From Avalon to Oxnard to Celebrate 4th of July

We were hoping to be able to stay on through the 4th of July in Avalon as it is well known to be quite a show of people and fireworks but on July 3rd we received notice that we were losing our mooring and had to be out by 9am.  The harbor offered us a spot in Descanso Bay but Keith and I decided just to pull the plug on Avalon and began stowing for the trip.  We headed out of Avalon right after 9am and saw hoards of large power boats heading in.  We decided to head up the coast of the island and check out Two Harbors, we noodled on the idea of seeing if they had a free mooring but decided to just continue on towards Channel Islands Marina where we have been before and which we knew had a fabulous pool and hot tub.  We motor sailed up the coast of the island and then put the jib up for awhile as we headed back to the coast of California, unfortunately it wasn't quite enough wind to get us there in decent time (the difference between arriving around 7pm and almost 10pm, so after a short time of sailing we furled the jib and continued to motor sail.  The weather cooperated for most of the way until the last few hours where the wind picked up on our nose and it was a wet ride.  All of the boys hunkered down below in our bunk or near the dodger to keep dry while Keith and I took turns exposed to the spray and wind.  It's times like these that I think a full dodger plus full cockpit canvas setup would be quite nice.  All four boys were troopers though and after pulling into our designated slip at Anacapa Isle Marina we promptly sent them all off to the pool while Keith and I proceeded to rinse down boat and gear.

Turns out we had just pulled into one of the hot spots to be for the July 4th, with a front row seat of the fireworks set off by the military.  Keith and I walked down to the store to stock up on traditional fare in preparation for a fun filled evening.  Loren was in total BBQ food heaven - he is the meat eater in the family.  Keith took the little guys out for a dinghy ride on the basin during the big show and was able to grab some fantastic shots of the fireworks.

We spent the next few days enjoying the weather and the beautiful marina amenities: steam room, gym, hot tub, pool and cabana's pool side (no cabana boys with umbrella drinks though...bummer.)