interesting day to Catalina

So I recently got my cast removed* and was able to go flying. I did
some local pattern work one day, then decided to go on a short XC to
AVX (Catalina Island) this weekend. I was a little rusty but
everything came back in short order.

Departing from CRQ(Carlsbad-Palomar) was hectic- we had santa ana
conidtions (desert winds from the east) which clears the air. And
clear air = lots of people flying. We departed just fine and got
flight following to our destination via Dana Point. So far so good.
But 1/2 across the ocean (30 miles) we noticed the gas cap had come
loose and was hanging off the right tank. There isn't much we can do,
by this point the nearest airport/land was our destination. I didn't
see any fuel leaking out and fuel consumption was normal. I was a
little concerned about moisture getting in but with humidity around
20% and the temp/dewpoint spread about 20 degrees I thought it would
be ok. I kept the right tank selected in case we were leaking- i hoped
to maximize my available fuel this way. What would others have done?

Keeping an eye on fuel and the open cap the rest of the flight was
rather uneventful. However with winds coming from the other direction
many local airports switch traffic patterns - Catalina did the same.
We landed LP 4, downhill with headwind. It took a longer to stop due
to the slope and for the first time I really noticed the contour
change in the runway. 2/3 of the runway is sloped, 1/3 is level. So
you cannot see one end of the runway from the other end, and I knew
this coming in. But after touching down and coming up on the bend I
didn't feel it! You tell yourself you have more runway but you don't
believe it. We taxied to transient and found a place to park. It was
very crowded and AVX almost ran out of rocks to chock the planes. FYI
the landing fee went up to $20 (from $10). We had the obigatory
buffalo burger and cookie, they were good as usual.

Departing AVX was a little interesting. Planes were landing both 4 AND
22. Santa Ana winds favored 4 but 'tower' changed the traffic pattern
to RP 22. The airport is almost always using 22 and people around here
get a little complacent- when we were using 4 many people came on CTAF
annoucing 22. The rest of the way back was good. All in all another
great day in the sky.

-lance smith

*I fell off a mountain