Fishing, kayaking, archery, cliff jumping, hiking, and so much more. These were how the days of summer were spent on Catalina Island.
"Forty kilometers in a leaky old boat
Any old thing that'll stay afloat
When we arrive we'll all promote romance, romance, romance, romance
Twenty- six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me
Santa Catalina, the island of romance, romance, romance, romance
Twenty- six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me"
Except for the romance (as far as I knew), those weeks on Catalina Island were full of learning and adventure!
The Boy Scouts Of America came through again and hosted the camp at Emerald Bay. It wasn't cheap to attend, but through fundraisers most of troop was able to make it.
Camp at Emerald Bay lasted for 5 days with a day for travel there and back. It's not a lengthy journey by sea from Long Beach. Organizing a troop of boys to stay in order is another story.
First Flying Fish Sightings
As the song goes, Catalina sits roughly 26 miles from the right point. It takes about 7 hours to get there doing ten knots from where I live in Oceanside. The trip is much shorter from Long Beach.
Traveling on a large ferry, several scouts forgot to take their Dramamine. Either that or it simply didn't help. Even back then, I wasn't heavilypp affected by the rocking motion of the ship. Flying fish were only a story I'd heard until that first voyage across.
Settling In
Our campsites consisted of military style tents that sat up slightly on wood platforms. We had hammocks for beds that weren't too comfortable, at least not until we wore ourselves out.
One thing I'll never forget about camping on these kinds of trips in the Boy Scouts? Do whatever it takes to choose a good tent companion. It wasn't just Catalina. The wrong tent mate can make you want to wander off into the woods for good.
First Night - Wild Boar Attacks!!
I tell no lies, except for the part about them attacking. Wild boars were common on Catalina at that time and came into our tents looking for food. They found some, too, by the sounds of it. One scout showed me the teeth marks in his metal bowl.
A group of us decided to stay up the next night and guard our camp. No way those beasts were going to be allowed to violate our campsite again! They came anyway, but we did a decent job of driving them back.
Dressed in all black and armed with small stones, we turned a few of those tusks around, tails wagging in the dust. That probably broke some law.
Pet Black Flies On A String
Another stupid thing we did (ok, it was my idea) was to catch these enormous black flys that would hover around the wild brush. Then we (I'd) take a bit of thread from my sowing kit and tie one end to the fly. To one of its big legs.
It didn't make sense to me why other people didn't appreciate my pet fly as much as I did. String on a finger and fly buzzing around on the other end, it makes better sense to me now.
Hundreds Of Activities To Choose From
We did have to choose from some of them, for it was a Boy Scout camp after all. There was order to different activities but we also were allowed a decent amount of free time. It explains the flies.
Archery was fun. Most boys were too young to handle a compound bow so they provided non-pulley bows for us to use. My shot wasn't bad but I was better with the .22 rifle.
I visited the rifle range on a couple occasions marking the first time I shot a real gun. We fired from the prone position after learning about gun safety. My aim was true but not marksmanship quality. At least I hit the target with nice groupings.
Cliff Jumping & Fishing
These were fun (and not necessarily condoned) escapades we did during free time. Emerald Bay is nothing like Avalon, the city that comes to mind for many when Catalina is brought up.
Named after green water, Emerald Bay is on the far side of the island from Avalon. Its tough and rugged coastline gives way to coves and caves in that area. We took advantage of the coves for fishing and cliff jumping.
I've mentioned the cliff jumping in recent writings, but not the fishing. Cove fishing wasn't the best. I quickly discovered the presence of too many Moray Eels for the non-wire line I had with me.
I was able, however, to wrestle a Moray out of the rocks with a giant treble hook and pieces of squid for bait. Peeled and cooked over the campfire, that had to be the worst tasting eel I've ever eaten.
Mandatory Activities
We were at Emerald Bay to have fun but there were also structured events. Boy Scouts earn merit badges to advance and that was what we were there, in part, to do.
Most of the events were activities that would qualify for passing a requirement of a merit badge. Being that we were camping right next to the open Pacific Ocean, many of these events were water related.
There was a mile swim, which I had no interest in attempting. Later in life while I was in Junior Lifeguards, swimming a mile was a mere cakewalk. Swimming, Lifesaving, Canoeing, Kayaking, Water Sports, and Fishing were the types of badges we worked towards.
Catalina Is For Squid - San Clemente Island Is For Fishing
Those week long camps at Catalina are long gone but taught me so much as a young man. Mostly what not to do to stay out of trouble. Later in life I ended up getting back out there in a very different capacity.
I fished and worked on the Oceanside 95 and have made a couple trips to San Clemente Island. You can see Catalina about 15 miles away from SCI (San Clemente Island). For anglers, Catalina is a great place to stop by and pick up some live squid.
There's usually a boat selling it outside of Avalon Bay and it works wonders for hooking sportfish. A quick jaunt over to SCI with squid can be very productive for anglers.
Yellowtail are always around with bass on the inside kelp lines. Tuna are on the outside of SCI in season and there are thousands of rockpiles to drop down to.
"Twenty- six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me
Santa Catalina, the island of romance, romance, romance, romance
Water all around it everywhere
Tropical trees and the salty air
But for me the thing that's a-waitin' there-romance
It seems so distant, twenty-six miles away
Restin' in the water serene
I'd work for anyone, even the Navy
Who would float me to my island dream"
Song by Four Preps - 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
Thanks for reading and as always...
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