Memories 3

American 24

3/24/2013-
After quite a few years of belonging to the Aqua Cat group the club just kind of dissolved. We sold our Aqua Cat and within a short time, that itch to own another boat was soon upon me.   This time I found a neat little boat with a fixed keel and it was trailerable.   Our poor van did suffer a few clutches as I traveled and launched the boat.   Some memorable trips were going to Catalina Island with my daughter, my sister, her daughter (Deana) and another girlfriend of my daughters.    We spent three or four days in Avalon harbor and everyone had a blast.   Can you imagine, five of us living on a twenty four foot boat?   Another time, I launched from Oxnard, CA with a person that I didn't even know (he was a friend of a friend who wanted to go) we headed to Santa Cruz Island with another sailboat.   The other boat was owned by a fellow teacher and his wife.   For those who don't know, it gets very windy as you cross to Santa Cruz Island.   Within about two miles of the island, the winds were hitting in the high 20's and we had lost sight of our friends boat.   We just kept on and within a short time, we were snuggled into a beautiful little cove that was very protected.   We radioed and radioed for our friends and could not get an answer.   After several more hours, we reported them missing to the Coast Guard.   Later, we found that they had actually turned around when they were within a few miles of Santa Cruz Island and sailed all of the way back to Oxnard.   They never got to Santa Cruz.   One last memory was when I was teaching middle school  and I would choose students to go to Catalina or San Diego on the boat.   On one trip I had chosen two students and with my family aboard, we sailed to San Diego.   The kids were great and they kept regular watches during the night as we sailed.   Upon finding a berth in San Diego, we all walked over to Sea World and had an amazing day there.   These are the things that memories are made from.