Jan 11 2009
Winter Sailing Heats Up At Channel Islands Harbor
I got up this morning climbed into shorts and walked over to the marina. It was already in the 70′s and the strong Santa Ana winds from yesterday were beginning to abate. Sure enough, by mid afternoon a gentle breeze from the Northwest kicked in. Winter sailing in Southern California can generally be some of the best conditions of the year. Around here, in between the winter weather systems, it becomes crystal clear; the islands seem only a few miles offshore and the ocean is flat with a breeze in the low teens and the onwater air temperature is in the high 50′s or low 60′s. Here in the Santa Barbara Channel, The summer can produce pretty challenging conditions with large seas and gusty winds. The air mass is barreling between the Channel Islands and the continent, ultimately being sucked onto the land to fill in the hot air of the desert. In the winter that dynamic is taken out of the equation pretty much entirely which creates an entirely different set of conditions. In between the winter weather systems you get 3-5 days of spectacular sailing weather. If you are a SailTime Member and your time is just a little bit flexible, you can usually hop on a boat any week day and catch a great sail or overnight to the islands and have the anchorage to yourself!Â
An incredible full moon came up tonight at the exact moment I could nab a photo of all three SailTime Hunter 36′s heading out for the monthly Full Moon Frolic; a fun member run event that includes some partying on the dock and an evening sail under the glorious moon and its dazzling show on the water.
Ha! You photoshopped that! Might be hard to believe if we hadn’t seen it ourselves. Another pergean moon with keel-dragging tides to boot.
Randy
Oh, and nice pic by the way!
Someone told me today that this full moon was the closest the moon would be to earth for some time. A real event that we were and still are dealing with !