Re: electronics for ocean saftey
As you said, a VHF...and make sure you've got a good 8' antenna, too.
As Vez said, compass and paper chart are good; but it's not like you're sailing the wide open ocean here, you can see Catalina from Long Beach on a reasonably clear day. Lots of folks make that run "by eye." To be safe, I'd say a GPS and depthfinder ought to be enough, and a compass as backup so you can find your way east in the highly unlikely event things go real sour.
The waters between the mainland and Catalina are not that severe, even on the worst of days. Not to mention, that's a heavily traveled corridor...very heavily, actually, watch for cargo ships and tugs/barges. Basic safety stuff (the above, plus pfd's, flares, horn/whistle, etc.), some experience, a kicker motor (and/or SeaTow), and a sound boat and I wouldn't worry about it too much. And a spotlight would be good, both as a safety/signal device and to look out for nearshore floating kelp patties and such at dawn/dusk.
That said, what is your experience level, where (and what time of year) are you putting out from, and what's the boat?
EDIT: I do see you say "new to saltwater." Assuming you're putting out from L.A. County, Please do some tooling around Long Beach harbor, and a few short 1-2 mile kelpbed trips first, just to get yourself some salt experience.
