAT NIGHT...W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING W 10 KT OVERNIGHT. WIND
WAVES 3 FT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT.
PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.SUN...W WIND 10 KT...INCREASING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND
WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BECOMING 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W SWELL 2 FT.
PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.

7/26 Notices to Mariners

The most recent notice contains the addition of several submerged submarine operating areas. Though none of these is in our immediate vicinity, you might be interested in the accompanying note:

"Boundary limits of Submerged Submarine Operating Areas are
shown by a solid purple line. As submarines may be submerged in these
areas, vessels should proceed with caution. During torpedo practice
firing, all vessels are cautioned to keep well clear of Naval Target
Vessels flying a large red flag at the highest masthead.

7/23 WX - hot (for here), light winds; extreme UV

Heard on #16

A tug and a long tow were transiting north of the shipping lanes last week. A sailboat appeared to be on a course that would take him near the lash-up that stretched a quarter mile or more.

The sailor hailed the tug and said "This is the sailing vessel Blah Blah; I'm on your starboard bow at 2 miles. I will pass astern of your tow."

"Roger, out," replied the tug.

That certainly minimized the #16 palaver. The last time I was in that position, the tug hailed me, asked my intentions, then he told me his. It took quite a bit of jawing. Probably irritating to those who like quiet. This guy cut all that short with 1 succinct call, which relieved the tug driver's mind and did not jam the frequency.

And, speaking of on-air blather, Big Tuna and Killafish, can you guys come up with a tactical frequency and portable vhf's on which to monitor them? You're not doing any thing wrong with your constant calls on 16 to switch, but you could reduce the noise pollution if you all monitored 68 (or other blather-allowed freq) in addition to 16.

No dumping areas:
The lastest Notice to Mariners has defined a new No Dumping area near Channel Islands Harbor/
Pt. Heuenme. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/lnm/d11/default.htm

By no dumping, they mean no maceration, pumping of head holding tanks etc. etc.

No idea how this will be enforced, but it's near our beach, so I'm going to use the pump out in the
harbor even if the rule is unenforceable.

Conditions this weekend:

Friday...W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT
AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG LATE IN THE MORNING. SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS.
.

Friday Night...W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT IN THE EVENING...
BECOMING 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF
TSTMS.

SAT...W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 2 FT AT
10 SECONDS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS.

SAT NIGHT...W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING NW 10 TO 15 KT AFTER
MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 FT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING 2 FT OR LESS.
NW SWELL 3 TO 5 FT. SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS.

SUN...WIND VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING NW 10 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 3 TO 5 FT. SLIGHT
CHANCE OF TSTMS.

SUN NIGHT...W WIND 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING VARIABLE 10 KT
OR LESS. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 TO 3 FT. SLIGHT CHANCE
OF TSTMS.

Local notes:
Shoaling is getting more severe N. of the Channel Islands N. Jetty. Buoys mark the general position, but we were very close to breaking water just outside of them. Give the area wide berth.

Channel markers in Ventura Marina have been shifted - or so it seems - probably due to seasonal shoaling.

All Nav. lights are "watching properly" at Ventura according to the latest Notice to Mariners

Good sailing....

7/14/06 - Sailing Channel Islands, Ventura, Oxnard

Sail Channel Islands: Good times on Sancerre

Heard on #16

We got a new vhf with a wireless mic for the cockpit. Until now, we were not particularly aware of much of the traffic on the hailing frequency, but now it's right at the throttle quadrant and it seems to be squawking all the time.

We've learned some interesting stuff:

Vessel Assist is doing a great business.
When the Coast Guard responds to a Pan, Pan or even a Mayday, one of their first questions is "are you in immediate danger."

If not, you're probably going to wait for Vessel Assist or some other private towing operation to come to your rescue.

The other thing we learned is that the CG doesn't use their charts in their initial effort to find the victims because the next question is what is you Lat/Long. Even if you report your position in the old manner, 2 nm south of Home Harbor, they're still going to ask for Lat/Long. I think you could be tied up to their pier and they'd still query you for Lat/Long

We listened to a very interesting conversation yesterday between a power boat that was DIW about 15 miles at sea and a would-be rescuer, not the USCG, in this case.

The captain of the stricken boat was having serious difficulty figuring out how to find his present position on the GPS readout.

We don't know why that was, for sure, but a couple of possible answers:

Didn't have the data bar turned on
Hadn't activated the "Find Ship" button
Was looking at the Lat/Long of a waypoint
Had just turned it on and was waiting for satellite acquisition

He was a long way from home, the visibility was bad and getting worse and he was ready to start whimpering. On the other end, the rescuers were plotting his position based on the coordintes he'd sent, and were frustrated because they plotted out in Indiana, not near the Channel Islands, which he had left an hour or so before.

Draw your own conclusions about what information you'll need to provide should you need some assistance.

No dumping areas:
The lastest Notice to Mariners has defined a new No Dumping area near Channel Islands Harbor/
Pt. Heuenme. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/lnm/d11/default.htm

By no dumping, they mean no maceration, pumping of head holding tanks etc. etc.

No idea how this will be enforced, but it's near our beach, so I'm going to use the pump out in the
harbor even if the rule is unenforceable.

Conditions this weekend:

Friday..VARIABLE WIND 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING W 10 TO 20 KT WITH
LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS IN THE AFTERNOON. STRONGEST WINDS WESTERN
PORTION. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 2 TO 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
FOG...LOCALLY DENSE WITH VSBY 1 NM OR LESS EARLY IN THE MORNING.

Friday Night: W WIND 15 TO 25 KT WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS...BECOMING
NW 10 TO 15 KT LATE. STRONGEST WINDS WESTERN PORTION. COMBINED SEAS
3 TO 5 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 9 SECONDS.

SAT...W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS IN THE
AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 TO 5 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
.SAT NIGHT...W WIND 15 TO 25 KT WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS...BECOMING
NW 10 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. COMBINED SEAS 3 TO 5 FT.

SUN...WIND VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING W 10 TO 15 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 TO 5 FT.
.SUN NIGHT...W WIND 10 TO 20 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING VARIABLE
10 KT OR LESS. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 TO 5 FT.

UV is at extreme levels. You probably need sunscreen indoors.

And stay near the ocean. It's going to be hotternhell everywhere else in California

Local notes:
Shoaling is getting more severe N. of the Channel Islands N. Jetty. Buoys mark the general position, but we were very close to breaking water just outside of them. Give the area wide berth.

Channel markers in Ventura Marina have been shifted - or so it seems - probably due to seasonal shoaling.

All Nav. lights are "watching properly" at Ventura according to the latest Notice to Mariners

Good sailing....