"Bryan" wrote in message
. net...

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Alan Gomes wrote:
I agree about trying to avoid the crowds. I make relatively few trips
over
there in the summer but many in the off season. The best time (in my
opinion) is spring (March through May). Fall is good also if you dodge
the
Santa Anas.

So, the Santa Ana issue is a sea state issue not a return issue?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com



J,

The Santa Ana's can be thought of as a howling offshore wind. I've taken
advantage of lightweight Santa Ana's in San Diego; makes for some great
surfing when a strong swell is present or makes for a full speed near
shore ride in your Catalina 30 "sled". The Santa Ana winds can be gale
force, even approaching, historically, near-hurricane strength. As I
said, I've never experienced the Santa Ana's at Catalina Island; if they
are expected, I won't sail to the island (not a real problem for me as my
island sailing is summer and the winds generally kick up in fall and
winter). It's a 25 to 30 mile fetch from mainland to island so the seas
can kick up pretty good and anchoring or mooring on the lee shore is a
problem. When you get to Two Harbors you can check out some historical
photos of the damage the Santa Ana's can cause to boats and structures on
the lee shore.

Bryan


Jonathan,
I'm not sure I understood your question, but Bryan pretty much summarized
it. Virtually all of the coves on the north side of the Island (with the
possible exception of Big Fisherman's at the Isthmus--which is privately
controlled by USC) are exposed to the NE, which puts you on a dangerous lee
shore. In a strong Santa Ana condition (as opposed to the light ones we
sometimes get) the waves can get rather large and slam straight into these
coves. I've been over there several times during these conditions--both on
the front (north) and back side. Although the wind will still howl even on
the back side (e.g., Cat Harbor) the water remains flat and so it's not such
a big deal; it's the wave action that makes these particularly dangerous.

Alan Gomes

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"Bryan" wrote in message
. net...

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Alan Gomes wrote:
I agree about trying to avoid the crowds. I make relatively few trips
over
there in the summer but many in the off season. The best time (in my
opinion) is spring (March through May). Fall is good also if you dodge
the
Santa Anas.

So, the Santa Ana issue is a sea state issue not a return issue?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com



J,

The Santa Ana's can be thought of as a howling offshore wind. I've taken
advantage of lightweight Santa Ana's in San Diego; makes for some great
surfing when a strong swell is present or makes for a full speed near
shore ride in your Catalina 30 "sled". The Santa Ana winds can be gale
force, even approaching, historically, near-hurricane strength. As I
said, I've never experienced the Santa Ana's at Catalina Island; if they
are expected, I won't sail to the island (not a real problem for me as my
island sailing is summer and the winds generally kick up in fall and
winter). It's a 25 to 30 mile fetch from mainland to island so the seas
can kick up pretty good and anchoring or mooring on the lee shore is a
problem. When you get to Two Harbors you can check out some historical
photos of the damage the Santa Ana's can cause to boats and structures on
the lee shore.

Bryan


Jonathan,
I'm not sure I understood your question, but Bryan pretty much summarized
it. Virtually all of the coves on the north side of the Island (with the
possible exception of Big Fisherman's at the Isthmus--which is privately
controlled by USC) are exposed to the NE, which puts you on a dangerous
lee shore. In a strong Santa Ana condition (as opposed to the light ones
we sometimes get) the waves can get rather large and slam straight into
these coves. I've been over there several times during these
conditions--both on the front (north) and back side. Although the wind
will still howl even on the back side (e.g., Cat Harbor) the water remains
flat and so it's not such a big deal; it's the wave action that makes
these particularly dangerous.

Alan Gomes


Only major Santa Ana I ever experienced was on the Catalina Express. Even
50% of the crew was sick. Chairs sliding around. Major swells. the
locals say go expecting to stay the night. You may have to leave early in
the morning to beat the winds.

In article . net,
Bill McKee bmckee=at-ix.netcom.com wrote:
Only major Santa Ana I ever experienced was on the Catalina Express. Even
50% of the crew was sick. Chairs sliding around. Major swells. the
locals say go expecting to stay the night. You may have to leave early in
the morning to beat the winds.

on your jetski .. you need to remember to add that to all your posts.



--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article . net,
Bill McKee bmckee=at-ix.netcom.com wrote:
Only major Santa Ana I ever experienced was on the Catalina Express. Even
50% of the crew was sick. Chairs sliding around. Major swells. the
locals say go expecting to stay the night. You may have to leave early in
the morning to beat the winds.

on your jetski .. you need to remember to add that to all your posts.



--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com




Actually a lot of jetski's make the trip. Now, your boat, not likely. My
daughters sorority sister, fell asleep while returning from Cat and fell off
the back of the ski, as boyfriend drove. You ever been on a big sea?

In article ,
Bill McKee bmckee=at-ix.netcom.com wrote:

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
on your jetski .. you need to remember to add that to all your posts.

Actually a lot of jetski's make the trip. Now, your boat, not likely. My
daughters sorority sister, fell asleep while returning from Cat and fell off
the back of the ski, as boyfriend drove. You ever been on a big sea?

So? My boat? I don't own a boat. Fell asleep on the back of the
jetski?? She must have been recovering from one heck of a drunk.

The seas I've been on would scare the **** out of you if you were on
your jetski.



--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bill McKee bmckee=at-ix.netcom.com wrote:

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
on your jetski .. you need to remember to add that to all your posts.

Actually a lot of jetski's make the trip. Now, your boat, not likely. My
daughters sorority sister, fell asleep while returning from Cat and fell
off
the back of the ski, as boyfriend drove. You ever been on a big sea?

So? My boat? I don't own a boat. Fell asleep on the back of the
jetski?? She must have been recovering from one heck of a drunk.

The seas I've been on would scare the **** out of you if you were on
your jetski.



--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com



That why you gave up owning a boat? And my jetski is 21' long. As to
falling asleep, smooth ride, warm day. Easy to do.

In article et,
Bill McKee bmckee=at-ix.netcom.com wrote:
That why you gave up owning a boat? And my jetski is 21' long. As to
falling asleep, smooth ride, warm day. Easy to do.

Gave up because I can sail for free. Ah, a 21-foot long
pollution/noise machine. She must have been drunk, since any normal
person would stay awake from the noise and vibration.




--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

In article ,
Alan Gomes wrote:
Jonathan,
I'm not sure I understood your question, but Bryan pretty much summarized
it. Virtually all of the coves on the north side of the Island (with the
possible exception of Big Fisherman's at the Isthmus--which is privately
controlled by USC) are exposed to the NE, which puts you on a dangerous lee
shore. In a strong Santa Ana condition (as opposed to the light ones we
sometimes get) the waves can get rather large and slam straight into these
coves. I've been over there several times during these conditions--both on
the front (north) and back side. Although the wind will still howl even on
the back side (e.g., Cat Harbor) the water remains flat and so it's not such
a big deal; it's the wave action that makes these particularly dangerous.

I was asking if it was either high wind on the nose coming or going or
built up sea action that was the major issue with not going. Apparently the
former.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Jonathan Ganz wrote:

I was asking if it was either high wind on the nose coming or going or
built up sea action that was the major issue with not going. Apparently the
former.


Jonathan,

The usual swell is from the west. When you get a NE - E wind of any
strength, the wind waves pile up against the swell and you get a real
mess of a sea state. It will stay that way for a day or so after the
wind stops. If the wind wasn't so gusty, it would probably make for some
fun sailing.

A Santa Ana blew up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We were over in Cat
Harbor moored at Wells Beach. (Wells Beach mud is *nasty*! Don't wear
your good sailing gloves when you pick up the mooring.) It was really
spooky listening to the wind, but we were totally safe there. Not so
over on the other side. Apparently two boats went on the beach and
several others had serious problems. The Harbor Patrol had their hands
full. The sail home Sunday was pretty sloppy, but fun.

That same weekend a "Norther" blew in the Sea of Cortez. Since there was
a lot of north to that Santa Ana, I wonder if they were the same weather
system.


Cindy

--
The email address above is a spam trap. Don't expect a response.
Reach me using firstname at lastname dot net

In article ,
Cindy Ballreich wrote:
Jonathan Ganz wrote:

I was asking if it was either high wind on the nose coming or going or
built up sea action that was the major issue with not going. Apparently the
former.


Jonathan,

The usual swell is from the west. When you get a NE - E wind of any
strength, the wind waves pile up against the swell and you get a real
mess of a sea state. It will stay that way for a day or so after the
wind stops. If the wind wasn't so gusty, it would probably make for some
fun sailing.

A Santa Ana blew up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We were over in Cat
Harbor moored at Wells Beach. (Wells Beach mud is *nasty*! Don't wear
your good sailing gloves when you pick up the mooring.) It was really
spooky listening to the wind, but we were totally safe there. Not so
over on the other side. Apparently two boats went on the beach and
several others had serious problems. The Harbor Patrol had their hands
full. The sail home Sunday was pretty sloppy, but fun.

That same weekend a "Norther" blew in the Sea of Cortez. Since there was
a lot of north to that Santa Ana, I wonder if they were the same weather
system.


Cindy

Yeah, I meant to say that the sea state was the prime
consideration. Thanks for the extra detail re conditions.

Jonathan
--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com