We arrived at Willows Anchorage on Santa Cruz island and immediately found a beautiful beach that appeared to be untouched. We decided the swells had calmed down so we would launch the dinghy and head for the beach. We strategized our plan of attack. We will get the dinghy on top of the surf, give the engine more throttle and ride it down the back side of the wave onto the beach while lifting the motor and then quickly hop out. Well, that was a successful landing. The beach was sunny and beautiful.
After hanging out for awhile we noticed the surf had gotten steep again. Oh no! We made several attempts to wade out in the water with the dinghy with each of us holding a side but the water had so much force it took the boat right out of my hand and knocked me down and drug Kevin underwater. He knew he couldn’t let go of the dinghy. That’s why you see in the picture Kevin’s life vest inflated. Note to self: Wear a regular life jacket when attempting beach landings in the dinghy. The C02 cartridge in the water activated vest went off. The waves were repeatedly crashing into the stern of the dinghy and filling it with water and sand and the portable gas tank was floating upside down.
This is the first time water has scared me. I couldn’t believe its force. In this picture the water looks calm just like it did in the binnoculars. The dinghy is a heavy boat with an aluminum bottom with a 108 lb. outboard motor. The waves were literally throwing the boat around. There was finally a short lull in the waves so we decided to aim the boat facing outward and when the waves retreated Kevin said “go”. We ran and both jumped in the dinghy and Kevin started the motor and off we went flying over the surf. Whew!
I came back to the boat and made us margaritas while Kevin drove the dinghy around to make sure he got all the water out of the engine. We raised the dinghy out of the water and it was full of sand. This whole time I was trying to keep the camera and phones from floating away in the dry bag. I don’t know how to convey in words how alarming this ordeal was. We’ve learned so much about cruising in this first month we’ve been out but we still need to refine some of our techniques.
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