Twelve adventurous Members of the SailTime Orange County, California Base, departed Newport Beach for a four-day cruising sail to Catalina and Santa Barbara Island with 3 boats, plenty of rum, hand rolled cigars and an interest in finding some heavy weather to hone their skills on.
After a few hours sailing, the first stop was to kayak the caves on the South side of Catalina Islands’ Isthmus Cove. The following day the three boats raced each other to Santa Barbara Island and anchored in the only protected spot. The next day was set aside to first hike Santa Barbara island and then circumnavigate it, sailing. After that, it was a long sail from Santa Barbara Island along the back side of Catalina to the fabled destination of Avalon. The sailors were rewarded with some whale and dolphin sightings along the way. Once on a mooring at Avalon Harbor on Catalina, the group convened on the El Galleon for numerous Irish Carbombs and some Karaoke, as well as plenty of tall tale swapping!
Many SailTime bases offer a variety of social sailing type programs. The Orange County base in Newport Beach has been one of the most active for adventure sails during many years of its operation.
