"Yesterday's Dream": Oct 23rd: Still Cruising the San Diego Harbor, Day 5

Calypso Cafe and the Gondola Tour boats

We woke up Tuesday morning ready to cruise to the San Diego Yacht Club. However, we were told by Bob and Carol, that wonderful, freshly baked cinnamon rolls were available every morning from the Calypso Cafe, a short dinghy ride away.

An order was placed for cinnamon rolls the day before. I suggested Fran and I could split one, but that didn't fly. Shocking! Rick and Tom delivered them to our boat.

Rick and Bob delivering our cinnamon rolls

The cinnamon rolls lived up to their reputation.

So now it was time to retrieve anchors, untie the boats and head out. Sounds simple, but it takes a little doing. Numerous lines and fenders to protect the boats. We needed to retrieve the stern anchors first. Typically, we would just let the bow anchor line out enough so we could move back and pull the anchors up. However, when we arrived, we had to use my dinghy, to place the stern anchors close to a concrete wall with little depth.

Coronado Cay Anchorage

So, reverse the process. Fran and I would be the last to leave. We untied everyone and separated the boats without incident and were on our way.

We decided to tow the dinghy. We've become quite proficient with hoisting and lowering the dinghy to the bow, but we weren't in a hurry. Also, it can be an issue dropping the dinghy if we are in a tight slip.


Dinghy on bow where it rides while cruising

The ride to the San Diego Yacht Club was wonderful. It was a beautiful day, and we cruised past some interesting Navy ship activity.

I was informed that we would be doing a Mediterranean tie at San Diego Harbor. That means dropping a bow anchor and then backing close enough to the dock so we could get off on the stern. Of course, being the largest boat, I was the first to dock. I recalled my trip to Greece for a sailing school with my daughter on a forty-foot sailboat. Rebecca certified for crewing and I received my Day Skipper License.

Mediterranean ties are common in Greece, because a lot more boats can fit at a dock.

Rebecca behind our Mediterranean tied sailboat.

I remembered my docking lessons and docking our single screw sailboat that way. I decided it would be a piece of cake with twin screws.

All went well and there was plenty of help at the dock. The other boats joined us, and we were all set.

People at this yacht club were very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel included. They have a beautiful facility, an excellent, reasonably priced restaurant, a large pool and hot tub and great showers, etc.

We ended up hosting cocktail hour on our boat. Fran's boat has plenty of room and there were a lot of fun boating conversations. But one issue can be having enough ice, especially because we were anchored out for the two previous days. And now we had ten people on the boat hoping for ice! I was carefully stretching our ice supply. Greg is our Fleet Captain. The Fleet Captain is responsible for scheduling and organizing the cruises for the year. He rose to the challenge and showed up with enough ice for everyone!

Fleet Captain Greg and Vice Commodore Roger

For those of you like me, who aren't familiar with a yacht club, the officers are elected volunteers. People are expected to move up the ladder once elected. In that process, there is a lot of experience available.

I was recently accepted as a member of the Dana West Yacht Club. I have made a number of new friends during the past year by participating as a guest of the Rahns and Fran. It is a wonderfully laid back social network, and I am pleased to be able to participate as a member. Here is a link to the website. DWYC

The location was great for Fran and me because we had our bikes. We rode through downtown San Diego along the waterfront where there is a bike friendly path. The path took us past the USS Midway aircraft Carrier.

The ship was so long I could not
get far enough away to capture the entire ship in my picture. Here is a link giving some of the ship's history. USS Midway

We ended up riding about 20 miles. We agreed, that warranted a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cone.

There was a very nice sculpture of Bob Hope entertaining the troops. It included an audio presentation Of Hope telling jokes to the troops. It was very well done.

I like to fish, but probably not as much as Fran. So we needed to give it a try in the harbor. We decided to try fishing along the bait tank dock, where people come to get live sardines for bait. Some invariably escape, so we thought it would be a good place to try. No luck catching fish, but we were entertained by the sea lions on the bait dock.

We were really enjoying the San Diego Yacht Club and asked if we could spend another night. They made accommodations for us at the sailing dock. It is a beautiful spot on a small bay where the junior sail boaters race/practice. We sat on the back deck enjoying the perfect weather and entertainment.

I also noticed a huge sailboat across the channel in another yacht club. The rigging and height of the masts were amazing. I would like to have learned more about the boat. Maybe next trip!