Cruising World – August 2019

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The only downside of being anchored

in Santa Barbara was the diffi culty in

fi nding a place to land the dinghy to go

ashore. The surf makes a beach landing

diffi cult; Dana described a group of

Sandwich Islanders as they rowed their

boat in to the shore: “They gave three or

four long and strong pulls and went in on

top of the great wave.” We weren’t quite

up for that, and eventually we were able

to buy a three-day permit to use the “skiff

row” inside the marina.

It was a clear, sunny day when we depart-

ed Santa Barbara, and we had a fantastic

sail across to the Channel Islands. With

just the headsail up, we were fl ying along

nicely in a steady 20-knot sea breeze that

blew until the sun went down. Santa Cruz

Island is the largest of the group of steep,

craggy isles that lie on the south side of the

Santa Barbara Channel. We anchored in

Pelican Cove, a pocket-size crevice in the

sheer cliffs that make up the north coast

of the island. The anchorage is exposed to

weather from the north, but even a mild

westerly swell wrapped around and in to

our spot, giving us a slightly rolly night.

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