October 1-28, 2008 - Leaving cool, high elevation Pioche, NV in mid-September, we
attended Interbike, the annual bicycle industry tradeshow, in Las Vegas (a red-hot oven at
this time of year). From there, we skipped west across the sizzling California deserts like
kids with bare feet leaping across hot sand. Emerging at the coast in San Diego, we were
greeted with delightful cool breezes, sparkling blue waves, lush green grass and bright
sunny days. September, 2008, had gone down in history as a stunning month for the
financial markets, but we will always remember it as an energy-charged, unscripted month
of exciting travels that was unusual only in its heartwarming normalcy in this full-time travel
lifestyle. I felt moved enough to describe it in What's It Like?
We discovered that California
law allows vehicles to park in one
spot on public streets for up to
72 hours, so we bellied up to the
shoreline with all the other RVs
on San Diego's Shelter Island.
Parked just steps from the
harbor, we had an everchanging
view of sailboats, joggers, family parties, picnics, Navy ships, cruise ships,
war planes and gatherings of all kinds in the shoreside city park, all laid
out across the backdrop of the San Diego skyline, right outside our front
door. As one neighbor in an RV near us said, "This is Paradise."
Shelter Island is a manmade island created from dredged sand in the
harbor. Years ago the people of San Diego wanted this island to become a recreation area for everyone, and today it is a bustling
boat-oriented community framed by a glorious grassy park. There is a playground, fishing pier and boat launch on the waterfront.
Yacht brokers, chandleries, boat yards, swank restaurants, an outdoor music venue and cute bistros line the streets. The boats
bob at anchor almost within arm's reach, and the RVs line up along the shore. Both the boats and RVs must keeping changing
anchorages and parking spots if they wish to stay more than three days. As we moved around the island, swapping places with our
neighbors, I took to calling this dance of the RV fulltimers and boating liveaboards the "San Diego Shuffle."
The park is defined by the pretty walking paths that wander along the
shore. From early morning til late evening these paths are filled with
locals and visitors alike: dog walkers; iPod-entranced joggers; hand-
holding lovers of all ages; young moms pushing baby strollers and old
folks pushing their rolling walkers. Families come to the shoreside park
on weekends to host all day picnics, setting up tents and barbecues and
roasting marshmallows over their beach bonfires at night. We witnessed
birthday parties, weddings and family reunions during our stay there.
The activity on the
water dominates
the scene. Boats of
every description
ghost by. In the
background there is
the constant hum of
helicopters hovering
at the Navy base
across the water.
Every so often the
world stops and the
air crackles with the
earsplitting roar of a
Navy jet taking off.
Wildlife abounds. Seagull cries fill the air during the day, and when the
gulls finally quiet down to roost, the seals take up an incessant barking.
The harbor seals' barks and coughs and wheezes sound almost human,
and when one pokes his head out of the water behind you during a
morning swim, snorting and gasping, you could swear it was a person in
the water. One afternoon there was a hubub down at the fishing jetty. A
sport fisherman had landed a small shark. A crowd formed as he laid out
his prize to measure it and take photos. His dog was as eager as he was
proud. When he finally returned the shark to the sea, the dog paced and
cried in total bewilderment.
There are several marinas in the totally protected waters on
the back side of the island. We wandered down to the docks
many times to enjoy the pretty views and watch the busy
activities of the boaters. The number of boats is staggering. Looking
across the acres and acres of masts piercing the sky, I was reminded
of a giant pin cusion.
We stopped in at West Marine one afternoon, and a couple was hosting
a barbecue in the parking lot to raise money for their upcoming round-
the-world cruise. We bought a hot dog to support their cause, and
listened to their story.
With his own hands, Stephen Mann had transformed a 39' sailboat with
a transoceanic racing pedigree into the vessel of his dreams. He had
lengthened the bow 3', installed oodles of electronics for navigation, and
built a stainless steel arch to support solar panels and wind generators.
He and his girlfriend Kathleen Torres were leaving in a week to sail
around the world via the Southern Ocean, with hopes to complete the
trip in 8-9 months. To put their plans in perspective, most
circumnavigators take 2-5 years to go around the world, and most do it
via the tropical oceans. These intrepid sailors were going to tackle the
world's worst oceans below South America and Africa, rounding Cape
Horn. They planned to stop on land just 5 times during their trip. They
invited us to an "open boat" the following evening, and we eagerly
attended.
The boat was small, but rugged, and they were very excited to get
underway. I love adventure, but I'm nowhere near as daring as they are.
After the party, they discovered a part in the engine drive-shaft was faulty,
which delayed their departure by a week. But they finally sailed off into
the sunset. Keep abreast of their travels at www.svtawodi.com/log.
The Kona Kai Marina is a very upscale place that caters to the
world's wealthiest on their Megayacht dock. One evening we
noticed that the very formidable gate to the dock had been propped
open. In we went!! We heard loud voices and laughter coming from
a beautiful wooden schooner that had pulled in that afternoon, and
when we came upon their boatside barbecue party they welcomed
us in.
The crew of five had just sailed the 113' boat down from Alaska, where they
had been surrounded by orcas, swimming bears, and glaciers. This boat,
built in Italy in 1980, had circumnavigated the world three times, providing
its owners with a posh pad for fly-in visits to exotic locales around the world.
Hailing from several different English speaking countries, the fulltime crew
was in great spirits as they stayed in San Diego for a few weeks to touch up
the already glistening woodwork. The owners visit their yacht for just a few
weeks at a time, while the crew keeps it in tip-top shape, sailing to the
destinations of the owner's dreams on demand. When we asked the
captain what his worst passage was, he said it was a 26-day passage
where they encountered a storm with sustained 60+ knot winds and 60'
seas that lashed the boat for 6 straight days. "It was a lot of work." He
said. How would the couple on Tawodi fare in a storm like that in their boat
which was less than half the size with less than half the crew?
The next dock down from the Megayacht dock is the Transient dock where
arriving boats can tie up for a few days while they get situated for their San
Diego visit. This is a great place to meet people from all over the world: a
South African taking his newly acquired boat to New Zealand, a Canadian
family with small children heading to Mexico, a Washington couple heading
to the Caribbean on their catamaran, and the 80+ year old owner of "Cream
Puff," a floating disaster of a boat that he has called home for over 50 years.
There are plenty of
salty characters on
this dock too,
including Jeff, who
has a mean Right
Hook. He waved
his hooked right
hand for a photo
and told us some of the history of the delicate relations between the
liveaboards and the harbor authorities in San Diego. Those boaters call
their boats home, but unlike the transients who arrive in San Diego from
distant lands, the local liveaboards never leave the protected confines of
the harbor.
Perhaps the easiest way to see the world from the deck of a ship
is to take a cruise. Two cruise ships arrived and left the harbor
everyday. At 5:15 one morning a cruise ship arrived in dense
fog. He blared a long extended blast on his foghorn once every
two minutes for the entire hour it took him to get from the harbor
entrance to his pier downtown. It sure woke us up, but what
about all those weary cruisers on the ship who were back from a
week's vacation in paradise?
We were blessed with four
opportunities to get out sailing
ourselves. The atmosphere on
Shelter Island is extremely
friendly, and as we met new
friends we suddenly found
ourselves the lucky recipients of
some sailing invitations.
There are all kinds of boats out on
the harbor, and a little car whizzed
by us as we sailed.
Back on Shelter
Island, we came
across an exotic
sports car club having an outing one day.
Tiny Italian sports cars of all types lined up in the parking lot,
roared their engines for a moment, and took off on a driving
tour. One unfortunate Ferrari owner couldn't get his car
started. No worries. We overheard him tell a buddy he'd just
have someone take it away on a flatbed truck while he went
home and got his Lamborghini instead!
The beauty of Shelter Island is the great diversity of activities. If
exotic sports cars don't grab your interest, perhaps an art show
in the park will.
In the midst of this continuous excitement and stimulation, Shelter
Island offers many tranquil places to enjoy a quiet moment. The
shore along the marina docks is beautifully landscaped, with lots
of benches where we would pause and reflect on all we'd seen.
While we were on the island,
the Baja Ha-Ha began. This
is an annual sailboat rally of
150 sailboats that heads out
of San Diego to Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico at the end of
October.
It is a 10-day, 750 mile sail with two stops along the way, and the party-filled
atmosphere takes some of the edge off of doing such a long open ocean passage by
boat. Once in Cabo, the sailors disperse, some heading out to the South Pacific, some
transiting the Panama Canal to go to the Caribbean, and some staying in Mexican
waters. Throughout October the transient docks and anchorages in San Diego begin to
fill with boats arriving from all points north to take part in this rally.
We attended their kick-off barbecue, a wild Halloween costume party with prizes, raffles
and giveaways. I felt like I was at a pirate frat party. Almost everyone came dressed as
a pirate, and the pavement was sticky with spilled beer. Laughter filled the air, and a DJ
kept us all dancing, Next day we joined our new friends Gary and Karen aboard their
beautiful Hallberg-Rassey and sailed among the Ha-Ha crowd, listening to their roll call
on the VHF radio, until their colorful spinnakers disappeared to the south.
Every so often we crept away from the action on Shelter Island for a change of pace on Mission Bay.