Cruising Along the Channel Islands 339 



The resorts of the world famous for "perfect 

 climate" are those in France and Italy along the 

 Riviera, visited by thousands of Americans who travel 

 across seas and continents in search of a mild climate, 

 not realising that in three and one half or four days they 

 can reach from New York an American Riviera, the 

 coast line of Southern California, far surpassing any 

 locality in Europe in its climatic perfections. To em- 

 phasise this the following table may be referred to 

 showing the difference between the monthly mean 

 temperature of the resorts of the European Riviera 

 and Southen California, January and July: 



Rome, Italy 25 Nice, France 30 



Naples, " 30 Cairo, Egypt 27 



Jacksonville, Fla 28 Florence, Italy 33 



Auckland, N. Z 19 Avalon, Cal 11 



Coronado, Cal 12 Santa Barbara, Cal. . . . 13 



No records are available as to the islands of San 

 Clemente, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa, but doubtless 

 very similar conditions hold, as the climate from Santa 

 Barbara to Coronado, including the near-shore islands, 

 is as near perfect as can be found, being invariably 

 milder than the interior. 



In cruising among the channel islands in winter, the 

 yachtsman will occasionally experience north-westers 

 and south-easters, but the rule is a succession of clear 

 and beautiful days. Santa Catalina Island has a good 

 harbour in Avalon except when a south-easter blows ; 



