"Should we just get up and go?" The conversation started around 5am between my twin, Scott, our older brother, Matt and I. As the engine warmed up I went up to the bathrooms on land and some guy in a stall was letting his puppy take a crap elsewhere on the bathroom floor. I couldn't wait to get away for the weekend. Back at the boat my neighbor Connor, who was waiting for a guest to arrive and also head over the the island and meet us, asked me if the "6-9 foot seas worrying you?" Truthfully I had checked surf reports that showed 2-4 because of the angle of the swell. My brothers kind of made sure I still felt good about the crossing and I said yes. I did.

These shops are huge and you a can use the swell peaks along the hull to scale the height of the waves

The combination of 9 foot short-period swells rolling under the boat from the side, the grey weather, the ship traffic, the noticeable lack of other small craft heading to the island, it all made me a little bit nervous. Matt got sick, he wished there was a pause button on the entire experience but it was relentless. During sets of waves I would have to steer up bow-facing the swell and then trick the rudder into letting the boat surf down the back of the wave while maintaining a course toward Catalina while preparing for the trough and upcoming peak that blocked the horizon. It was actually the wildest conditions that I've had A Cenoura out in. But we had no boat problems and we didn't want to turn around.

Grocery shopping before a day and a half trip

But we did arrive, about 4 hours later, to what formed into a gorgeous spring Catalina island day. We rowed in to shore to get our balance and stomachs back to normal after the ride over. A few hours later we were in the swing of things. I removed the autopilot device because it broke the last time I used the boat and was hindering my steering capability the entire morning. Connor stopped by and offered us a ride back to shore to walk around and throw the frisbee.

"Why don't you guys all hop in the inflatable and the tow me in the towboat so we have a wave to get back?"

There's a few sets of swings hanging in these trees in the isthmus

Ha mocking in the late afternoon after some beers and swimming

When it was time to leave Sunday morning the engine started right up without hesitation- a first for leaving Catalina. I credit this to the new battery bank set up and charger, isolated the starter battery from being used for anything other than starting the engine. 3 hours into motor-sailing across the channel, we rounded the R10 buoy outside of Palos Verdes when the engine sputtered and died. How?! The fuel gauge had not worked since I had the electrical work done but to its credit it was telling me empty for the past 2 months.

Luck was on or side as we had 15 mph wind behind us, and I had free towing with my insurance. Matt sailed is dead down wind, the sails wing on wing. It was actually pretty awesome not having the engine running. The tow operator said he would meet me in an hour in the main channel in redondo and to just tack back and forth until we met. Easy enough.

Getting help towed in was a good decision. As we rounded the docks there were 3 boats in traffic and paddle boarders in the way confused about where to go. Why risk it?

you know the saying, "a broken clock is correct twice a day?" Well for a broken fuel gauge that is stuck at empty is correct... when your boat runs out of fuel.

Safely back at the dock, one more island trip in the books and the only one with both of my brothers that may ever happen. (Yet to be determined)

Chapters

Isthmus Con Los Hermonos