Relaxation on Catalina Island

Isthmus Cove - Catalina Island

A Busy Day at the Dinghy Dock

Isthmus Cove

Mooring System

After arriving late in the afternoon at the village of Two Harbors on Catalina Island, we were faced with the task of dealing with a different mooring system and the hectic procedure for buoy assignments. Catalina Island is the most developed of the Channel Islands and is a popular destination for boaters seeking a “relaxing vacation.” However, the term “relaxation” depends on your perspective. Weekend crowds from the greater Los Angeles area arrive in droves and there are over 700 mooring buoys for boaters. To provide as much space as possible for the large number of boats, a buoy system is used to keep vessels in a straight line position rather than swinging around the buoy on a fixed point. Reservations for these buoys are on a limited basis so moorings are usually on a first-come, first-serve basis. Upon arrival, boaters contact the Harbor Master on VHF channel 9 indicating which cove they prefer for moorage; the Harbor Patrol gives you your mooring assignment and meets you in the mooring area. There are so many boats coming and going that the radio channel has a constant chatter of communication; reminiscent of the air traffic controllers at the famous Oshkosh fly-in. We were assigned to buoy number 7 on row O and proceeded in, only to find that a boat had already tied up to this buoy, perhaps unaware of the procedure. We were then assigned to buoy No. 10 on the same row – Leonard maneuvered the boat close to the buoy and I leaned over the rail and grabbed the “pick-up pole.” With Leonard’s help, we lifted the pole up and onto the bow; we then put the loop end of the line through the hawse, over the bow cleat; the spreader line is then walked back to the stern of the boat and the other loop end is attached to the stern cleat and secured. It is important to have proper tension on the loop lines; it takes lots of energy to pull them taunt due to wave surges, wind, and current, plus there are heavy weights attached to the spreader line. The Harbor Patrol boat helps by pulling your vessel backwards, creating slack in the spreader line, making it easier to haul up the loop end for proper tension before securing it to the stern cleat. Once the two loop ends are secured to the boat, the spreader line is dropped back into the water. We were successful making it through the process, however we did learn a couple of things that weren’t included on the instruction sheet – wear gloves to protect your hands from barnacles, and be careful handling the spreader line so as not to hit your boat with the small heavy lead weights! To make things easier at departure, we added our own line for easy release from the stern moorage line. The following day we enjoyed our time "relaxing" with some refreshing drinks and a tasty lunch under the palm trees in the village of Two Harbors at Isthmus Cove. The other part of Two Harbors is Catalina Harbor, a short walk across a narrow isthmus to the other side of the Island. We found Catalina Harbor to be less crowded and very pretty, caressed by dry arid mountains peppered with cactus.