Originally posted elsewhere 11/1/06
On the way to our mooring, I ran over a line in the water. It wrapped in the propeller and stopped us dead. OK, I've become a little night-blind. Hired a diver who freed us and told me I broke a blade off the propeller. Maybe he could get a prop by helicopter on Monday. Sounded very expensive and at the mercy of strangers far enough from home.
We spent Saturday night on the mooring.The next morning I decided to sail back while we still had plenty of provisions and most of our money. I figured that if the wind died and we got stuck between Catalina and home we could call for a tow. "Home" was about 23 nautical miles away. The forecast called for 10-15 knot winds in the evening. I remembered that the island tends to block westerly winds and we would have a chance after we were out of the island's shadow.
We got a few miles out and the wind died completely. We bobbed around until late afternoon. With two hours of daylight remaining, the wind returned. 20 miles to go. The wind suddenly increased to 15 knots and the boat shot along at between 5 and 6 knots. It was a somewhat wild ride until I got the sails adjusted for the increased wind.
After dark the wind began to drop. 5 miles out, 5.5 knots. 4 miles out, 4.5 knots, three miles out, 3.5 knots. At this rate we would always be nearly an hour from home. Thankfully the wind returned just enough to keep us moving well. We crossed into the harbor around eight and managed to avoid the large freighter going out as soon as we got inside. Remember I have no engine to push the boat, at least not more than at a very slow speed. I tacked across the harbor and got to the entrance to our marina when the wind completely died. We were able to slowly motor into our slip on a propeller with one blade.We stayed here and partied instead. We plan to return to the house this afternoon (Tuesday). Its been fun.
You can tell how much fun it was because we have no pictures.
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