Cruising Along the Channel Islands 335 



even when the wind is low it is moving, and by lying 

 down on the dune it can be seen coming along the sur- 

 face in well-defined rivers. I noticed this particularly 

 on the outer islands of the Texan coast, where the sand 

 rivers in numbers of instances were blowing a distance 

 of a mile or more from the gulf across the flat to the 

 inner bay. They moved at about the same rate of speed 

 that a man would walk, and were incessant, and had 

 been for centuries ; yet the island retained about the 

 same shape, the loss of sand being equal to the supply. 

 The prevailing wind at San Miguel is north-west, and 

 wing and wing we fell away before it, leaving the in- 

 hospitable shores to make the harbour of Santa Barbara 

 with its splendid beach and tiers of houses rising one 

 above the other to the mountains of Santa Ynez. 

 Yachting 1 is a delightful diversion in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, and between the various resorts from Santa 

 Barbara to Coronado, or to San Diego, and the attract- 

 ive and beautiful islands offshore, the yachtsman has 

 ample choice. 



The climatic features of Southern California lend 

 themselves to produce very favourable conditions for 

 yachting. During the entire season, from May until 

 November, there will be no storms, squalls, cyclones, 

 thunder-storms, rain, or any of the conditions that hold 

 on the Atlantic Coast. Every day there is a west wind 

 that can be counted on, sometimes strong, sometimes 



1 None of the habitable islands of Southern California are open to the public ex- 

 cept Santa Catalina ; but permission to land can doubtless be obtained from 

 owners or lessees. 



