12/20/2012 17:50 PST 58.7 F

We spent our last night at an anchorage on the south side of Santa Cruz Island, Coches Prietos, apparently means “Black Pig”. It is a really charm anchorage, cliffs on both sides and a sandy beach in the middle. We even managed to pull off our first dive, off the cliff on the east side. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality –great visibility (for california), colorful coral, kelp forest and lots of fishes. Will take our camera in the furture.

After a beautiful day, wind and swell picked up right after dinner. We rocked and rolled all night. It was the first time Mark had to sleep in the pilothouse for anchor watch. We took off early in morning for Santa Catalina Island.

Thinking back, we only had one good anchorage out of the four nights at Channel Islands. These islands are beautiful, but just a bit unforgiving in the winter. The wind can shift rapidly in unpredictable fashion. One good thing in the winter though — we haven’t seen a single recreational vessel other than us the whole time. Really had the whole park to ourselves.

Our track at Channel Islands National Park.
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