Saturday, Oct. 22nd 0230 hrs: It’s early, really early, but as usual when we’re planning on leaving at ‘sparrow fart’ (0400 hrs.) I can’t sleep. So, I’m up and thought I’d tell you a bit about Catalina Island (at least the part we’ve been visiting – Avalon Bay). We arrived on a Tuesday, just after a cruise ship left, and (lucky us) there hasn’t been another one since – it must be the ‘low’ season. I remember when I was here last in 2003 it seemed a cruise ship arrived every 2 or 3 hours and, when each ship ‘puked’ out its payload, the town was overrun by hundreds, probably thousands, of mostly over-weight, determined to buy every last touristy t-shirt, ‘get outta my way’ kind of folks.
This week we’ve actually been able to enjoy a town without that ‘influence’. The tourists have been ‘us’; the yachties who have travelled by small boat to visit. You can tell who we are. We’re the ones wearing white running shoes :-) and carrying cloth bags for our groceries and taking advantage of VONs special – 30% off on all wine and an additional 10% if you buy 6 (so of course we all buy 12). We smile at each other (unlike most of the residents who stare straight ahead as they walk, in case anyone might expect them to break into conversation or share a bit about themselves or their island). Dogs aren’t welcome in the heart of town, so the ‘princess’ Sophie must walk around it. That’s OK as there are several side streets with interesting homes and garden displays to ogle as we pass. Ironically, while she’s not welcome in the heart of town, not two blocks away she’s welcome right on the patio, under our table, while we eat our meal sitting right on the waters edge, in a dockside café beside the ‘Casino’. Avalon has this large, round building (you can see it from a distance and the town’s famous for it) that was once a dance hall, then a Casino, and is now a museum and a hall that groups can book. There’s also the ‘Wrigley mansion’. It sits high on the opposing hill and was once the home of the Wrigley family. It’s now open for tours and operates as a bed and breakfast (altho’ local rumour has it that business may fold and the property revert back to the family). The town has much to offer in the way of tourist shops and the like, but it also has the mainstays (groceries, hardware, laundromat, and restaurants… lots of restaurants), and there’s a golf course as well as several walks the energetic can do. We walked clear out of town and up the road to the Botanical Garden and Wrigley Memorial. It was a longish walk but with lots of scenery and birds…and we’re glad we did it.
Probably one of the most memorable attributes of Avalon is the lack of cars and trucks as we know them. Most Avalonian autos are, in fact, golf carts. They’re carts that have been fixed up, suped up, and dressed up. One looks like an old, antique Ford… another like a Harley Davidson ‘something’. The majority are kind of junky and beat up, but they’re everywhere and they are definitely the primary mode of transportation on the island. You too could be driving one (for $40 an hour). We walked.
As the week progressed, so too did the population of boats in the harbor. By Friday (now yesterday) the mooring bouys were filling rapidly and our quiet and attractive ambiance was destroyed by weekend boaters determined to beat their competition for a preferred spot. Between the uncontrolled use of generators (for hours and hours and hours), the blatant disregard for neighbouring mariners displayed by some boaters determined to party all night, and the general increase in dinghy traffic, loud radios and general hullabaloo… it was easy to conclude… it’s time to go.
We leave in a few hours. It will still be dark, but that’s ok… as long as we’re able to let go our mooring lines (fore and aft) without tangling or otherwise getting caught up in them or the yards of kelp that accompany each bouy. But we’ll manage, and we’ll be ‘outta here’… and heading for Oceanside (about half way between here and San Diego). We’ll be in Oceanside Saturday night and Sunday and then we’ll continue south.
We plan on heading in to San Diego as the 170 boats on the Baja Haha rally are heading out on Oct. 24th. We’ll be busy in SD. Besides getting all our groceries and equipment (last chance for a big shop in the US), we need to get our Fishing License for Mexico, Mexican liability insurance for the boat, and an International Health Certificate (signed within 72 hours of crossing the border) for Sophie. As well, there will be cruisers to meet (Downwind Marine even sponsors a coffee and donut ‘meet ‘n greet’ on Wednesday mornings for cruisers heading south to meet each other), and last minute repairs or upgrades as required. We’ll probably be there for about 7-10 days before heading south to Ensenada, Mexico.
For now, we prepare to leave Catalina Island… a piece of history morphed into a cruise ship destination and a home to many. Been there, done that… time to go.
Bye for now. CJ
