
Kona Kai Marina

Pelican resting

Bird sculpture

Bike sculpture

Bottlenose Dolphin Sculpture

Kaleidoscope Interactive Sculpture

Historical Maritime Museum Ship

Marlin leaps across the Star of India's bow.

Street performing sculpture jumps
to life as we pass.

Bikes are an important part of San
Diego culture

Pedalcabs cruise the boardwalks along the water.

Mark and I mimic the famous WWII
victory sculpture.

Tourists learn their fortunes from a psychic.

Another street vendor offers parrot
cuddling for donations.

Ahh... I get one of several bird fixes during my San
Diego visit.

San Diego -- what a city!

Beneteaus line the entrance to the boat show.

Yeah, I could live here!

Familiar but a little different than our fifth wheel.

Not bad for living aboard.

An Umbrella Cockatoo peers down at me from a
swaying palm.

Dave takes his cockatoo out for a
fly in the late afternoon.

She loves every minute of her freedom.

Bird of Paradise flower.

Good night fun, vibrant city.
Seaport Village & Boat Show, San Diego, CA
January, 2009 - We snuck away from the Arizona Desert and all the
holiday parties and good cheer and took a quick trip back to San Diego
for the annual January sailboat show. We had had such a good time
there in October (Shelter Island and Mission Bay) that we wondered
if it would still be as nice. Sure enough, as we pulled onto Shelter
Island, all the warm vibes we had felt in this spirited town came back.
It was bright and sunny, warm enough for shorts, and we were
surprised to recognize all the RVs lined up on the waterfront. No one
had left!
We took our place among
them and quickly hopped
on our bikes to check out
all our old favorite haunts.
Not too much had changed
-- Kona Kai Marina was as
graceful as before, the pelicans still roosted and floated, soared and dove as they had
before, and the Navy jets and cruise ships and people walking their dogs and sailboats
criss-crossing the harbor still provided a kaleidoscopic backdrop to life on the
harborfront.
The boat show was way down at the other end of San Diego, and for the first time we
rode our bikes over to Seaport Village. It is a six mile ride along the bike paths and
walking trails, and it brings you all the way around the harbor through the historic Old
Town. This is an outdoor city that comes alive in the sunshine. There is a series of
charming sculptures along this boardwalk. I liked the bird sculpture and Mark liked the
wild-haired cyclist.
There was a lot of whimsy in
these sculptures, and one was
called "Bottlenose Dolphins" and
featured blue glass bottles on the
noses of the dolphins. Another
was a giant kaleidoscope that
had lots of hand cranks and
beautiful colors when you peered
through it.
There is an extensive historical
maritime museum featuring
several ships of different eras
that are tied up at the docks for
tourists to walk through. A
glistening, iridescent statue of a
marlin appeared to leap out of the
waves across the bow of the Star
of India ship behind.
Street performers and vendors of
all kinds line the boardwalks and
grassy areas, giving the city a
friendly, funky air. One
apparently simple silver statue of
a man in a suit suddenly came to
life and made a face at us as we
rode by.
The boardwalks and paths are ideal for biking.
To see it all would make for a very long walk,
but taken slowly on a bike you can enjoy
everything that Old Town and Seaport Village
have to offer. Along with the cycling statue we
saw earlier, there were other sculptural
references to bikes along the boardwalk.
Many tourists opt for a ride in a pedal-cab, and
we passed lots of these energetic cabbies toting
passengers all over the place.
Around one corner we came face
to face with a sculptural
representation of the famed WWII
photo of a sailor kissing a nurse
upon the victory of the Allies. We
couldn't resist mimicking the
smooch, and found a friendly
fellow to take our picture. He and
his large extended family of wife,
kids, parents and others all got a
huge laugh as we tried to get
ourselves situated just right and
asked him to re-take the photo
several times.
If you have something to sell or share with tourists, it
seems that the vending space is available. A psychic
found a lovely spot for her umbrella-shaded table under
a tree, and another man brought out his collection of
parrots for people to play with, in hopes of a donation. I
got my bird fix!
I lived on the Boston waterfront
in a sailboat for four years, but
beautiful as that city is, there is no comparison to San Diego for
warmth of spirit and oceanside magic. San Diego harbor is
completely accessible to everyone. Simply stroll along the water's
edge and you are thrust into the midst of the harbor's vibrant
energy. There are many marinas, and a boat owner can choose
to be situated right among the sky scraping posh hotels downtown,
or over in the more suburban and natural atmosphere of Shelter
Island.
We finally made it to the boat show, our hearts filled with
satisfaction already. As usual, it was a blast. All the boats were
beautiful, and it was easy to dream, along with all the other show-
goers, as we waltzed on and off these lovely yachts. After living in
the confines of a trailer for a 20 months, it was amusing to stand in
each of the boats' cabins and compare the layouts.
Back on Shelter Island we heard the strangest sound coming from the trees. I thought it must
be a young gull that was sick. It was an insistent call, higher pitched than a gull, but with a
similar volume. We walked around the parking lot craning our necks as we stared into the trees.
Then I spotted it -- an Umbrella Cockatoo! She was
clinging to the branches of a palm tree, swinging up and
down, calling out in sheer glee.
I would have been totally stunned to see her there if I
hadn't heard earlier about "The Bird Man" who lived in a
motorhome along the street. We were told he would
sometimes free fly his cockatoo in the late afternoons.
At last we would have a chance to meet him! Dave
showed up on his bike, and after a few minutes his
cockatoo "Bubbi" flew down and landed on his shoulder.
She clucked in his ear and walked down his arm, beak-
by-toe as parrots do, until she was settled on his bike
basket.
I was entranced. I owned two lesser sulphur crested
cockatoos at one time and would have loved to have
given them the freedom of outdoor flight, but I was too
afraid. Dave had no such fear, and his cockatoo
showed off for us for an hour. She swooped from tree
to tree, making impossible landings on swaying
branches that gave her quite a ride as she hung on
with beak and claw, pumping the branches up and
down with powerful flaps of her wings while she
shrieked at the top of the her lungs. A seagull flew by
her at one point and gave her a disapproving stare, but
she didn't care, she was free. Shouldn't we all live that
way.
Our three-day visit for the boat show turned into a 10-day stay. Yet
again, we couldn't tear ourselves away from this enchanting place.
Finally our grey and black water tanks told us it was time to leave, and
we ventured back through Phoenix and on to a cross-country trip to the
It was only after we had been in Florida for a month that we discovered
San DIego had passed a law prohibiting RVs from parking overnight on
Shelter Island. I understand their point -- we met RVers who had lived on
those streets for as much as nine years, and that's not right -- but it is a
shame that such a beautiful city has turned its back on budget RV
travelers who would like to experience its uplifting spirit for a few days or
weeks. It wouldn't have been that hard or that costly to implement a system to monitor and limit RV stays.
San Diego – Laid Back Mission Bay

A sailboat heads out of Mission Bay to the open ocean

Bird of Paradise in Mission Bay

Tranquility and peace reign at
Mission Bay

Cycling the paths along the Mission Bay beach villas

Mission Beach cottages open onto the wide sandy beach

Charming beach houses line the boardwalk

Pacific Beach - kite-boarding paradise.

Surf shops.

Anyone can learn to surf here, though the buff bod
may be harder to achieve.



SoCal is truly laid back


A modern day Jesus Freak?


Any smaller, older RV will do.


Jerry relaxes in the back of his toy hauler.

Horses cool their hooves along the beaches at Fiesta
Island

Life's a Beach on Fiesta Island


Hotel del Coronado.
Mission Bay, San Diego, CA
October 1-28, 2008 - A few times during our stay in San Diego, we
moved our RV from Shelter Island to Mission Bay. We (and at least 50
other RVs) were doing the "San Diego Shuffle," moving our rigs around
on the city's waterfront streets to stay in line with California's 72-hour
parking law. As long as we all moved every three days, we could enjoy
the many delights of this beautiful city and gaze at prime multi-million
dollar waterfront views right outside our doors.
The serenity
of Mission Bay
is a dramatic
contrast to the
hustle and
bustle of Shelter Island. Also manmade, from sand dredged out of San
Diego Harbor, Mission Bay is a series of waterways through former
mudflats, with the land forming quasi-islands and little peninsulas. The
manicured grass lawns along the bay are largely city parks, and there
are many children's playgrounds, picnic areas and even large bonfire
rings along the beaches. The tall palms and sparkling water offer a calm
retreat from downtown San Diego.
The walking and bicycling paths go on for miles, and we had many happy bike rides in and
around the bay and along Mission Beach. There are endless charming beachfront villas on both
the placid bay side and on the surfing beach side. Each home is unique, and they line up cheek-
by-jowel, with patios and porches facing the lovely views. Most are available as vacation rentals.
We rode our bikes along the Mission
Beach boardwalk up as far as Pacific
Beach, making the transparent
transition from one miles-long
expanse of sandy beach to the next.
Pacific Beach was teaming with
people kite-boarding. Each had a
huge parachute, and they used the
wind to skim across the ocean on their
surfboards.
Surfing is a beloved passtime in this area, and we saw surf shops,
surfers and surfer dudes that were right out of a Beach Boys song.
Sea World is tucked into one corner of the Bay, and bike rentals and
people on
bikes were everywhere.
This is a very laidback
area, where surf, sun,
sand and beach bars all
come together in a
dreamy combination. As
we drove one afternoon,
we passed a young
fellow playing his guitar
while he rode his bike.
Not too much stress
there! Others just rolled
along the sidewalk on
beach cruisers.
The best way to enjoy San Diego is to have a
lot of money (for a pretty multi-million dollar
beach bungalow, a convertible roadster and a
yacht) and to have a lot of time to enjoy them
(i.e., no job). Most people we saw seemed to
have either one or the other.
This can be an eclectic crowd too. We saw a
strangely painted car, several perfectly
restored Microbuses, and an odd collection of
RVs.
In Mission Bay, the older the RV, it seems, the better. The
shapes of some are from a long distant era, while others are
clearly homemade.
The "San Diego Shuffle" of RVs moving from one parking
space to another is actually something of a two-step in
Mission Bay, as parking is prohibited between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. Each evening a parade of RVs makes its way
out of the Mission Bay parking areas into the industrial city streets on the far side of the freeway. Early each morning
the RVs return, many to the same spot they had the day before.
The best setup we saw was Jerry's. He towed his toyhauler "office"
trailer behind his Class C motorhome, and on lazy afternoons he would
string up a hammock inside his "office" trailer, taking in the view of the
Bay from his swing.
The stories of each household living in their RV were
varied, but a common concern was the upcoming city vote
on whether to override the California law and ban overnight
parking on public streets. The days of this urban RV lifestyle of freedom on the waterfront may be
numbered. The vote was held on our last day in the city, and we didn't hear the outcome.
One day we parked our trailer out on Fiesta Island, a tiny dot of California desert perched in the middle of
the Mission Bay. The dry, brown, tumbleweed land is sparsely visited, and we had a stretch of beach all
to ourselves. As we sat there enjoying the view of the homes across the water, a group of horses
suddenly appeared, splashing in the water as they walked.
The weather was unusually warm
for October (90's), and we spent
much of the month in tank tops
and shorts. A visit to Coronado
Beach offered delicious relief from the heat one afternoon, and we
played in the sand and waves. On a return visit we discovered the
history and beauty of the Victorian Hotel del Coronado that presides
over one end of the beach.
After a month of coastal pleasures,
we felt a little nip in the air as the
fog banks crept in and stayed
longer and longer each morning. It
was time to move on, and we
headed inland to the California
desert of Anza-Borrego. But the
temps were falling fast, and we
continued on to the warmest of the
southwestern desert areas in
San Diego – Shelter Island = Boater’s Paradise

San Diego view out our front door.

Boats anchored right off the shore


RVs line up for the San Diego Shuffle

RVs enjoy a multimillion dollar view of the city skyline

Walking paths wander the shoreline of Shelter Island

Hammock in the rigging on a festive schooner.

Boats of all kinds slip by in the bay

Wildlife is everywhere

A local sport fisherman shows off the shark he caught
before returning it to the sea.

The seals rule the roost, lounging
around all day and barking as the
sun goes down.

Shoreline overlooking the marinas

Shelter Island Marina is teaming with boats.

Peaceful Sunday morning at Shelter Island

Stephen Mann & Kathleen Torres show their round-
the-world route on a transparent globe.

"Tawodi" will take them across the Southern Ocean.

The gate to the Mega Yacht Dock at Kona Kai Marina

This gorgeous 113' wooden schooner on the
Mega Yacht Dock has been round the world 3 times.

The perfectly named "Cream Puff"

Jeff (Cap'n Hook), one of the many salty characters
on the docks

Cruise ship leaves for points south from San Diego Harbor

Mark takes the helm

This little car zipped by us on the water.

Exotic sports car gathering

Art shows every weekend

The sky turns to fire in the dreamy San Diego twilight.

Peace
Shelter Island, San Diego, CA
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 till 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
cushion.
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 Mega Yacht 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 Mega Yacht 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.