One Week before the Mast (cont')

Catalina

We stayed anchored at Catalina for the day, giving us the chance to get our only shower of the week long voyage. It's a picture postcard day so I take the hike up to the Wrigley Mansion above Avalon Harbor for some photographs. It is a strange sight to see our Brig, a replica of a vessel that brought writer Richard Henry Dana to Southern California in 1834, along side the massive Carnival Cruise line ship and a multitude of gleaming white fiberglass sailboats. It's hard to imagine a time when vessels like this where the only things that connected the continents.

The original Pilgrim's purpose was to be a sea going truck. Hides from the ranchos and missions of Southern California were loaded below decks and transported down the Pacific coast, through the frigid waters off the tip of South America and up the Atlantic coast to Boston where the leather was used to make shoes. The hardships of the journey were documented in Dana's book Two Years Before the Mast.

The original vessel burned at sea in 1856. Our Pilgrim was built in Denmark in 1945. In the 1970's it was going to be used as a seaside restaurant. It came to the attention of Orange County Marine Institute Director Stan Cummings who arranged the purchase and had the ship brought to the Institute in 1981.

During most of the year the Pilgrim is a floating classroom. It has been host to over 100,000 school children, many of whom get to spend the night aboard the docked ship. They get to experience for a day the life of a sailor on a merchant ship in the 1830's.

During the year the ship is maintained by a devoted crew. Each year, as a reward for their efforts, the Pilgrim sets sail for a week. Then the crew gets to live the life they have lectured about and put their skills to the test. This time the destination is the Channel Islands.

Way Haul Away

As I get back on board, the crew has already begun hauling up the 800 lb. anchor, using only a hand operated windlass. It takes the entire crew, working in shifts, almost half an hour to get the anchor up and stowed safely. The benefits of our showers have rapidly disappeared. As the sun dips below the mountains of Catalina we enjoy a surprisingly hearty dinner. Its not long before the rum starts flowing and soon the entire crew is singing sea chanteys and spinning yarns. The transformation is complete. No longer are we individuals with different lives, now we are just Pilgrim crew.

The next day is spent on the open ocean. Dolphins are our frequent companions and in the distance a Blue Whale, the earth's largest animal, is spotted. Also in the distance is a sight that excites everyone-the white sails of another tall ship. It appears to be headed away from us. As the crew complains that they'll never get to know which ship it is, a shout from the bow watch informs us that it has changed course to intercept us.

Soon it is clear that the ship is the Californian, the state's official tall ship and a replica of a revenue cutter. The mission of this ship was to chase down and collect taxes from vessels such as the Pilgrim. True to form, the Californian flanks us and fires her cannons. The Pilgrim reciprocates and after much laughing and waving the two ships, kindred spirits from the past, part company. We continue to sail north, our destination, Anacapa Island.

Anacapa

Before you see Anacapa you see the pelicans. Hundreds of them-all flying to the same destination. These are the Brown Pelicans, an endangered species that live on the protected cliffs of the strangely shaped island.

At the island's tip is a large sea arch, white with the guano of a million sea birds. We anchor just off the arch while one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen turns the mountains gold, then red, then purple.

Besides the pelicans, Anacapa's most famous attraction is its picturesque lighthouse. Perched high on the bluffs, it serves as a beacon to vessels passing by on the nearby shipping lanes. In addition to the powerful lantern, the structure also bellows with a horn so loud that 300 ft. away is a sign warning of ear damage if a person approaches any closer without protection.

On the other side of the island is Inspiration Point. The view from here gives us a glimpse of what Southern California must have looked like before it was settled. Miles of sheer bluffs rise up out of the Pacific like a knife edge, testament to the tectonic forces at work in California. It is a view that takes me back even further than the days of Richard Henry Dana, back to a time when Pygmy Mammoths grazed on the slopes of these islands.

Our time on Anacapa is too short. Weather conditions say we must set sail now to reach out next goal. I make a mental note to return to this wonderful island.