We sailed from Ventura to Marina del Ray without incident, a little over 10 hours. We were here for only four days, but super nice marina again (yaaas!) and a great location overall. We went to an awesome happy hour at Salt, got the boat holiday ready, did some Christmas shopping, got my mani on. T met up with his childhood friend Philip from Massachusetts, who later joined us on the boat. They’d talked, but hadn’t seen one another for 30+ years. 

We decided to spend the holidays on Catalina Island, so sailed to Avalon. Kicked off a lovely Christmas with Chef T’s famous coffee cake — which never disappoints — and then ice cold champagne, the afore-mentioned Trader Joe’s cheese puffs, and bouillabaise for New Year’s Eve dinner. It was overcast and a bit chillier than expected, but nice when the sun was out, Since we were at anchor and trying to conserve water, showering wasn’t as accessible. Public showers ($3/5 minutes) were functional but nowhere near posh. Flip flops a must, and not a place you’d want to linger. Nevertheless, they did the trick and defunkified us.

We also played mini golf at one of the most beautifully landscapes courses I’ve ever seen. I won – as I love and tend to do — and pulled off 3 (!) holes in one, thank you very much, It was actually a close game, but the queen reigned victorious at the end. We also watched the 49ers play (and lose again) at Fix Biergarten, a cute little outdoor bar. Oh, and heads up: If you want to have a package delivered to the Avalon Post Office, don’t have a deadline.

Onward!