Hurricane Gulch: A Sailing Mecca

SAN PEDRO —Sailors are used to practicing patience on the water as they wait. Sometimes seconds, minutes or hours for that perfect wind gust. Mariners, windsurfers and paddleboarders who don’t like guessing games head to Cabrillo Beach at specific hours of the season to catch some wind. The location, known by locals as Hurricane Gulch, never disappoints with its consistent weather conditions. Where Air Systems Converge It’s local knowledge that the area known as Hurricane Gulch is situated around Point Fermin on the Palos Verdes Peninsula – which includes Cabrillo Beach – is perfect for wind activities. The Gulch’s wind phenomenon, according to Ryan Kittell, forecaster and Marine Program Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service, Los Angeles Oxnard, is created when air over the valleys warms and rises and mixes with air drawn in from cooler coastal areas. “This situation creates a westerly (west to east) wind along the Southern California coast each afternoon and evening when the valleys are warmest. As this air moves over the ocean toward the land, it encounters the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Catalina Island. Rather than go over these fairly high barriers against gravity, the air squeezes through the San Pedro Channel (the...