Red flags

Red flags on the harbor patrol flag pole usually indicate a small craft advisory, high winds forecasted, anything else that would make for a less than perfect day on the water. There was a system that brought high winds through Thursday night and Friday but was supposed to subside 3am Saturday morning. Our plan was to leave around 7am and head to Avalon for the weekend. My neighbor Connor was making the same trip with his parents and a friend on board so it would be like a buddy-boat. 

Other red flags would be like forecasted winds to 25-30mph in the afternoon and night, 4ft windswell, nervous crew and a throttle lever that wouldn't stay at the correct RPM. We originally decided on Saturday morning not to go, then talked to Connor and got a pep talk of sorts about adventure, so we changed our minds and decided to leave for the island. About an hour into the trip, the RPM was annoying me, the waves were bashing against us, we weren't getting food speed, it was windy, rough, not fun. Why do these 1-day mini vacation trips if the entire time is stressful? There's no reason to, so we turned around at about Palos Verdes point where the R10 buoy is. On the way back to the harbor we passed Connors boat. For the rest of the day Mia and I sailed inside the breakwall just for kicks and because the boat was setup to sail. We anchored until the wind piped up in the afternoon and then decided to go sailing the next day after I broke the idle-stop screw trying to tune the throttle purchase. Hardware store, more tinkering, and the engine runs about 1000 RPMs stronger and idles correctly now. Turns out the wind never got too strong at Avalon and the weather was about 80 degrees for our friends there. Ah well, better safe than sorry...

Connor on his Hunter heading past us toward Avalon  

Always fun sailing on calm water and working on sail trim in light air  

Mia and I got a few compliments by boaters and kayaker a for our tacking, jibing, and general lifestyle: "you guys are winning at life right now" said a kayaker who used our wake to push him along down the channel.  

Sunday's sail was nice until the wind almost completely died  

The king harbor webcam got a nice shot of us sailing around Saturday