Sail 13
Voyage 13, Marina del Rey, July 11,2004
Believe it or not, two weeks earlier I had begged off taking the boat out in order to prevent Sail 13 from being the trip to Catalina for the 4th. Superstition or not, I didn’t want to put anything to chance for the night sail to Catalina. When you’re the only boat on the ocean, you need all the good luck on your side.
So after having made it to Catalina and back without a hitch, it was time to put Sail 13 in the books and get over it.
Pretty much everyone had skipped town for Tom’s wedding, leaving Ron and I behind. So having nothing better to do on a Saturday, we headed out for a quick trip to the buoy and back. It was the normal drill—a smooth exit from the dock, raising the main in the channel, and a smooth unfurling of the jib. (Side note: the new line for the jib furler was the best investment I ever made, not a hitch to date as compared to the hell of last year).
We set course for the buoy (of course), but it was slow going. Not too much wind, maybe on the order of 8-12 knots. I caught a glimpse of a sea lion or two but nothing else. We made steady progress for the buoy, but ended up turning back without having made it. All told we were out for an hour before we crossed behind the breakwater and went wing and wing up the channel. Despite Ron’s suggestion of sailing into the slip, I opted to power up and motor home.
And with that, sail 13 ended without a hitch....well, except for that black cat that swam across our tack...
Wonder what that means...