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AVALON, CATALINA ISLAND - October blew in with a Gale watch which resulted in a small craft advisory on the first Saturday of the month. With the beginning of Lobster season and the first weekend of Jazz Trax, the strong winds were not welcomed and prevented the harbor from filling up. Fortunately, the winds subsided by Monday allowing for the "Paradise" to visit on Tuesday the 6th, the "Elation" on Wednesday and Celebrity's "Millennium" to arrive on Friday on it's way from Alaska to the Caribbean via the Panama Canal. Hurricane Rick in Mexico caused the "Sapphire Princess" to alter its course and call on Avalon on the 21st. The "Mercury" and its passengers spent the day in Avalon on the 22nd.
Forecasts of a wet winter looked promising when we received our first shower during the night of the 13th measuring only .04 but with hopes of more to come. The evening of the 14th brought .35 inches - not the deluge the weather reports called for, but a nice sprinkling.
The predictions of warm weather for the third weekend were correct and boaters enjoyed a few more summer-like days. The very warm day on Friday brought dense fog on Saturday which finally cleared in the afternoon. The 4th weekend brought more warm weather and lots of visitors with the inner harbor filling up early on Friday. The beautiful weekend was followed by gale force winds beginning on Tuesday forcing the cancelling of the last Express boat and several distress calls.
The 23rd Annual Jazz Trax Festival was once again held the first three weekends. Dana Point Yacht Club with almost 30 boats, Balboa Basin Yacht Club and Channel Cruising Club all visited the weekend of the 23rd. With favorable windy conditions on the weekend of the 10th the Long Beach Yacht Club sailboat race to Long Point was held bringing several boats to the harbor afterwards to spend the night. Horizon Yacht Club visited the last weekend of the month with 12 boats.
October 2009 stats are as follows:
People aboard boats: 6,304
Vessels Moored: 1,576
Vessels Anchored: 181
Lost/Found Reports: 2/12
Accident Reports: 0
Average Temp - High: 70
Average Temp - Low: 58
Average Sea Temp: 69
Rain: .39
Moorings Sold/transferred: 3
Citations Issued: 5
Discharges: 0
Cruise Ship Passengers:
Paradise - 4 weeks: 9,087
Elation - 3 weeks: 7,001
Millennium/Sapphire/Mercury: 6,507
Total Cruise Ship: 22,595
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