My Catlina trip & Theo's answer. Very long!

[Harrison]

Theo,

Heres my Catalina story:

Left from work (Boulder) at 12:00 noon on Tuesday. About an hour later Im coming down Loveland pass, and my truck decides to throw out an engine problem trouble light. Fortunately I have a Scan Gauge on board, so I scan for the codes. It spits out 2 codes. I text my wife, and she searches on the web for the problem. It comes back as O2 sensors have gone out. (I have over 150,000 miles on my 2001 Dakota) She calls one of her mechanic friends that she used to work with at the Dodge dealership, and his response is, Dont worry about it, they all will throw out trouble codes when youre working the engine hard IE: towing 4000+ pounds up 6000 feet. He was right, a few hours later the light and codes go away.

We pull into Las Vegas after midnight and decide to crash in the boat at a truck stop. Wind is blowing around 40-50 MPH gusts, and its pouring rain. Get to bed around 1:15am. Im trying to sleep, but a pickup truck with 2 guys in it decide to park right next to us while they drink, and carry on with their stereo and cell phone use. I wake up to their truck door slamming shut, and their motor starting up. Just as I get a chance to pop up and look out the window, I see them peeling out as they leave the lot sideways! Im now thinking wonder what they just did to the boat, truck or who knows what? But, Im too tired to check, and even if they did something, theres nothing I can do. Theyre already gone. We get up around 7:00am and check out everything. Nothing was done. Everything is A ok. We continue to Long Beach.

We get to Barstow around 9:00-10:00 (Wed AM) (I forget. . . time changes etc.) Grab breakfast at the Dennys. Every stop (180-200 miles) were checking everything on the truck, trailer, & boat. I made a checklist, and we dont pull away until we check everything off. One thing I noticed was at each stop, the base of the pivoting mast, was getting looser and looser. We finally pulled of at an on ramp, and in the rain & wind, pulled the mast base off, and tightened up the bolt that the mast pivots on. I found this very strange that it would loosen up so quickly.

We followed your directions and I must say, they were great. Got there on the first try! Yay! We pulled into the parking lot, and paid for 3 days. We checked out everything and noticed that there was no hose for rinsing off the trailer or boat. Since we havent showered, we decided to look around for the public showers. We couldnt find them so we asked someone, and he politely told us that if we dont have a boat slipped here, were outta luck. Another bummer. We then headed out to find the harbor office to get some weather info, and a slip. Like you predicted, wind was strong, and the water was too choppy for us to go on Wednesday.

We finally found the office and when I asked the guy who worked there if he new what the weather was going to be like tomorrow, he had no idea. Instead, he gave me the phone number for the lifeguard? I said, you work here, at a marina, and you cant tell me anything about the weather tomorrow? He said, call the lifeguard, maybe hull tell you. When I asked about where can we rent or get a hose to rinse off stuff, he said they dont have one! I then said, okay, since we arent allowed to spend the night on the boat in the parking lot, can we get a slip for the night. He said, we dont have any slips available! (With every answer Im getting a little more irritated!) I then say, we just drove 20 hours from Colorado, and paid for 3 days parking, since we cant leave the marina due to weather, and you cant give us a slip, can we at least get our money back? Nope, we dont give any refunds. All I can say is, Alamitos marina personnel are NOT on my Christmas list!

We pull out of the lot, realizing that we are not going to be able to get back in without paying AGAIN. Oh well!

At this point Im desperately seeking a margarita! I call one of my cousins in Murrieta, and we decide on dinner at a Mexican restaurant of her choice. Not wanting to just drop in for the night we decide to get a motel room. We pull into a gas station and ask for directions to the nearest motel. Theres none in Murrieta they reply. The nearest one is in Lake Ellsinore (sp?). We pull into this Travelodge and realize that to turn around all 51 feet of us, is going to take some doing. We pay for a room, and while Im in the process of parking the truck & boat 180 degrees from the only entrance/exit. Ive now got the permanent residents in awe, as this looks like the only excitement theyve seen in a long time. We open the door to the room, and between the dead spiders in their webs on the ceiling, and the coating of whatever, on the used to be carpet. . . I think, we get our highly needed shower.

Not risking leaving the boat in the lot, we pull out and drive to Murrieta. We hook up with the relatives, and partake in some of the best Mexican food and drinks Ive had in a long time.

Its now about 10:30 pm so we head back to our wonderful room, which Im sure they also rent out on an hourly basis. After talking about sleeping on the boat and just using the room for the shower, we decide that our luck cant get any worse. We risk pulling down the sheets and behold, theyre clean. (at least to the naked eye.)

We get up around 9:00am (Thursday) convinced that the weather is going to be a repeat, and figure out what to do. Surprisingly, the weather is beautiful, so we drive back to Alamitos Bay. On the way, we stop at a Lowes, and get a hose.  We pay again (just for 1 day) and are all fired up about sailing out to Catalina. We are now bummed that we didnt leave the motel earlier, as the weather is great. We rig the boat, launch it, and tie it off at the dock. Pull the trailer out and use our new hose to rinse. Load all our stuff. My daughter pushes off the bow, then the stern and jumps in. I push the throttle forward and nothing happens. MY CABLE HAS JUST SNAPPED. I have no throttle, no reverse, no nothing. . . and Im heading for another tied up boat. . . with the motor running in gear! I kill the motor. The mast is also down as we need to go under a bridge. I kill the ignition just in time and we stop the boat and tie off without making contact. I pull apart the shift mechanism and realize what I already know. . . theres nothing I can do. Even if I could get it repaired, its now 2:30pm Thursday. My window is now, or never.

To put it mildly, Im quite perturbed. Ive only had this boat for less than 1 year, and Ive been constantly reminding the dealer that my throttle is not right. Ive taken it in to them for repairs and adjustments, but I know something is still not right. Its too hard to shift. 40-50 lbs of pressure is not right! In fact, 3 days before I left on this trip, the dealer let me dry try a different type of cable and is going to hook me up with it for only $180.

Now we have another problem. How to get it back on the trailer. The water is too deep to wade in, and youd need like 100 feet of dock lines to pull it to the trailer. No choice but to motor it back on. Luckily, the cable broke in forward gear. When I start the motor, it instantly goes forward. At idle speed, but at least, forward. I get out and back the trailer down the ramp. Get back into the boat, and circle around for the trailer. Ive got a crosswind, so I drop about a foot of dagger board. (can you see whats coming?) Im lined up perfect with the trailer, and so concerned that I wont have enough momentum to get on the trailer that. . . whack. . . instant stop. Sh#%!. And the worst thing is, I have an audience! My daughter pushes me off the trailer, and I go around again. (Id have been lost if it werent for her.) This time no dagger board. Im crabbing? my way back to the trailer, closer, closer, contact! Houston, we DONT have a problem.

Only damage was a smashed clearance light, and one of the starboard bunk bolts was sheared off.

We pull the boat out, rinse and de-rig everything. Its now 5:30pm Thursday. Lets go get a room and just forget about everything.

When youre 51 feet long, you look at motels in a different way. Especially their parking lots. Motel after motel we try to get a room. There are no vacancies to be found. One of the managers said that the Grand Prix was in town hence the vacancy problems. We even tried a Wal-Mart. No overnight parking signs everywhere. We decided to head away from the Long Beach area, as the motels farther away may have vacancies. We finally find one in Anaheim. Got to bed at 1:30am Friday.

Got up at 7:30am Friday to do something fun. ANYTHING! How about Disneyland! Yeah, At least Ill be able to something boat related. . . Pirates of the Caribbean! ARRGGH! One of my favorite rides. Parked in oversized parking for $12, $79 each to enter, and you guessed it. . . Pirates of the Caribbean is CLOSED! What else is going to go wrong?

Luckily, nothing else. Got back home Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm. Definitely learned some things on this trip:

1. When you fix your mast for a road trip, tighten the 9/16 bolt that holds the mast base to the bow pulpit tightly. Going there, I just had the bolt through the nylon insert, and the large pivot bolt was vibrating loose. On the way back, I tightened it, and whalla, no loosey! 
2. Bring your own hose.
3. Remember your placement of the dagger board!
4. When traveling with the mast in the crutch, have the sail slide groove side up. We had it pointing down, and the constant bouncing down the road chewed the aluminum. Nothing a little file and some sandpaper couldnt fix, but damage that could have been prevented.
5. Dont use nylon come-along tie down straps to secure your stern to the trailer without some sort of padding between the nylon strap & the gel coat. I guess the constant flapping in the breeze down the road, created nice rub marks in the gel coat. Some pretty deep. 1/32 of an inch in spots.

Overall, we towed over 2300 miles. Had to add some grease to the hubs only twice, and not one lug nut loosened. All were torqued to 100 ft lbs. Dry. In fact I have over 4000 miles on the trailer in less than 1 year, and zero lug/bearing issues.

Since the trip, my cables have been replaced with Uflex ones. Dont know the model but thats what the dealer said he did. And theyre blue! No, they dont match the boat. My god! Shifts are now effortless. Seriously, 2 finger shifts!  Im convinced that the resistance created by the old cables causing the shifts to be so damn difficult, is what fatigued the cables causing the failure.

I pulled my dagger board this past Saturday, and no damage. I thought for sure that it could have been cracked or a chunk taken out, but surprisingly nothing.

Thats my 5 day trek.

---Harrison

[Theo]

Harrison,

Bummer to hear about all the difficulties on your trip!

I think you showed some incredible creativity and resience.

NEXT TIME CALL ME!! You have my number and I only live about fifteen minutes from Alamitos. No problem camping in my cul de sac. I also could have found a mech to replace your cable in a jiffy.

Surprised to hear Alamitos was so full. I always call before hand and reserve a spot and prepay it.

Next time drop me a line. I plan to try and make a Catalina run this summer as I am taking it off.

Look at the bright side though, you probably used up ten years of bad luck on that trip.

Theo

Yeah, in retrospect the Grand Prix could be why the marina is so full too. Cheap lodging! The Grand Prix is a big deal in Long Beach and the town goes nuts for a week.

[aya16]

About 22 miles to the north of long beach you will find Marina Del ray, There are wash racks and you can stay in the boat over night in the parking lot, Showers are available with a slip, about 100 yards from the ramp. Many hotels around the area. Its an extra 10 miles to Catalina though. You didnt say what kind of engine you have but there is a Mac dealer within walking distance plus two west marines you can walk to from the ramp. There are two outboard dealers a few miles from the ramp. And if you come again use the resources of this site by getting in touch with one of us (pm) before you go.

Long beach is a very big comercial harbor and is not very private boater friendly, There are many things there for the private boater but they are spread out a bit. Not to far from where you launched your boat there is a west marine they might have had your cable.

Mdr is a privat boaters harbor and the biz. around there caters to them a little more. I keep my boat there and would be more than happy to help anyone that comes down if I was around, about every weekend.

I have been boating for a long time and if your not In the know here in Calif. Its hard to enjoy yourself with all the strange rules. If you were to ask someone that works at Marina Del Ray where you can camp overnight
you will be directed about 15 miles north next to the waiste management plant and told that thats the only camping allowed around the beach areas.
They wont point out the slips that you can see from the ramp that are mostly empty year round. or tell you that you can stay in the ramp area.
as long as you have a boat trailer hooked up to your motorhome or truck.
so. cal is very unfreindly place as far as being helpfull to visitors. As the workers are not taught to be helpfull or even pleasant. I dont understand this because the harbor dept. at mdr is set up for the private boater, They spend tons of money on stuff that makes you scratch your head. Like in the harbor dept fence area they have two newer boston whaler boats with new four stroke engines sitting there set up for recreation, not a working boat. They have 6 or 7 24 foot sailboats in their slips used for what?
Maybe for the employees I dont know, but they are never used. They have a rack of kyacks never used.

The parking patrol will give you a ticket within an hour of parking there if your in violation, like your parking stub is upside down or the machine didnt print you one. I have a parking pass that Im suposed to display on my dash, I get a new one every 6 months, I once had a disagreement with a parking patrol guy because the signiture on my pass was faded a little from the sun. He was going to give me a ticket, If I wasnt right there he would have.

My point is I guess is its a good idea to let one of us know when you are coming and we can be very helpfull in avoiding such things.
Sorry your trip was not easy.

Some of the rules are to keep full time campers from useing up the parking spaces at the ramps, They dont have boats but bring motorhomes
and try to stay for a long time. I have seen many of these and the funny thing is they know how to get around the rules. So as the Marinas crack down on this the out of state boater is left high and dry. If you come again I would suggest MDR and a temp slip. It has elect. and water and its around 18 dollars a day plus your parking (8 dollars a day) you have full access to showers also. You can also get to do what you came for in the first place, relax, even if the sea conditions wont let you go to Catalina MDR offers some great sailing and most everything you need is walkable.
Bikes work better though. So if you come again let me know Ill send you a step by step plan of action.

[Captain Steve]

Harrison,

I was at Disneyland on Friday and Saturday.....waited 85 minutes for Space Mountain...got to the front, where they ask you to step onto the number to enter the car and ....boom ...the ride shuts down and everyone has to leave. Also bummed about Pirates not being opened!

[Tom Root]

Harrison,

As you should already know, all of us have had equally disasterous results on outings.

My worst was last year, to the same destination, Catalina!

I should some day, relate my WHOLE episode, as many unforseen events transpired also!

I will say, that with all the Mac owners out there, maybe we can possibly consider a thread that is stickied at the top of this forum to those who would be able to help with local access issues.

Even though I was a mere 100 miles away, when I launched, it would have been comforting to know someone in the area, who could possibly assist with local information. As it was, I spent 3 days in a Target store parking lot fixing a trailer bearing because NO One was available for simple info! Phone books didn't help, as it was a Friday, Saturday & Sunday when I was there!

Anyone on here, if you are traveling to Oceanside, or even San Diego for that matter, contact me beforehand, by Email, I'll gladly supply you with contact numbers for me.

In the event off assistance is needed, I would gladly help a fellow Mac owner....in a heartbeat, in ANY way I can!!

[James V]

Call in advance!!

In Florida crusing almost all marinas accept reservations, so calling in advance is a very good idea.

Some even take reservations 240 days in advance.

Which reminds me, my November trip.......

[Mark Karagianis]

Can you come back for our May 19-21 Catalina Trip? Check out the thread under Upcoming Events, "New Catalina Cruise to Isthmus and Raft Up". There's going to be tons of Macs and even Rodger Macgregor will be there with his Mega-Mac. If you can't make it for this one, try to regularly follow this section and arrange your next trip to mesh with one of the group trips. We would like to meet you. And gas probably won't get too much higher . . .

Hope that your next trip is better.

Mark

[aya16]

maybe we could set up some kind of network, that has contact info for all areas, for instance if I wanted to go to lake mead, I have never been there before, There might be someone willing to share their info and I could email them a week or so before with my questions. I know everyone has a fav. place and their would be some debate as to where would be the best place to go. Like coming from Colorado to s.cal.
There was a thread about where to go some thought that Long Beach would be best and some thought MDR would be better. This tends to confuse those coming so this info needs to be thought out and givin with
the thought in mind about the persons needs. This would be direct questions from the visitor. And if the person answering doesnt know or cant find out than he needs to honest so someone else can answer.

I live in long beach and prefer to boat out of MDR for a reason, Long Beach is great for day sailing or jump off for Catalina but is a very hard to find a place to stay overnight before you go. A slip would be about the only way to do it. There are bridges to contend with and lots of comercial traffic. But there is alot of places to anchor off if you have everyting you need on the boat as the best places to anchor are a good couple miles from any service. These things would be very usefull to a visitor.

Mdr has slips available right near the launch ramp and they are first come first serve no res. But during the week they are easy to get. so a recomendation that who ever is coming would be there by Thursday to assure they get one during the summer. There is also a time limit of 7 days per month. So an extended trip like two weeks would require some other plans.

Maybe a seperate board that covers the contact info for any givin place.
anyway I would be more than happy to share info I have and Im sure others would too.

[Harrison]

Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. This site is priceless! I wouldnt be anywhere near I am today if it werent for all the information shared by everyone on this list. Thanks again.

Regarding the cable issue; I did see the West Marine at the harbor when I explored the area the previous day. When the cable broke, replacing it popped into my mind (as well as some other not-so-nice thoughts), but like I said, Thursday afternoon was my last opportunity to leave for Catalina. (I didnt want to arrive in the dark) I wanted to spend the night in Avalon. This gave me Friday to sail back, and Sat & Sun for the drive back. We needed to be back at work & school on Monday.

Slips: Several people suggested that I should call ahead and reserve them, as the weekends fill up quickly. Since this was a midweek trip, I assumed my chances would be better. Oops! So as my daughter would say. . my bad! Obviously I wont do that again.

The May 19-21 Catalina trip sounds inviting. Where is everyone going to leave from?

Another thing; For those that leave from home at a high altitude place, to sail to a destination at sea level, bring a hand pump and needle, to fill your fenders. Here in Boulder, the atmospheric pressure is a whopping 12.4 psi. The 14.7 sea level pressure flattened ours. A minor detail I forgot about.

Here are some photos.

Arriving at Alamitos:


Riggin' the boat:


Look. . .it floats!


Stopping to get an "In & Out Burger" before we go find a motel:

[BK]

Harrison, As you inquired about the May trip to Catalina with Roger, believe you should have left the boat in storage here in Socal until better weather in the summer. A 4000 mile tow is too much for just 5 days here. You could easily spend 5 days in catalina. Then there is the Mexican Gulf trips and the Channel Islands are good in the summer.
You could leave the boat here in MDR and fly in when the weather is good.

[Pouw Geuzebroek]

Since the trip, my cables have been replaced with Uflex ones. Dont know the model but thats what the dealer said he did. And theyre blue!

Wow.. Blue cables, I wander how fast your boat in now. I had the cables on my X replaced last week, it looked as if they where stuck due to corrosion. The dealer only had the short cables in stock. So I had to make a new whole out the back like you have on the M. But they run ever so smooth now (and they are not even blue). Far less bends, just one from the bottom of the pedestal to the back. While the old long cables had to go all the way to the starboard side first, making 3 sharp bends.