Catalina Harbor – Island Packet Rendezvous

Thursday Oct 8 we left Marina Del Rey for Catalina Harbor, on the back side of Catalina at Two Harbors, for the Southern California Island Packet Rendezvous. We had to motor most of the way to Catalina, but then sailed around the point at west end and on to Catalina Harbor. The picture to the right shows Ribbon Rock that we passed just before Catalina Harbor.

There were 13 boats that came to the IP Rendezvous – 11 stayed in Cat Harbor and 2 stayed on the other side of the Isthmus at Isthmus Harbor. The island is very narrow at this point – just about a 10 minute walk across – and the facilities (village of Two Harbors) are more on the Isthmus side. The pictures below show Cat Harbor and a buffalo grazing in the field we passed on the way walking over to Two Harbors.



Suncoast Yachts (Darrell Allen with help from Diane McGrogran and others back at the office) did a great job of hosting the rendezvous. Formal activities were confined to the afternoon, allowing for late sleep and/or morning activities on our own. Thursday evening we had a potluck dinner aboard Cutthroat, a 485 that Suncoast brought as the host boat (it’s in brokerage – if anyone is interested….). Friday afternoon there was a boat-to-boat treasure hunt. Each boat had a clue with a fill-in-the-blank word for an answer. Then the first letters of all the words had to be unscrambled to get the final 14-letter answer. As we all went boat-to-boat to get the clues, wine and hors d’oeuvres were served. Besides the game, it was a great opportunity to meet the other owners and see their boats. The boat equipment hit of the tour was a 64” screen with projection TV and surround sound that Mike and Mary had on an IP 40! The last clues weren’t available until that evening as we had a BBQ dinner on the beach at Two Harbors and were able to get the clues from the Isthmus side people. There was one boat that still hadn’t made it – and we needed the clue not just the final answer. It was pretty clear the final answer was “Island Treasure” (or “Treasure Island”), but we still needed the “T” clue. Darrell ended up letting us guess the “T”-word, and since we correctly guessed “tack”, we won the treasure prize! – for which we chose a rig tuning in San Diego. The BBQ dinner was delicious. Saturday afternoon was a group sail – we went out with Eric and Gisela on their 485, followed by the group picture, and dinner at a restaurant in Two Harbors. Dinner included door prizes – the grand prize was a bottom job. We ended up winning a CD of sailing songs, a $50 gift certificate with Garhauer, and an ICOM handheld VHF radio. Overall a great rendezvous!