The weeks leading up to it were full of excitement. We’d been planning our New Year’s Eve sailing trip to Catalina Island with the usual email thread. It goes back and forth 10-20 times deciding who’ll bring what, who wants to cook, etc. I’d chartered a mid sized catamaran, a 35′ Seawind XL2. It would be perfect for our group of six people. We were all amped up to go and everything was ready. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot apparently.
An Unfortunate Forecast
When I got home the night of December 30th and checked the weather forecast, I had an unpleasant surprise. The NOAA forecast reported a “gale warning,” and New Year’s Eve a Northeast wind of 20-30 knots was expected with gusts up to 40 knots. That’s enough wind to make it hard to open your front door and send your trash cans down the street.
“This can’t be right” I thought. “It was perfectly calm yesterday and the weather was fine.” Looking at my chart, I remembered that Two Harbors at the North side of Catalina Island, is completely exposed to the Northeast. So essentially the gale would be blowing any boats right onto the beach – a lee shore. Things were starting to look worse by the moment. I really didn’t want to cancel this trip. Everyone was really looking forward to it. But I didn’t want to spill my champagne when the wind sent us crashing onto the beach either. I needed a second opinion.
Catalina Harbor Patrol
In my cruising guide I found the phone number for the Catalina Harbor Patrol. When I called they said “Good thing you called! Actually, we’re evacuating Avalon and Two Harbors. All boats should go around the backside of the island to Cat Harbor, which is an all-weather harbor protected by the hillside.”
At this point I’m thinking about the option of us sailing straight around the West end of Catalina. We could spend New Years Eve in Cat Harbor. But the ride home on New Years Day would be exciting to say the least. With a New Year’s party the night before and a bumpy ride with 30 knot winds on the way home, it could be a miserable seasick mess. Finally, before making a decision, I called my sailing instructor who has a vast amount of experience. I know she would know exactly what to do.
A Change of Plans
Well you can guess by now what she said… We had to cancel. There were several problems with trying to make this trip. First, with it getting dark so early it would be dusk by the time we got to Cat Harbor. This would make it really a problem if there was no room for us or we had to go somewhere else at the last minute. Second, there were some minor insurance issues with us chartering a club boat with gale force winds hitting 40 knots. Third, we could get trapped on the island and not be able to sail home on New Year’s day if the wind was so strong.
- NOAA Catalina Island Marine forecast
- Navionics Chart View of Catalina Island
- Avalon Harbor Department (310) 510-0535
Crap! I now had the very unpleasant task of calling the other 5 members of our group to tell them that we had to cancel. I could picture them unloading their party supplies and packing their bags when my call came. I felt bad about it but what could I do? I can’t control the weather, and it would be just plain reckless for us to go anyway. Being the skipper I had to think of everyone’s safety and do the responsible thing, so I cancelled the trip.
A Wise Decision
As it turned out we did the right thing. A few Internet searches found news stories of a freak storm a few years back that appeared all of a sudden around New Years Eve, destroying boats and killing two people. Another club charter boat had actually left the day before we were meant to, and got stuck in Cat harbor an extra day, unable to sail home in the gale force winds. On my buddy’s Facebook page he shared a frightening video of the water flying sideways into the harbor and a very sad looking individual getting pounded by it trying to walk past.
Check the Forecast Daily
I guess the big reminder here for me is that the winter weather in Southern California can be really unpredictable. We can have some really beautiful crystal clear days. These are my absolute favorite days for sailing in Santa Monica Bay or to the Channel Islands. But very rapidly things can change and you really have to watch the weather forecast daily. Checking multiple times daily right before a sailing trip is ideal. Had I checked that Sunday morning or even mid-day I would have seen the gale warning before 7PM in the evening. I then could have notified everyone sooner. Lesson learned.
And to my friends on that trip I have one question… What are you all doing in April?