Finally, after two weeks of weather delays, a window opened and we took it. For some reason, it had to be the coldest morning of the year, mid-forties at six in the morning. We determined that our first stop would be Avalon on Catalina Island, so a heading of 130 degrees was required. Got situated and turned on our autopilot and changed into warmer clothes. After thirty minutes, the autopilot determined that it would no longer hold a course, so we would have to manually steer for today.

What started as a cold Southern California morning gradually turned into a beautiful sunny day.

Another refresher was the sad state of weather proofing we performed. The seas were lumpy after two weeks of high winds, and much of our Galley and Salon ended up on the sole. No worries, we had Black Barrel!

Well, nine hours of motoring to go (windless day), might as well have a sandwich. About Magu Rock we were joined by dolphins, who escorted us all the way to Catalina.

I have a fantastic video, however I haven’t figured out how to upload a video to WordPress. So this is as good as it gets.

Eileen and I shared Helm duties.

Finally, the beginning of our Excellent Adventure!

We arrived in Avalon at four pm and began the process of getting our beast moored. I have so much stuff in the way of the aft cleats it makes securing the stern a really difficult task. Oh well, I am not sacrificing propane or spare fuel for convenience, figure I’ll continue to tear the skin off the back of my hands trying to tie off to the unreachable cleat.

Within twenty minutes of arrival, we were in our favorite spot. Five minutes later in walked Vern, one of our favorite people in Avalon.

We will rest here for a couple of weeks before departing for San Diego. I need to figure out the Autopilot issue.

One super great thing is, winter rates apply in February, so our moorage for a week is only $171. At that price, we could live here.

As interesting things occur I will post, otherwise have a cocktail for us! Love all of you!

Go Seahawks! They paid for this leg of the adventure 🤣

Also, we would like to thank AD and Nicole for supplying the Black Barrel as a departing gift. ❤️