Snotty San Diego Marinas
Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 1:53 pm
SOOOoooo.. it was time for my long awaited vacation: trailering my rig to San Diego and staying at a marina for a couple of weeks, cruising the harbor, surfing, taking in all the sights, eating lots of sea food...
Everything was well planned, a 30' X 12' slip was booked at Kona Kai Marina, the truck ready to go. We pulled into Kona Kai to check in about noon the next day after driving for 10 hours the day before.
The Dock Master said that he was *very* sorry, but that he couldn't allow us to stay there. He wouldn't give me a straight answer, but I knew it was because we didn't fit in to their definition of "looks". To say that I was more than pissed was an understatement - but there was no way I was going to change his mind since it is private property. I am SO glad I didn't unload the boat first and motor up to the dock - it was still on my trailer.
On to the next marina - the Cabrillo Island. Same answer - same snotty attitude.
This was beginning to get irritating - it was getting late in the afternoon by now and driving around a confined area with a 50 foot long rig and no parking was starting to **** me off.
It's now about 3 o'clock and I pulled into Marina Cortez and shut the truck off. The girlfriend gave me a long look as I told her I would be back in a minute. I walked down to the marina office and told the manager my plight. She asked if I was driving the rig with the trailer parked on top of the pontoon boat. I hesitantly said "yes". She replied "That's pretty darned cool - how long would you like to stay?" I could have fallen off the dock.
We booked in for two weeks and had a GREAT stay -and here's the best part: Total damages for two weeks slip rent, including city water, 30 amp shore power, restrooms, showers, swimming pool, weight room AND parking for my truck: $240.00. That's $17.14 a NIGHT! (She gave us the discounted monthly rate) Heck, a dirt campground near the ocean runs $45.00 a night in Southern California!
We ended up having a fantastic time, met a lot of nice folks who were "live-in's" at the Marina, and had a lot of day cruises around the harbor, docking at some great restaurants on Coronado Island. We took a small Italian motor scooter with us, so we had "wheels" to travel all over the San Diego area without firing up the truck. It got about 75mpg with the two of us on board, and parking was a snap - we stuck it mostly in bike racks. I did have to rent a storage area for the trailer - they are completely unwelcome just about everywhere for more than a few hours. I gave a lot of impromptu tours of my boat and answered a LOT of questions. I had a lot of "old salts" tell me that my boat was extremely unsafe - and I just pointed to the 3 years worth of Coast Guard Safety Inspection stickers proudly displayed on the port side and said: "Hmmm, the US Coast Guard would appear to disagree with you."
San Diego is a great destination - just make sure you stay away from some of the stuck up marinas there.
Everything was well planned, a 30' X 12' slip was booked at Kona Kai Marina, the truck ready to go. We pulled into Kona Kai to check in about noon the next day after driving for 10 hours the day before.
The Dock Master said that he was *very* sorry, but that he couldn't allow us to stay there. He wouldn't give me a straight answer, but I knew it was because we didn't fit in to their definition of "looks". To say that I was more than pissed was an understatement - but there was no way I was going to change his mind since it is private property. I am SO glad I didn't unload the boat first and motor up to the dock - it was still on my trailer.
On to the next marina - the Cabrillo Island. Same answer - same snotty attitude.
This was beginning to get irritating - it was getting late in the afternoon by now and driving around a confined area with a 50 foot long rig and no parking was starting to **** me off.
It's now about 3 o'clock and I pulled into Marina Cortez and shut the truck off. The girlfriend gave me a long look as I told her I would be back in a minute. I walked down to the marina office and told the manager my plight. She asked if I was driving the rig with the trailer parked on top of the pontoon boat. I hesitantly said "yes". She replied "That's pretty darned cool - how long would you like to stay?" I could have fallen off the dock.
We booked in for two weeks and had a GREAT stay -and here's the best part: Total damages for two weeks slip rent, including city water, 30 amp shore power, restrooms, showers, swimming pool, weight room AND parking for my truck: $240.00. That's $17.14 a NIGHT! (She gave us the discounted monthly rate) Heck, a dirt campground near the ocean runs $45.00 a night in Southern California!
We ended up having a fantastic time, met a lot of nice folks who were "live-in's" at the Marina, and had a lot of day cruises around the harbor, docking at some great restaurants on Coronado Island. We took a small Italian motor scooter with us, so we had "wheels" to travel all over the San Diego area without firing up the truck. It got about 75mpg with the two of us on board, and parking was a snap - we stuck it mostly in bike racks. I did have to rent a storage area for the trailer - they are completely unwelcome just about everywhere for more than a few hours. I gave a lot of impromptu tours of my boat and answered a LOT of questions. I had a lot of "old salts" tell me that my boat was extremely unsafe - and I just pointed to the 3 years worth of Coast Guard Safety Inspection stickers proudly displayed on the port side and said: "Hmmm, the US Coast Guard would appear to disagree with you."
San Diego is a great destination - just make sure you stay away from some of the stuck up marinas there.
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