The Day Crossing

On Thursday, June 15, 2000, at 6:15 a.m., six of us launched at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro for the 19 NM crossing to Catalina Island in Southern California.

The Catalina Island gang, from left to right,
Duane, Roger, Debbie, Chip, Joe and Jim.

Chip Hoffman, Roger Halter and Joe Kramp are experienced sea kayakers, but this was their first crossing to Catalina. Joe hadn't even been to Catalina by boat before. Debbie Machain has been sea kayaking for only a year, but during that short time, she has been enthusiastic about the sport and spent time working on her endurance and skills. This was her first crossing. Jim Gabriel and I made crossings to and from Catalina last year.

The forecast was for ten knot winds in the morning and ten to fifteen knot winds in the afternoon. Right after launching, we had the infrequent good fortune of being able to see the island, so we really didn't have to navigate. Throughout the crossing, the bearing to the isthmus at Two Harbors barely changed, which meant we weren't experiencing any significant drift and didn't have to ferry.

Soon after launching, we entered the shipping lanes and experienced traffic. We had to stop for one large ship and let it cross in front of us by around one-hundred yards.

Debbie having a close encounter with a ship.

We landed at the island at 2:00 p.m., making for a seven hour and forty-five minute crossing. Before and during the crossing, Debbie was feeling ill, so she set a slow pace. The two gallons of water that leaked into the back hatch of her new kayak didn't help either. She discovered the water in the hatch after landing. Her kayak was a Northwest Kayaks carbon kevlar Synergy, which had a new hatch system that was defective. We occasionally had some water washing over our decks during the second half of the crossing, but two gallons leaking through the hatch was ridiculous. Needless to say, Debbie wasn't happy about the leak. She used duct tape to seal the back hatch for the return crossing. After the trip, she told me she contacted Northwest Kayaks, and they are going to replace her kayak with one that has an improved hatch system.

Everyone was slowed down during the last two miles of the crossing, because a localized head wind of about twenty knots was funneling through the isthmus at Two Harbors on the island.

We camped on a small bluff above the beach at Two Harbors Campground.

The One Day Circumnavigation

Only Jim and I were going to circumnavigate the island. Initially, we planned to do the 43 NM point to point distance in two days with an overnight stop at Little Harbor Campground on the back side. However, a few weeks before the trip, I had the crazy idea of circumnavigating the island in one day. Jim liked the idea too. We decided to keep the one day circumnavigation a secret until the evening before doing it, because we never heard of anyone doing it in one day before and didn't want anyone to beat us to it.

The weather for the one day circumnavigation on Friday was excellent. The only wind to speak of was a moderate headwind during the last six miles. Currents around the island were insignificant, and by looking at the direction the kelp was pointing, we saw that the current direction varied. The winds and currents didn't really help or hurt us. A thick layer of clouds kept us out of the sun and cool all day long.

Our strategy was to paddle point to point, stay focused on an efficient paddle stroke, maintain a moderate pace, and to stay well fueled and hydrated. Surprisingly, we had an enjoyable time. I thought we were going to be miserable after around twenty-four miles, which was the farthest we had paddled before. We discovered that an efficient paddle stroke at a moderate pace is like walking. At a certain level of fitness, you can do either all day long.

About two-thirds of the way around the island, my right nipple began to burn from being rubbed raw against my salt encrusted polypro shirt as my body twisted with every paddle stroke. I solved the problem by covering my nipple with duct tape.

We were comfortable enough in our kayaks that we did the circumnavigation without landing. Around the island, Jim occasionally trolled or cast a lure for fish, but he didn't catch anything. Otherwise, we only stopped paddling to eat and drink every forty-five to sixty minutes.

We launched at 5:15 a.m. and landed at 7:00 p.m., making for a thirteen hour and forty-five minute circumnavigation. Our average speed was 3.1 knots. Afterwards, we celebrated by eating dinner in the restaurant at Two Harbors. Without concern for calories or fat, we drank beer, ate a huge appetizer, and then downed steak and ribs.

On that day, the other four had fun hiking, snorkeling and kayaking. They paddled eight nautical miles to and from Parson's Landing. Along the way, they explored sea caves. While Debbie was in one tight cave, the crest of a large wave momentarily closed the entrance. She had to brace inside and came out fine, but there was a chunk of resin missing from her bow. By the way, she is a graduate of the Jeff McNair School of Cave Kayaking.

Joe in a sea cave.

On Saturday, Jim went kayak fishing for about six and one-half hours and paddled 14 NM to and from Long Point. He ended up catching only a small calico bass. The rest of us paddle 2 NM to and from Blue Cavern Point. We hugged the coast, looking at the rocks, plant life and fish in the clear water below us. We also explored the sea caves along the way. Everyone liked the large cave at Blue Cavern Point.

The Night Crossing

Officially, the plan was to paddle back to the mainland early on Sunday morning. However, at about the same time I thought of the one day circumnavigation, I also thought of a Saturday night crossing back. Jim liked the idea too. Of course, everyone would have to agree to it. Jim and I decided to not propose the night crossing until Saturday evening, because we wanted the others to have the confidence of completing the crossing over to the island and wanted them to enjoy their time on the island without having to contemplate the night crossing.

During lunch on Saturday, there was discussion about buying firewood and beer for the night, so I had to propose the night crossing then. Amazingly, they all agreed to it. Jim and I were shocked and thrilled.

The weather forecast for the night was ten to fifteen knot winds diminishing to ten knots. There was a full moon, but it was canceled out by a thick layer of clouds, which made it dark enough to cause us to use light sticks so we could see each other better and stay in a tight group. Nineteen nautical miles across the channel, we could see the lights at our destination on Palos Verdes Peninsula, so navigating wasn't a concern.

We launched at 9:55 p.m. on Saturday night. For the first couple of miles, we were once again in the localized wind that funneled through the isthmus on the island, but this time it was giving us a push. For the rest of the crossing, we had choppy conditions due to the swell and wind working against each other. Intermittently, the wind picked up, making the choppy conditions worse and more tedious to paddle in, especially in the dark. The first time the wind picked up, I was concerned about it persisting, because I knew that if it did, the choppy conditions were going to exhaust us and make the crossing miserable. It was a relief when the wind calmed down the first time, and having the wind pick up intermittently afterwards was bearable.

No one elected to wear a paddle jacket in the sixty degree F. air. We were all wearing just polypro shirts. Most of us were cold during the breaks for food and water. It was also cold when the wind picked up and we were splashed by sixty-six degree F. water from the chop. Otherwise, we were warm, and a paddle jacket would've been just too hot the way we were working.

Shortly after launching, Chip and Jim were hit by flying fish. About a quarter of the way across, we were startled by dolphins that suddenly started jumping within ten feet of us. Dolphins visited us like this several different times. We had ship traffic closer to San Pedro, but there were no close encounters.

With lights at our destination in sight and so little drift on our crossing over to the island on Thursday, I wasn't occasionally shining a light on my compass to see if the bearing to our destination was changing. After a while, I just happened to pick out a range with some lights on shore. The range indicated we were slowly drifting left. Jim and I discussed it, and we decided that the drift wasn't significant enough to bother with a ferry.

For a while I didn't bother to check the range again. When I did check it again at around 2:00 a.m., I was shocked to see how fast we were drifting. The channel isn't known for fast currents, and tides and currents usually aren't a concern in Southern California. But I remembered that we were in a full moon phase and high tide was around 10:00 p.m. on Saturday. When I checked my tide table later, I saw that there was a 6.3 foot drop in the tide from 9:57 p.m. on Saturday to 5:55 a.m. on Sunday. We were in the middle of the channel in the middle of a large tide swing. The tidal current and the wind were taking us for a ride.

I wanted to get the drift under control, so we started with a ferry angle of around twenty degrees. Using the range, I saw we were still drifting left. Next we went into a large ferry angle of around sixty degrees. I checked the range again and saw we were slowly making progress. We spent around forty-five minutes paddling at that large ferry angle before getting back on course. It was disconcerting to everyone to paddle so long with our destination to our left and so far away, especially with the choppy conditions and everyone already being tired. But everyone stayed tough. Once we were back on course, a ferry angle of around thirty degrees kept us on course.

Everyone made a dry landing through the small surf at Cabrillo Beach at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, making for a seven hour and fifty minute crossing. With Debbie not being ill on the crossing back, she was able to maintain a good paddling speed. At the speed we were going, I thought we were going to complete the crossing in under seven hours, but the chop and ferrying for the drift slowed us down.

I have to commend the entire group for their performance on the night crossing. Everyone stayed close together, watched out for each other, worked as a team, and paddled long and hard. They really did a great job out there!