An Emerald Bay Welcome

August 1, 2009

Catalina Island

Emerald Bay Cove

This is a fantastic weekend - My first time setting foot on land at Emerald Bay Cove. I've been diving here countless times, and have crawled through the caves at low tide on my hands and knees with two tanks on my back, but I've never stepped foot on the sandy beach.

Even better, it's our first weekend testing out the new davit system for the dink. No more strapping it up in the lower cockpit. So excited.

It was an incredible day and we left on Saturday morning just for a 24 hour turnaround. There are no facilities except for mooring lines at Emerald Bay, so it helps to have a generator and plenty of sand toys. First we decided to pump out and fuel up. The Shoreline Fuel Dock - so close by- is undergoing repairs (until 2010 at least!) so we had to putt putt over to Cabrillo on the way out. Shea made fast friends with the fuel dock guys, primarily because they gave her donuts. OH NO. We'll head that one off at the pass next time. Quinn was having difficulties accepting her life vest this trip and made for a (loud) squirmy worm. I'm sure the fuel dock folks were very glad to have us on our way. One item of note: Shea did tell them :

"I LOVE MY MOMMY!"

And I got it on film. Some day, when she's 16 and threatening to move out, I'll remind her that she does in fact love me, and I have the movie to prove it.

We arrived without incident - the girls slept the entire way over - and were surprised that the Harbormaster sent us to Delta 1 mooring but didn't come around for hours to collect payment. I guess that's just the friendly lazy way of Emerald Bay. The water was incredible- crystal blue - and reminded me of the Caribbean. There were no boats to the North of us, and we were in the first row closest to the sandy beach, with a private view of the gorgeous cliffs and kelp below. We decided within 10 minutes that we had the best mooring for our very first visit.

We hopped in the dinghy and went ashore. No dinghy dock either! We beached it, the Larry hauled Little Mon up a bit and we made fast to a huge boulder that Larry found a short walk up the beach. We met another couple there with their large dog and three sons - all on one dinghy. Shea had a blast throwing the ball for the dog and playing with the older kids. Quinn just wanted to eat sand.

Shea later took a dip in the ocean and came back with a tasty snack of kelp. Blech, salty! But it didn't stop her from going back for seconds, at which time I swooped in and got rid of that.

We had a long fun day in the sun, and headed back to the boat to clean up for dinner. No beach showers to clean off the girls, so they both got their first transom showers using the shower head on the swim step. Slow but effective! That night we had chicken piccata with penne pasta and an Alfredo sauce. The girls had mac & cheese and pasta pickups. Larry and I sat in the lower cockpit at night and lit up the transom lights. They were beautiful in the shallow clear water. Another boat - maybe the water taxi from the Isthmus - shined a spotlight a few mooring rows behind us and the entire cliff lit up with gigantic silhouettes of masts and hulls. It was gorgeous and felt like we were at the largest drive-in theater ever.

I stayed up late reading a good book and all slept well. The next morning, tragedy strikes. The generator shut itself off immediately upon start up.

ARGH.

This means no coffee for mama. This also means TIME TO GO HOME. It was perfect timing, because Quinn was crying again about her life vest, Shea was defiant and whiny, and our "Check Engine" alarm was continuously sounding off. They were loud, and it was loud. Sorry neighbors.

Shea kept saying she just wanted to go ride the carousel. She wanted a horse for her, and a dragon for Q.

For some reason, the Check Engine alarm sounds until our batteries charge to 12 volts. Doesn't seem normal. Will get it looked at. Just off the coast, Larry stopped and checked the engine - which couldn't have been done without the new dinghy davit system. We got that just in time. The engies seemed fine, but best of all, while we were at idle, I saw a small pod of dolphin at the bow. They gave us quite a show, jumping completely out of the water, tail and all, then diving back in head first. We got back underway at 10:20.

Maybe they were saying come again soon. And we certainly will.

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Stats Log Emerald Bay bound @ 11:30

Heading of 224 from Cabrillo Angels Gate

Fuel: Port 75 gallons @ $3.95, Starboard 80 gallons for 155.7 total

Head: Pumped out

Hours: Port 695.4 - Starboard 696.9

Stats Log Homeward bound @ 10:20, arrived 11:45 am

Hours d/a: Port 696.8 / 698.4 - Starboard 698.3 / 699.9