A Great Ta-Ta Welcome from Santa Barbara

One hundred and one sailors from 41 boats enjoyed perfect weather conditions for the SoCal Ta-Ta — Reggae ‘Pon Da Ocean’ — Kick-Off Party at Santa Barbara YC’s wonderful beach facility late yesterday. Entries came from as far north as San Francisco Bay and as far south as San Diego. The group includes everyone from circumnavigators such as Kurt and Katie Braun of the Alameda-based Deerfoot 74 Interlude to some relatively novice sailors.

For the last week the weather in Santa Barbara has been fabulous: sunny, warm, mostly dry, and fog-free. We were even opening the hatches in the middle of the night because it was so warm inside the boat. That’s not the norm. The great weather allowed Santa Barbara to show off its world-famous charm. And both Santa Barbara YC and the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol couldn’t have been more accommodating.

The Ta-Ta schedule calls for the fleet to anchor at Smuggler’s Cove at Santa Cruz Island tonight and tomorrow night, with sundowners aboard Profligate. On Wednesday night Vintage Marina Partners and Channel Islands Marina in Channel Islands will provide free berthing — as they did last year — for all boats in the fleet but multihulls. And Frank Laza, formerly of the Bay Area, again plans to shuttle everyone around in his 18-person Duffy Electric boat. The marinas and Laza are eager to show that Channel Islands is a great — but under-appreciated — destination. Channel Islands Marina will also be the site of a big Ta-Ta BBQ on the floating docks.

The last two stops will be Paradise Cove, around the corner from Pt. Dume, and Two Harbors, Catalina. We wish you were all here.