We spent the last week on a mooring in Avalon (Catalina Island), enjoying blue skies and 70 degree weather. The windless days were perfect for paddling about the island and poking around the little town. Since we stayed on a mooring, going ashore involved a five minute paddle to the dingy dock and another five minute walk to town. Town had everything we needed: groceries, showers, laundry, post office, library.

During the summer months, Avalon bursts at its seams with a population of 10,000 tourists who come on private yachts and ferries. It is doubtful that we would have even been able to find a mooring here a few months ago. The winter, however, is a quieter population of 3500 with a handful of transient boaters like ourselves and an occasional tourist from the mainland. Many of the restaurants and shops on the water front are closed for the winter, but tucked away, here and there are the shops and places where the locals eat and frequent enough to remain open. There are a few cars, but mostly people get around with golf carts, which gives the place a Disneylandish atmosphere. The most prominent building on the waterfront is a casino/theater that was built by the same Wrigley who owned the Chicago Cubs and once owned much of Avalon. Apparently the Cubs held practices on the island in years past. They now play regular movies at the theater; this week the Princess and the Frog was playing, so we went to see it as a way to check out theater. It really was the pretty and I could picture one time residents, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio watching a show there.

A cruise ship arrived and anchored at the end of the harbor today, bringing a swell of tourists, who are shuttled to shore to buy ice cream cones and trinkets, dip their feet in the salt water and rent golf carts for the 45 minute scenic tour. It looks like a good rescue ship; I should find out it's route. I've decided that in the event of needing to be rescued, I want to be picked up by a cruise ship, preferably a luxurious one. I paddled out to the ship, but they didn't offer either a soak in their hot tub or any Grey Poupon. Next time I'll have to show more leg.

We've finally figured out the boat insurance. Finding company that would fully insure a small, 30 year old boat for offshore cruising wasn't easy. And then we found out that Mexico requires you you to buy insurance from a Mexican company as well. Sheesh. I guess not everybody gets this insurance, but if you are boarded and don't have it, they can impound your boat.

The sailing since we've left, by the way, has been pretty uneventful. The winds have been light, and occasionally there have been big swells that would have me throwing up, were it not for drugs. The log records some wind, but still, we've motor-sailed much of the way. The trip over from Catalina Island was nice however, as the winds picked up at the end of the day and we were able to turn off the motor. Alex found a used spinnaker in Newport, and with the spinnaker alone and the waves pushing us, the GPS was showing 4 to 5 plus knots (this is great for our boat). It's the first time we've flown a spinnaker on this boat, and the big red kite itself was a nice site.

We're currently in Dana Point, and will probably spend a couple of days here, before our final U.S. port in San Diego.