Coches Prietos, Channel Islands
We sailed from Ventura to Santa Cruz Island on Joia, X-Yacht 49 the last weekend in January. Four of us were on a test sail because we are headed to Polynesia later in the year. It was good to prep, test and get to know each other. We had fabulous weather as captured by crew mate and Swedish racer Madeleine Lithvall for Search Magazine (it’s written in Swedish but has nice photos).
Santa Cruz is the largest of the Channel Islands boasting steep cliffs, sea caves, kelp forests, sandy beaches and native american artifacts from the Chumash tribe. The island is part of Santa Barbara County and privately owned by National Park Service and Nature Conservancy. Coches Prietos is about midway of the island on the southern side. It’s a narrow anchorage so you’ll have to set a bow and stern anchor. I swam to shore and back in the 55F temperature with just my swimsuit. Then we took the dinghy in. I dried out and warmed up in the afternoon sun. I roamed the beach and spotted a bunch of sea anemone and abalone in the tidal pools. It was low tide and I could climb the rocks. The crew went for a long hike into the mountain and saw an island fox!
The Captain brought a fabulous deck of social cards by Esther Perel called “Where Should We Begin” - a game of Stories. It’s a fantastic ice breaker and way to get to know new people. It’s vulnerable but in a good way. You certainly get to know people on a deeper level playing this game.
There was a symphony of birds, frogs and cicadas lulling us to sleep with the soft waves. It was relatively calm in the evening though we had a land breeze with some snappy rollers in the morning and had to cast off right after an early breakfast. It was spirited for a few miles and then the wind died down enough for us to deploy a drone. The drone flew away from us and seemed to have mind of its own even though we had someone operating it. When we tried to bring it back, it misbehaved like an angry hornet and sliced my finger while I was trying to catch it. It was a bloody mess! Thank god I was wearing sailing gloves.
