Some advice on boating and scuba in LA

[redfox]

My buddie is a diver and I been wanting to get in to it. I live in La and would like to boat out to Catalina for camping and diving. I been looking at getting a boat that I can use at the rivers and the ocean. I been told that anything smaller than a 20' is not wise to take out from LA to Catalina. But other say its fine. I have been looking at a few 17-19' 1976+ SEA RAY style.

If anyone could point me to a website where I could learn more about sea boating. I been around this website and diving is very exciting.

Thank anyone for there help!

 

[saintsfan]

I have a 20' cabin cruiser and i have no problems taking it to catalina,I have taken a 16' center console over also, but i do feel safer with a cabin just in case a wave breaks over the bow.as far as a website I dont know of one, there is a boating forum on this board that i am sure you can get answers to your ??? If you do get a boat and take it in the ocean I highly recommend vessel assist or one of the other boat towing company's its like 89$ a year,I've never had to use it but it is nice knowing its there and it costs close to a grand to get towed from catalina if you dont have it.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Definately get Vessel Assist. The cost of one tow without it equals more than a few years of coverage. I have a 22 foot Crestliner. I have also made close to 100 trips to Catalina on my old 22 foot Columbia sailboat as well as my 12 foot Achilles inflatable. It has to be a nice, flat day to take the inflatable across the channel, but I did it at least 25 times. I would also recommend taking the Coast Guard Auxiliary boating class.

 

[redfox]

Thanks everyone! I will look in to the towing option. And I have been looking into the USCG courses over the summer (On a three month break for work).

How long does it take to get there roughly? And what are the best times to go to avoid big swells?

I know this is the wrong forum, what is the correct one?

 

[saintsfan]

it takes roughly an hour from long beach,i have made it in less with light swells and its taken me over 2 hours on a couple of occasions,morning is hands down the best time to get over there,i have been out where it looks like a calm lake(rare).theres a boating forum but you may not be able to get a lot of specific answers for this area,there are some knowlegable people there,and some are from this area.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

As the weather warms up the afternoons get pretty windy. Last Saturday was a perfect example of what it's like in the Summer. It was overcast, calm and the sea was flat in the morning. We went out for a couple of local wreck dives. By noon there were three foot wind waves with whitecaps as far as the eye could see. For trips to Catalina, I leave before 8:00 am and either come back before noon or wait until after sunset or even the next morning for the return trip. I've made way too many trips in the wind and swells. It really takes the fun out of the day.

 

[CJ_Albertson]

My buddie is a diver and I been wanting to get in to it. I live in La and would like to boat out to Catalina for camping and diving. I been looking at getting a boat that I can use at the rivers and the ocean. I been told that anything smaller than a 20' is not wise to take out from LA to Catalina. But other say its fine. I have been looking at a few 17-19' 1976+ SEA RAY style. ]

I've taken my boat to Catalina many times. It is absolutly amazzing
what I see other people do. Once I saw a wind surfer go across
by him self. He made it. I've seen 16ft open skiffs make it too.
Last Saturday we had winds out
in the channel to 20 knots and waves to 8 feet tall. On Sunday
it was like a lake, flat and calm 'till late Sunday when it picked
up a bit

Personally I think any boat would do IF (big IF) you choose your
weather. If you are willing to wait for acceptable conditions, fine.
BUt what hapens if you are in Avalon? JUst be prepared to
take the ferry home or wait 'till night time. At a minimum you
need aboat can take waves over the bow, those guys with
open skiffs are nuts.

You do need to learn about boating. Most of the time gong to
Catalina is dead easy but then can you navigate in dense fog.
What about plugged up fuel filters 10 miles off shore. You
need tobe able to handle litle things like that. Sounds easy
but have you ever ben dead in the water with an 800 foot
container ship headed your way? This kind of stuff happens
a lot, just liten the marine VHF-16 on any weekend. I'm not
saying "don't do it" no just the oposite but make sure you have
training and experiance there are a lot of incomptent clowns
out there

OK let's put it another way. What whould happen if they sold
SCUBA gear at Wallmart to anyone, no cert. required? Well
the smart folks would take a class, read up and dive with a buddy
but there'd be jerks out there killing themselves too.

They sell boats to anyone , no license or training required.....
You need to seek out training and gain experiance.