San Diego Marina Suggestions

[geoffschultz]

I'm planning on shipping (via truck) my Freedom 40/40 from Milwaukee to San Diego late in the fall. Then in March I plan to sail from San Diego to the Sea of Cortez.

I'm looking for suggestions for a marina where I can leave BlueJacket on the hard from fall to March and then re-launch and head on out. I'm looking for a marina that has a good yard in case in run into any issues. Of course they need a crane to step the mast and a 20+ ton travel lift. I'll probably need 1-2 weeks at dock once I launch.

Thanks, Geoff

 

[rfrye1]

San Diego is pretty expensive. I'd check Chula Vista first. Not many marina's have "on the hard" space. Only boatyards and they charge by the day/hour. You might have better luck in LA.

 

[geoffschultz]

Thanks for the sound advice. I didn't understand that most marinas out there don't typically have on-the-hard storage. As a result, if I wanted to store BlueJacket on the hard before launching her, I'd have to use a company like San Diego Boat Movers. They'd charge $500 to offload the boat and another $760-960 to move her to a marina and then the marina launching fees. On top of that it would be $340/mo for storage. That doesn't make a lot of economic sense.

I've checked with several boat yards (Driscol's Mission Bay, Marine Group, Shelter Island and Knight & Carver) and the pricing is quite different to launch the boat, but crane time was pretty similar. At K&C it was $410 + 180/hr crane, Driscol's was $480 + 200/ half hour crane, Shelter Island was $600 + 150 crane, and the marine group was $800 + $180/hr crane. So I can pretty much figure that one out.

Then I need a marina to store the boat in for Oct-Mar. I'm looking for something that has reasonable docks/infrastructure and has good security. Since I won't be there, amenities don't matter much. It was suggested that I look in the S end of the bay. Any suggestions there?

-- Geoff

 

[Joe]

There are two marinas in Chula Vista:
http://www.cymchulavista.com/berth_info.asp
http://www.cvmarina.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30&Itemid=8

and this one in National city... IMHO too expensive for the location:
http://www.pier32marina.com/about-us/slip-services/

and my marina in mission bay, adjacent to Driscoll boatyard.
http://www.marinavillage.net/marinainquiry.html

 

[LuzSD]

We have our boat at Shelter Cove Marina and love it. Not alot of amenities but secure and average priced I think. We really enjoy being there... nice people, good amount of live aboards who really watch out for all of us.
There is a boat yard across from us, Kohler Kraft, that is particularly wood boats but I don't think exclusively...... I do see people working on their boats there longer periods and more than other yards. Might be worth a phone call. Good Luck, hope you enjoy SD, we sure do.

 

[Patrick17430]

And don't forget to add in the county property tax of 1.25% The value of your boat you will have to pay Uncle Sam to keep your boat in California. You might want to reconsider waiting to ship it until your ready to go to Baja.

 

[zeehag]

have you considered using mooring instead of marina!?? is 260/mo for transient--there is a wait list for permanent balls but there usually are temporary balls available. call san diego mooring co at 619- 291-0994. ask for vanessa.

 

[Paul Cossman]

Hi Geoff,

I was in a similar situation in 2005 when I returned from NZ with my 42' boat. I spent a lot of time on the internet and telephone (from NZ) prior to arriving, and made a list of about 25 marinas from Los Angeles south to SD. (Unfortunately I can't find the list--sorry about that). I got on the waiting list of every marina in SD. Bear in mind that the waiting lists right now are much shorter, and maybe even nonexistent at some places. I found that there was immediate berthing available in Wilmington, which is located next to the Los Angeles industrial harbor, and booked it. The city itself is reputed to be high-crime, but the marina had good security plus on-site owner/managers. It was much cheaper than everything else, and may be a good place to "store" your boat. It's an easy trip from LA to SD when the time comes.

In my case, when we got to SD we berthed at the public docks (which are incredibly cheap), and we walked around and talked our way into a nice marina at Shelter Cove. (Timing and personal contact is everything). We'd also been at Harbor Island in previous years. Both were nice. It may be that the price differential is worth it. I live in Alaska, and it sure was nice to land at the SD airport and WALK to my boat, not to mention having it in an aesthetically pleasing spot.

If you want to explore the Wilmington option, get onto the webite of "The Log" (thelog.com), and it should provide a listing of all S. Cal. marinas with contact info. Good luck.

 

[zeehag]

18.75/ft for a marina is a bit much, n'cest pas?? the muni or cop docks are 10 /ft for the first 5 days then 20 dollars/ft for the last 5 days max length 0f stay is 10 days. lol your choice--hav efun. the mooring fees for transient moorings is about 260 dollars per month. your choice.

 

[Paul Cossman]

18.75/ft for a marina is a bit much, n'cest pas?? the muni or cop docks are 10 /ft for the first 5 days then 20 dollars/ft for the last 5 days max length 0f stay is 10 days. lol your choice--hav efun. the mooring fees for transient moorings is about 260 dollars per month. your choice.

WOW! The muni/cop docks were light-years cheaper when I was there, as were the marinas. Seems to me we were paying $15 per day for our entire boat at the muni docks, with a 10 day/month limit. I also seem to remember the Shelter Island Marina (or whatever it was called) was about $600 including the extra liveaboard fee.

It's of course a matter of personal preference, and although a mooring is my personal choice when I'm on board, it can be scary if nobody is living on board. I'm now berthed in Newport Beach and there are often thefts from the boats that are permanently moored there without anybody living on board. I'd personally be hesitant to leave my boat on a mooring while out of state. It might be safer in SD, but I have no experience with that.

 

[zeehag]

WOW! The muni/cop docks were light-years cheaper when I was there, as were the marinas. Seems to me we were paying $15 per day for our entire boat at the muni docks, with a 10 day/month limit. I also seem to remember the Shelter Island Marina (or whatever it was called) was about $600 including the extra liveaboard fee.

It's of course a matter of personal preference, and although a mooring is my personal choice when I'm on board, it can be scary if nobody is living on board. I'm now berthed in Newport Beach and there are often thefts from the boats that are permanently moored there without anybody living on board. I'd personally be hesitant to leave my boat on a mooring while out of state. It might be safer in SD, but I have no experience with that.

safety depends on the neighbors in the field--is there anyone who sees all or is there just a bunch of thieving--also depends on the field ... the downtown field in san diego has had a history of thefts but all is imporoving with the new policies in place. there are a few from the old anchorage in the downtown field but they donot seem to be doing anything underhanded that has been noticed. is always good to get to know the neighbors so you have a lookout when you are absent.

a sfor the pricing at muni docks--is 10/day for first 5 days then 20 or 21/ day for the last 5 with max 10 per 30 day period. the marinas in san diego are charging , in north bay, 18.75/mo and south bay, as the distance to sea is huge---2 hours !!!--is just a hint lower...there is a looong wait list for marina slips --except during cruising season--then in south bay there are month at a time specials for cruisers in transient slips. gooood luck finding a reasonable slip in san diego.

 

[LuzSD]

At Shelter Cove Marina we pay $15 ft but that does not include Electricity or dockbox!
Had friends who put their boat in at Pier 32 in National City toward Chula Vista and it was a very long way from there to the open ocean! They loved the marina but rarely used their boat!! It was very well priced for all the amenities... though, not my cup of tea at all.
Lots of choices depending on what you really need, want and for how long.

 

[zeehag]

in san diego , the closer you are to the open ocean, the more expensive the marina is per foot EXCEPT sun road--is the most expensive marina in san diego--gooood luck.

 

[Brian D]

I can vouch for California Yacht Marina in Chula Vista. Unfortunately it the most southerly marina, but it was very nice. I don't know what the going price is now but it was reasonable when I was there from '05 to '08. The entire time the marina was never full. It is also close to Marine Group Boatyard.

As far as I know, Oceanside is the only location that will store your boat on the hard, and you can also do your own work. I could be wrong about that though.

 

[zeehag]

I can vouch for California Yacht Marina in Chula Vista. Unfortunately it the most southerly marina, but it was very nice. I don't know what the going price is now but it was reasonable when I was there from '05 to '08. The entire time the marina was never full. It is also close to Marine Group Boatyard.

As far as I know, Oceanside is the only location that will store your boat on the hard, and you can also do your own work. I could be wrong about that though.

is only 2 1/2 hours from open ocean and marine group boatyard isnt the one ye want to use--used to be called southbay boatyard and has the crushing contract--does unscrupulous business, and changes name every 2-4 yrs.
but calyacht does have a cruisers special for a set price--one month at a time.....
so--if ye sail alot, isnt the one if ye likes the open sea--is ok for in the bay!!
oceanside may just be the place for ye if there isnt a10 yr wait list---most places in socal have long waiting lists anymore...not sure how long--last time i bothered to check was b=variable---now there are 2 newer marinas in sin diego the wait may be lower....
oceanside doesnt have th elooooong trek to the open sea --the only drawback i found there was the approach..is a little to beam sea if seas are from north....

 

[geoffschultz]

I wanted to close out this discussion with an update on what where we ended up. We spent our first day here visiting lots of marinas and trying to compare prices. We found that things were not at all like the east coast. Everyone seems to have a similar price, but then there are the add-ons. Like $15/mo for a dock box, $5/mo to read the electrical meter, WiFi, parking, etc, etc. At one marina this was going to add up to over $100 a month on top of the slip fees! On the east coast all of this typically is just included in your rate, so this was a bit of an eye opener and we quickly learned what to ask about as well as asking "Are there any other fees that you didn't mention?"

Due to traffic hassles, parking hassles and air/noise pollution from the airport, I quickly decided that I didn't want to be on Shelter Island or Harbor Island. There was also the fact that the boat was just going to sit for 4 months while we were gone, so being close to the ocean was a moot point.

We then started looking in the National City/Chula Vista area. Pier 32 was very nice (but they also had lots of additional fees). If we were going to keep a boat down here and live on it, Pier 32 would be our choice. However, there was no need to pay for amenities that we weren't going to use.

We looked at Chula Vista Marina, but we weren't impressed by their security or the condition of a lot of the boats there. We passed on them.

California Yacht Marina had much better security, a friendly staff and reasonable pricing. The only issue that I had was that the 40' slip that was supposed to be 15' wide was only 13'10" and we're 13'6", so I had to move up to a 45' slip. We found a retired mechanic who lives on here who will check in on BlueJacket and we have other neighbors who will also watch over the girl while we're gone.

We also contracted with Blue Moon Yacht Services to wash/detail the boat as we were very impressed with the owner's knowledge of products and his results.

-- Geoff

 

[Liam]

Zeehag

!0$ per foot per day is $300 a day for a 30 footer... you sure you got that right?

I was in San Diego a couple years ago and stayed at Shelter Island Marina. It was $2 per foot per day or $66 for my 33 footer. But then they had a swimming pool, jacuzzi, restaraunt room service to the boat, and fresh towels in the shower room!!!