2017-14 Forney's to Prisoners Harbor, then Smugglers

Saturday, September 30, 2017:

At 8:30AM we pulled the hook and beat our way through the Potato Patch and over the top of Santa Cruz Island's west end.  The seas were exciting and then became thrillingly fast and we completed our rounding.

This morning we  are hoping to to get ashore at Prisoner's Harbor and tour of the Island's shore are near the main ranch. Gerard spent many years contracting to the Nature Conservancy to preserve the buildings on the island and knows this place in detail.  Standby for lots of photos and video when we get ashore.

This fast yacht was our neighbor last night in Forney's. He
quickly passed us eastbound on the way to Fry's Harbor.

The Wild Blue anchored in Prisoners Harbor.

As we entered Prisoner's Harbor Gerard recognized the Centinela.  The skipper Rick and crew Peg are old friends of Gerard's so we invited them over.  Rick filled us in on the history and recent events on the island.  The Island is owned approximately 70% by the nature Conservancy and 30% by the National Park Service.  The two groups work together in preserving the Island while allowing public access.  So in was a natural to get on shore and see the Harbor up close..  Time to launch the tender.

Upon attempting to launch, the ship's crane was not functioning.  It took us a bit, but after some analysis we discovered a 24VDC power supply to the hydraulic solenoids had fried.  Fortunately, Rick offered his tender so that we could make it ashore.  Vince and Alex an hour hike along the Prisoner's to Pelican Bay trail.

Masonry shed buildings for wharf storage.  Built in 1887.

The Island Packers boat offloads guest at the pier.

The wind was building and the sea was getting bumpy here at Prisoners, so we opted to move to the other side of the Island at Smugglers Cove.  Unfortunately it turned into a boat issue day.  The ship's windlass decided to freeze up.  This required using the backup system:  the ever so popular.... human windlass.  Fortunately we had anchored in just 12 feet which meant we had the 140-pound anchor and 18-pound chain aboard in less than 15 minutes.  We're hoping for a similar shallow depth at Smugglers.

The video below shows crew Vince, Gerard and broken boat owner Alex starring in "The Human Windlass".