Bryan,

You are correct in assuming that the wind probably will be on the nose. On
the other hand, I've had a couple of trips to and from San Pedro to San
Diego where it was a reach both ways! But in the summer this will not be as
likely.

If I understand what you are asking, if you just power up the coast you will
need to go as far as Newport Beach, and probably even further west before
you'll lay the east end of Catalina.

Harbor hopping is a fun way to go if you are not on a schedule. If you plan
to anchor, Mission Bay has some wonderful sheltered areas in which to drop
the hook. Oceanside is OK but nothing spectacular. Dana Point is a very nice
harbor and the city run transient slips were quite inexpensive (at least
when I stayed there two years ago) with good facilities. I think they are
first come, first served, but there were several vacant slips when I went
two summers ago. If not, the anchorage area isn't too bad there. From Dana
Point you could head out for Catalina (though you probably won't lay it
without tacking), or go up to Newport Beach. If you want to increase the
probability of hitting someplace on Catalina on a single tack, then go all
the way up to Long Beach--either to Alamitos Bay Marina or Shoreline (also
known as the Downtown marina). The harbor that puts you in closest proximity
to Catalina is San Pedro. There's some excellent marinas there as well as
some that are run down. There's an OK area to anchor but it tends to be
windy.

Hope some of this helps.

Regards,
Alan Gomes
Catalina 30, "Sola Scriptura"
San Pedro, California


"bryan" wrote in message
om...
Do you know anything about the normal summer wind direction between San
Diego and Catalina? I've heard it's on the nose the whole way there.
I've also heard that one option is to head west from San Diego then to
tack and head for Catalina. If the latter is the only way to sail from
San Diego to Catalina, how far out west before tacking for Catalina? If
it's more sailing than motoring, I would rather harbor hop up the coast
(Mission Bay, Oceanside, Dana Point) before heading to Catalina.

Got any info to share on this topic?

Thanks,

Bryan