Ventura and Oxnard, October 7th 2011

We finally left Santa Barbara on Friday, October 7th bound for Ventura Harbor. It was a short 4-hour cruise with light winds. We motored most of the way and had an escort of large gray bottle nose dolphin part of the way. The water was so clear we could see the dolphin clearly 10-feet below the surface. Ventura Harbor was very big and modern and supported both commercial and recreational boats, but it didn't have the character as Santa Barbara.  The marina was next to the Channel Islands National Park Headquarters, so we walked over for a look at their displays of the Channel Islands. We read about the wildlife on the islands and the efforts being made to restore the islands to their pre-development condition. Some of the more populated islands like Catalina and San Clemente probably have less ambitious goals of restoration.

We stayed one night in Ventura then headed out again, this time bound for Catalina Island. We soon realized, however, that we'd never make port before nightfall, so we made an unscheduled stop at the Channel Islands Marina in Oxnard for the night.  The marina was only a few years old which is probably the reason it lacked many amenities that cruisers often need like a food market, liquor store and marine supply stores. This was the only stop we made where we didn’t take any photographs.