We all have stories about an island crossing that went sideways.

IT IS TIME TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THOSE STORIES

We have all had that feeling. We needed, wanted, absolutely had to get out to the Catalina West End, sometimes for good reasons, but generally, it just sounded cool to go.

Most of the time, the gods of the sea look after us despite hangovers, tough schedules, forgetfulness, half baked thinking. 

Occasionally, Neptune, Triton, Poseidon, Mother Nature, the Sirens, all remind us who is actually in charge and a crossing becomes an adventure. 

The purpose of “How Was Your Crossing” is to collect those stories to share, learn and laugh.

WE  WANT YOUR STORIES FOR A BOOK.

We are not joking.  This is how it will work. Our friends will submit their stories through any means that is easiest (more on that below). Rick Westberg and Aaron Davis will edit down and review with you. You will have final edit rights to your story and you can publish anonymously if you would like. We will pull together into a compilation. We will then add some artwork thanks to modern technology (pictures are always welcome). With a final electronic version, we will use Amazon Kindle Publishing to produce hard copies. When we have a hard copy, we will have a book launch party, sometime around July 4th. We don’t envision any profits, but anything we make after our personal investment and the launch party will be donated to a west end youth program.

YOU WILL HAVE FINAL EDIT RIGHTS BEFORE WE PUBLISH. YOU WILL RECEIVE AN E-COPY.

How to submit your stories:

EMAIL TO: eaarondavis@gmail.com and rfwestberg@hotmail.com

Follow the outline: 1.Where did you start, 2.What was your boat 3.Who was with you 4.What happened, 5.What did you learn.

Other ways to send your story:

Grab your phone, open “voice memo”,  tap “record”, speak your story to the phone, tap “share” and email to eaarondavis@gmail.com

If you can’t figure out the above or just want someone to talk to, call Aaron Davis or Rick Westberg, we will interview you, capture and produce a summary

EXAMPLE STORY FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT - THIS REALLY HAPPENED

 BY AARON DAVIS

ORIGIN: DANA POINT

VESSEL: 39’ MAINSHIP SINGLE SCREW DIESEL

ABOARD: :Aaron Davis, Ed Davis, Matt Davis, Ashley Lott, Jay Lott, Taylor Lott (about age 2), and Kevin Ryan (mechanic)

PURPOSE: First trip of the summer in new boat

WEATHER:  Early on, beautiful, but by mid day, 25 knots wind, 4-6' sea

July 2010. My parents Edward and Josephine Davis had recently purchased a 39 foot Main Ship trawler. The main ship had been outfitted that spring. My mother desperately wanted a water maker as they'd be spending significant long time at the island. They were still awaiting some final pieces of the watermaker as Fourth of July weekend approached.

They were also in a Dana Point guest slip, With a planned departure of July 1. The parts have not arrived yet. they were supposed to be FedEx for arrival that morning. The mechanic would travel with us to make the crossing and install the final parts while we were underway. The other interesting thing about this trip, my brother had run into Jay and Ashley Lott the night before at the Express terminal as they had missed their boat from San Pedro. They had their little baby Taylor who was maybe two at the time. My brother being the welcoming person that he is, invited the Lotts with their young baby to make the crossing on the new boat the following morning.

Again, remember we had never taken this boat before and we would have a mechanic aboard finishing up some work. We all arrived early at the marina with a loaded boat and mechanic and no parts, where we waited we waited. Eventually after lunch and finally parts arrived. It was well past one o'clock and we are now what we are making way in a 39 foot single screw trawler, maybe at 10 knots. We were also towing my 13 foot whaler as it was the beginning of the season and we wanted to get all of our boats out to FJYC.

After about three hours we were just off Avalon. The wind began to really pick up, right on our bow. The sea conditions built up as well, easily four to six as we banged our way due west. Poor Taylor Lott was getting seasick and Jay was doing the best he could to keep her entertained and feeding her goldfish crackers.

Just off Empire landing, chaos erupted. My father had gone down to for water, as he climbed up the stair way to the flybridge the radar arch snapped, and fell backwards missing him by inches. Seconds later, Taylor lot vomited all over Jay, a volcano of orange goldfish crackers erupted. And almost at the same moment, there was a loud "pop" and the tow line for the 13’ whaler had snapped. While we all collected our breath, we were still in four to six foot seas with at least five miles to go.

As Jay wiped off of the goldfish puke we had to come up with a plan to retrieve the whaler. I donned a life jacket and my brother took the helm. We had to do 180 degree turn in four to six foot seas. He powered up to make a sharp turn, We heaved what felt like at least 30 degrees to port, eventually correcting and heaving all the way back over to starboard, all hanging on for dear life. And we came along side whaler. We timed the swells and I leaped into the bow, falling into the floor where it was filled with water. Bruised and a little bloodied, but safe I was able to start the engine and start making a little bit of way. The Mainship still had to turn around once again back into the seas. My brother powered up and once again performed a maneuver to flip the boat back around and come back to the west. we finally made it around the corner of blue cavern r and picked up A 11 in the isthmus, surprisingly without an incident. When we get to the mooring, the mechanic popped his head out, covered in sweat and blood from his forehead like proudly declaring that the watermaker was working. The Lotts were ready for a long break from that boat and the Davis family 

WHAT DID I LEARN:  No kids on a new boat. And if you are trying to shove too much into too little time - the likelihood of something going sideways increases exponentially.

SEND US YOUR STORIES!!!!

Email eaarondavis@gmail.com and rfwestberg@hotmail.com with this outline:

1.Where did you start

2.What was your boat:

3.Who was with you

4.What happened

5.What did you learn.

OR

Grab your phone, open “voice memo”,  tap “record”, speak your story to the phone, tap “share” and email to eaarondavis@gmail.com

If you can’t figure out the above or just want someone to talk to, call Aaron Davis or Rick Westberg, we will interview you, capture and produce a summary

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