Dream Sail to Avalon

                                      Crystalline waters beckon under the Avalon pier


     Since we're suffering through a dry, snowless winter up at Green Valley Lake, we were thrilled when Chris' Uncle Brad invited us to sail to Catalina Island aboard his Catalina 36 "Uff Da."

                         

                                           
                                          "Uff da" is a Norwegian curse word (or something).

                                            Catalina Island is about 25 miles from the SoCal coast,
                                                 making it the dream destination for local sailors
                                                 

   Despite the pall over Dana Point, 

    we were happy to be at sea again

Off with the shoes!

I enjoyed my time at the helm,

but my shoes stayed on... :-)

Captain Brad clowning around

After an easy 5 hour crossing, we arrived at Avalon Harbor.

Did this battered fishing boat motor here all the way from Vietnam?

It would appear so... (yikes)

We hooked up to Brad's personalized "Uff Da" mooring.

You don't even want to know how long the waiting list

is for this, or how much it costs. 

            Brad's wife Lisa took the cattle boat over and booked 

             2 nights at the Pavilion Hotel (she's not a sailing-type gal). 

            She asked me if I'd like to join her there for a girls weekend,

 to which I happily said "Yes!" 

The lovely grounds of The Pavilion

It was best, anyway, to leave the boys

to sleep aboard Uff Da. They would be

talking generators, batteries, alternators

and genoas for hours on end...

...leaving Lisa and I free to discuss other, 

more pressing subjects...   ;-) 

The boys talk solar panels while Lisa and I check in

After a tasty seafood dinner, we poked around Avalon looking for a bit of adventure.

What? A bowling alley in Avalon? Yes. It's true!

Well, it's mini-bowling -- sort of a cross between Skee-ball and the real thing.

I beat the topsiders off of everyone with the earth-shattering score of 121.

The next morning we awoke to a clear, warm, sunny Avalon

The gifts of off season sailing: a nearly deserted beach and lots of open moorings

Welcome to mid-winter in Southern California...  :-) 

Chris getting to know his island again

Fun fact: when the iconic Avalon casino was built in the 

1920's it was the tallest building in Southern California

Lisa and I met the boys at the dock 

as they dinghied in from Uff Da

So happy to be on a dinghy again

More Avalon beach scenes

Brad and Lisa rented a golf cart and we took off exploring the island

The view from the top (note the red helicopter in the foreground at left)

Pet cemetery

Pastoral island scene

How could we say no to this roadside lemonade stand?

This is a first: they also sold moustaches (!) and bracelets for a dollar

I passed on the moustache but I love my new bracelet

Avalon from the west side

This view hasn't changed since the 1920's

             Since Brad is a member, we spent an evening at 

    the Catalina Island Yacht Club

I'm sworn to secrecy as to what we did that evening...

            Naww, just kidding. It's a lovely club and we felt very welcome. 

Although Brad DID go to Harvard...

    I suppose I should ask him if he was a member of 

the Skull and Bones fraternity... ;-) 

The next morning, we awoke to a very foggy Avalon

Soon enough, the fog cleared enough for us to 

make a safe passage back to Dana Point

    I mostly shivered in the cabin while 

the boys happily worked the sails

My husband's happy place

    And just like that, we were back in Dana Point. Many thanks to Brad 

   and Lisa for their amazing generosity. XOXOXOXOXO 

Last shot: The "honesty in boat naming" award 

goes to "Seamy Barrister" in Dana Point.    

      

Missing At Sea?

We received this Coast Guard message on facebook this morning:

THE U.S. COAST GUARD RECEIVED A REPORT OF AN OVERDUE [Vagabond] 47 FT BLACK HULLED [stripe] WITH WHITE SUPER STRUCTURE SAILING VESSEL SUNDANCER (CFK9731, MMSI 316018203)ON A VOYAGE FROM ECUADOR TO EITHER CONTADORA OR MOGO MOGO ISLAND, PANAMA. SAILING VESSEL IS DESCRIBED AS 47FT IN LENGTH WITH 2 PERSONS ON BOARD. THE VESSEL HAS VHF, HF AND SSB RADIO. THE TRIP WAS GOING TO BE CONDUCTED WITHIN 100 NM OF THE COAST NORTH TO PANAMA. ANYONE KNOWING THE WHEREABOUTS OF MS. HEATHER REIMER (CANADA) AND HER PASSENGER RON QUIRE (US) ARE REQUESTED TO NOTIFY U.S. COAST GUARD. REQUEST CALLOUTS TO THE VESSEL ON SSB AND IF POSSIBLE THEIR POSITION AND SPEED PLEASE. PHONE 510-437-3701.

                                            Ron and Heather are at top, helping Hugh and Ann
                                        deliver their boat Serendipity through the Panama canal



   We met Heather and Ron in El Salvador in 2012. They are a fun, spirited couple from Canada, although Heather spent a large part of her life right here in Running Springs, CA.

                                  Ron with Aaron of BellaStar in Panama's Las Perlas Islands


     According to their blog, they were planning on sailing north from Ecuador on approximately          December 8th, to arrive at Panama's Las Perlas Islands in less than a week.

                                                                   Heather in El Salvador


                                The last anyone has heard from them is on December 7th.
                        They maintain a pretty active blog and are frequent posters on facebook.

                                                        Really getting out there in Peru


     Ron and Heather really impressed us "regular" cruisers because they sailed farther and deeper into outlying areas than the rest of us. I admired their brave ventures into the remote Darien Gap of Panama and the netherlands of South America.

                            Clowning around with Ben of Knee Deep at a boat show in Panama


                          It is quite unlike them to simply not find a place to check in online.
                                        Which means we're all pretty concerned.

                                                Waiting, somewhere in South America

                                                                      Fun times in Mexico

                                                              Sundancer, a Vagabond 47


   Please, if you are sailing in the area, keep an eye out for Ron and Heather, and please contact the Coast Guard with any information you may have.

UPDATE: We're now hearing that Heather's sister is stating that contact has been made with Sundancer via SSB radio. Awaiting confirmation/more details and also their current location. Will update as more information becomes available...

NEWEST UPDATE: Heather posted on facebook so all is well. They're in the Las Perlas Islands in Panama...whew!  :-)

About the War on Christmas...

                                                 A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965



  I could not have been more fortunate to have experienced an early childhood Christmas in the 1960's.

                                The King Family Christmas specials were a beloved tradition
                                               on TV every year during the 1960's


 "Pure joy" are the words that spring to mind when I recall the pristine beauty and all encompassing Christmas spirit that enveloped the lives of all the children in my Orange County neighborhood during those days.

                                               Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, 1964


     As hard as it is to conceive now, we actually sang Christmas carols in our public schools back in those days. Even traditionally sacred songs such as Silent Night and The First Noel were a part of the curriculum.

  Although I'm a progressive, I've found myself occasionally nodding in agreement in recent years when the Fox News types complain about the politically correct "War on Christmas."

                      "Defending Christmas" is a popular topic every December for Bill O'Reilly.


   Truth be told, I really miss those old days sometimes. The Christmas season, to my innocent, sparkling eyes back then, was so pure and beautiful.

  And yet...and yet...in really looking at this issue, I must use my head as well as my heart.

 Despite the fact that we had no snow, growing up in Orange County during the 1960's
was a very, very, very, very white existence. I didn't even see my first African-American human being in person until I was almost 10. He was a friend of our fathers who came to visit. His skin was very, very dark. I was curious to see what his skin felt like, so I asked him if I could touch his arm. He kindly agreed.

 There were very few immigrants in Orange County back then from Asia or the Middle East, and only a tiny sprinkling of Jews. We were white, white, whitey white, Christian white.

 America in 2013, needless to say, is a very different place than in the 1960's.  Now, you can argue about the topic of immigration and how we got to be the way we are, but the fact is that the Christian white extreme majority that we enjoyed in the 1960's is pretty much gone.

 Fox News likes to complain about how our government and schools have pretty much drained the original Christmas message out of any annual celebrations. But the "Happy Holidays" thing started with businesses, not with government.

 Businesses realized that if you want to attract ALL customers during the holidays, and not just white Christian ones, you'd best cast a wide net.

  Christmas purists might cringe at this very politically correct holiday card which some businesses send out. But if you think about it, if you have customers of every race and religion, a card like this is probably a pretty smart business model.

 Fox News, ground zero of the "War on Christmas" creed, got busted recently. You see, Fox News IS, of course, first and foremost a BUSINESS. With employees that they presumably appreciate and would like to keep.

         A Fox News employee inadvertently admitted on the air that the Fox and Friends Christmas Party was actually a HOLIDAY party, as the graphic above shows. Whoopsie.

    You see, Fox News is in the middle of New York City, and without doubt several of their employees are Jewish, etc.  The slip-up above shows how political correctness regarding Christmas in America started in, and mostly thrives in -- the business community. With good reason. It's just good business.

   Now the War on Christmas has spread to schools and governments, and to a certain extent, I agree with and understand the political correct movement.

      Is it really morally right to have a monument to Christian Bible verses in front of a government building that is supposed to represent all of us, of every religious (or non-religious) background equally?

  So, here we are, in 2013.  Bill O'Reilly not withstanding, Christmas seems to be thriving. It's alive and well. And of course, noone is stopping us from going Full Nativity Scene in our homes and churches. We are free to celebrate in whatever way we choose amongst our family and friends.

               ..and that means ANY way we want. This probably wouldn't be MY choice,
                   but America still is a free country! And if it makes my gay friends happy,
                                                        then who am I to argue?


As with most controversial issues, in my opinion the middle way is the best.

 I don't think City Hall needs to have a Nativity scene splayed on the grass.

 But I do wish public schools could feel free to lead their children in a beautiful Christmas carol like "Silent Night" that encompasses our best traditions and encourages feelings of togetherness, peacefulness and awe.

 Who could have a problem with that?

Thanksgiving: Learning To Live Together

                                            Green Valley Lake Family Thanksgiving, 2005


    Thanksgiving is about family, and learning to live together and accept each other. This is a lifelong process, that changes and morphs as the shape and look of our family and friends evolve.

                                                                Thanksgiving 1995


Our family has evolved and changed a bit since the photos above were taken. We'd best do our darndest to roll with the changes, even if we mourn the old days.


   2013 was our first holiday back in SoCal after 2 years at sea. Family and friends lovingly adopted and cared for our two cats, Buddy and Smudge, while we were away.

             The first cat we reclaimed upon our return was Buddy.  As this photo shows, he's been absolutely basking in the singular love and attention that he receives from Dad since we've been back. He's grown a bit spoiled.

                                             This would not last long.


        Over Thanksgiving we helped my Mom move out of her charming little cottage and into my sister JoAnna's home.  Mom has been caring for Smudge during our travels, so it was time to bring him on home as well.

                                                 Mom and her adorable Tustin cottage

                                           My husband Chris, the handyman of the family,
                                             helped Mom with all of the moving logistics

     Smudge has grown accustomed to life in Mom's cottage. He kind of freaked out when he peered out the window and saw us carrying the kitty moving box.

        Upon returning home to Green Valley Lake, we were very curious to see how these two brothers responded to the sight of each other after 3 years apart. They had lived happily together for 9 years prior to our travels. What would happen?  We opened the cat box and watched as Buddy tentatively approached...

                                                         Oh, dear. I was afraid of that...


     We endured two sleepless nights of aggressive feline hissing, growling and crying...but I knew that eventually they would both realize that they are brothers. They are sort of stuck with each other. Like a human family, they did not choose each other, but if they want to be relatively happy they'd best come to accept each other.

     They're not exactly cuddling and playing with each other yet, but the hissing has stopped, and they now sleep on the same bed. Family...what are you gonna do?


                                                Other images from Thanksgiving 2013:

             

       

                                      So, another Thanksgiving comes and goes. Life goes on.

         Nothing else to do but break out the Christmas decorations...the biggest holiday of all is just around the corner...take a deep breath and dive in!