Catalina Rendezvous

I had the great honor of being invited by captain Brian to join him and his family on a multihull/catamaran gathering in Two Harbors on Catalina Island. Brian and me spent a total of two weeks at sea, bringing the catamaran gradually from destination to destination, picking up and dropping off family members at different intermediate stations. It was not only a great pleasure for me to steer the sailboat and take part in a race around the north-east of the island, but also to participate in the family life and get to know Brian's children and grandchildren. At peak times, we had up to 11 people on board, in addition to the three stake rooms, the main room as well as the rear deck was set up as a sleeping place and over the net at the bow, three hammocks formed a further sleeping camp.

Brian and me took the boat out of the San Diego Bay on Sunday, 11th of August and within three days we brought it up to Redondo Beach, south-east of Los Angeles. On the way up we made stops in Mission Bay as well as Dana Point and Long Beach. In Redondo Beach we were joined by several family members and we had a good starting point to sail comfortably over to Catalina the next day with a broad reach (the wind is blowing over the side, or beam, of the boat).

Together with nine other catamarans we took part in the “Catalina Rendezvous”, an annually event hosted by Denison Yachting and West Coast Multihulls. This sailing gathering included a spectacular come-together dinner with dancing and a lot of fun at the beach restaurant in Two Harbors. Furthermore we all came together and tied our dinghies up on one of the catamarans and had a delicious breakfast which included freshly prepared pancakes as well as fruit and Bloody Marys.

On Saturday, 17th of August, the race around the north-east part of the island took place. We prepared hard for this highlight with eating and drinking up all the unnecessary ballast on board and leaving behind every pound we could get rid of. We even sent two family members home. ;-) At the last minute we finally made it to the starting line, where all the other boats had already taken position. Actually almost everything went wrong at the beginning of the race. Due to our unfavorable starting position we were among the last sailors, a wind lull into which we entered intensified the unfavorable situation still. However, we didn't deviate from our course and we finally fought our way from one of the last places to the very top of the race. With only one tack we surrounded the island and we played with different sail constellations to get the best out of the wind. In the end we even left other boats behind who had already given up the race and had the engine running to get to the finish line. Finally we finished the race honorably and crossed the finish line in third place, behind a racing catamaran which was sailing in another category and one semi racing and cruising boat which was staffed by a professional crew. For the fact that our boat was about 40 years older than all the other participants we were very satisfied with our performance.

Photos by Eddie Frank / Denison Yachting

In the evening there was another cheerful get-together at the raft-up, where all the other catamarans tied  up next to each other. We went there on our dinghies as we had anchored further inside the bay.
On the official website of Denison Yachting you can view more photos of all the events: https://www.denisonyachtsales.com/2019/08/catalina-island-rendezvous-2019-highlights-video-photos/

Next to the sailing events we spent some relaxing days on Catalina Island and I explored some trails hiking up the hills next to Two Harbors in the evenings. Furthermore we got a lot of swimming, snorkeling and rowing making the whole trip a well-balanced workout vacation. Finally we took the boat back to the mainland and after some more days with Brian teaching all of us surfing at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point we brought the boat back to San Diego. This way I did not only participate in my first sailing race on this adventure but I also caught my first good waves on a real surfboard.