We left Marina del Rey and the California Yacht Club yesterday in the morning, stopping to buy fuel first. The huge powerboat with the helicopter on top (I posted a photo of it as we came into LA) was sitting on the inside of the fuel dock, and we pulled up next to it. It was almost comical, our mast did not reach the top of the boat. I'd rather pay my fuel bill than theirs! The tender was as beautiful as the boat, and Paul pointed out that the helicopter had T/T Attessa on it, just like the tender. It means "tender to" and is frequently used to label dinghies for documented vessels, but I've never seen a helicopter identified that way before! The photo is Pearl on the fuel dock (on the right side) looking very shrimpy next to Attessa and her helicopter.
We motorsailed to Two Harbors, Catalina and took a mooring for the night. It was fairly empty, and Two Harbors is essentially a camping area with a small store and a restaurant. This morning we hiked across the isthmus to Catalina Harbor, had a picnic on the beach, and then headed for Avalon, looking for more excitement. Paul wants to dive, and got a recommendation for diving here in Avalon. I'm hoping to take some of the walking tours, including one of the botanical gardens tomorrow. Joe, who we met in Monterey, is here on his Hunter, leaving for Oceanside tomorrow. We also saw a very cruise equipment laden Tartan 37 leaving, Tumbleweed. I'll have to look it up on the Tartan websites, it had a huge amount of equipment including a radar arch, kayaks and a windvane on the stern.
Avalon has the famous round casino, they do architectural tours, so I hope to do that tomorrow too. It's a fisherman's wharf/saltwater taffy kind of place, but it does look interesting and I'm looking forward to wandering around tomorrow.
