Looking at a friend's boat
Port bow silhouette of Besame, an Ericson 35 sloop.
Stras gesturing as he tells a tale of boating life
Port aft view showing name and home port on transom
Port side, with Stras on board. Besame is an Ericson sloop that's spent her last few years on the hard in Placitas, New Mexico, under the shadow of the 10,000 foot high Sandia Peak. Perhaps Besame is lonely and pining for the ocean.
posted by Pat @ 7/31/2010 11:22:00 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Or Heron Lake! Let's get her wet. What do you say?
Heron Lake, unfortunately, is seasonal; the marina shuts down in October and is generally icebound by mid-December. That makes for a high hassle factor for a 35', 21,000 lb. boat and in a marina designed for much smaller boats.
So, maybe someone should take the boat back to SoCal if the economy has persuaded any of the marinas to offer more realistic slip rates.
Pat, no one out here is reasonable or realistic out here that I know of.
One obstacle to moving a boat to Cali is the inane rules of some marinas. One marina we looked at considered anyone who spent more than two consecutive nights on a boat to be a "liveaboard" and subject to liveaboard quotas and fees.
For us to fly or drive 800 miles each way to only get to spend two nights on a boat would be outrageous.
One place to consider for a boat that's visited infrequently is Moss Landing.
There's almost nothing there, which keeps slips available and cheap, but both Monterey and Santa Cruz are three-hour sails away.
And Hawaii's just two weeks away.
The tall stacks help navigation and then there's the biggest bonus of all: it's close to Gilroy, world capitol of garlic.
Of course, if we put a boat a in NorCal, Richmond and the east side of the Bay would probably be cheap and reasonable enough for us.
SoCal seems to be another matter entirely, in spite of the down economy there are $17/foot marinas with lots of annoying rules. Probably there are some yc's that run marinas that aren't so extortionate.
Moss Landing also has the idea that anyone who spends more than two nights out of seven is a liveaboard, as defined in the Moss Landing Harbor District Code section 6.110, Live Aboard Vessels and Persons Living Aboard, and 2.200, Definitions. They do have a provision for the harbormaster to grant an exception, howevcr.
We drove to Monterey about a year ago and took a side trip up to Moss Landng to check out the marina.
I had the feeling they were desperate for people who would just pay their slip fees every month. As long as you kept a low profile, didn't host raves at your slip or deal in contraband substances, I think you could probably stay for several weeks at a time.
I know there are many non-liveaboards living aboard at the Berkeley marina - and probably at most marinas. My hunch is they keep the rules on the books to boot out people who start causing problems.
Moss Landing is definitely less than even the East Bay marinas, although Richmond is reasonable and probably a nicer alternative.
Yeah. Moss Landing.
Moss Landing would have one advantage of quick access to Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It might be within commuting range for the Santa Cruz and Monterey ocean racing scenes. By contrast, I wonder what happens if you're at someplace like the Aeolian YC at low tide during traffic rush hour and want to get to the ocean?
But those stacks that make navigation to Moss Island easier might also deposit some residues (was there a rumor that at one point PG&E or whoever owned them wrote checks to people with boats in the marina?).
And San Francisco Bay is so much more a happening place that I'd pay a buck or two more a foot to be there and to have so many interesting places to visit for daysails and mini-cruises.
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