Dana Point-Welcoming Safe Harbor

We left Catalina in advance of foretasted high surf warnings for the southern California coast.   A hurricane (Marie) off the coast of Cabo in Mexico sent 6-8 foot swells north.   As these swells come closer to shore they stack up and produce impressive shore breaks.  WORKNOT was anchored in about 100 feet of water at Whites Landing on the east side of Catalina.   We likely would have been OK but did not want to take any chances.

Avalon was pretty full Sunday evening but seeking a sheltered marina turned out to be a good call.













This was on the window of the realty office in Avalon.  Always good to get a laugh when viewing listings of $1M 1,000 square foot listings.

News reports later in the week reported damage to the boat yard and docks in Catalina.  In Dana Point the waves built up to an impressive display along the sea wall but were were safe and secure in the west end anchorage.  

This is just next to our anchorage inside the harbor.

Not a lot of surge noticed on anchor but the boats in the slips were all moving around.   It's the first time I noticed any surge at Dana Point.

Outside the harbor was a real show of mother nature.

Got a chance to visit Nordhavn's home office again, met Justin who has supported us with parts every time we called and took a look at Tanglewood, a N60 in the final stages of commissioning.

Stayed until Friday as the weather was great, the anchorage is very quiet and there was no need to rush off.  It did not take many trips to shore to be reminded we were not in Mexico.  The local "Sports" barber cost 5x the La Cruz barber, lunch cost what dinner costs in Mexico and the chances of being hit by a BMW or Mercedes were pretty good.

Dana Point is however a great place to visit.  The harbor makes you feel welcome, plenty of places to walk Keela and the best dog mitts we have ever seen.