8/15/2002 - 8/22/2002
Robin steers our great close reach to Dana Point harbor.
In Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. describes the coast and people of Mexican California in the mid-1830's. He described San Juan Capistrano and the area that is now known as Dana Point, as the only "romantic" area he found on the entire California coast. A replica of his brig, the Pilgrim sails out of Dana Point. Even though today's Dana Point looks very different 177 years later, it is still easy to see why Dana liked this place.
Our four hour sail from Newport Beach to Dana Point was great and uneventful. When we arrived at the harbor, we began calling yacht clubs and marinas looking for available slips.
The available slip -- for only two nights -- was offered up by Dana West Yacht Club (DWYC). After a quick re-assignment (when we discovered the original slip occupied), we settled into a DWYC member's slip in the Dana West Marina.
Yacht club member slips are assigned to guests as the members are away in the boat yard or cruising other areas doing something fun. When the marina or yacht clubs are busy or near full, there is a risk of getting moved around. We believed being in a marina slip would make our few weeks of laundry, grocery run, and boat cleaning easier.
Musical Boats
While in Dana Point, moving Whisper became a daily activity. Having an occupied slip assigned to us should have been a sign of things to come. When we arrived to find E59 occupied, we waited in an empty E60 while we called DWYC to find out where to go. We mentioned we were in E60, hoping it might be available. No go -- please move out to F68, a huge 50-55 ft slip. The good news was that we would be able to stay there through the weekend.
The next morning we received the call from DWYC that a larger boat was looking for a slip, and would we please move to E60 so they could have F68. Hey, that number sounds familiar. We moved over to E60 again, but would only be allowed to stay one night. The next day, the occupants of E59 let us know that they had just been in touch with the sometimes ornery occupant of E60, and that it would be best if we were gone before he arrived (several other neighbors told us the same thing).
We quickly moved down to Dana Point Yacht Club's 30 ft end tie (reserved the day before), but we needed to hang around in order to let a large trawler arriving that day into the 75 foot slip that we were blocking (43.5 ft LOA sticks out a bit on each end of a 30 ft dock). The trawler arrived at 6 pm and the day was pretty much shot. The next morning, while waiting for them to leave so we could have the larger slip, the new occupant (a Catalina 36) of the 30 ft end tie arrived. The trawler fired up its engine and backed out of the big slip. We motored Whisper into the 75 foot slip and the Catalina owners moved on to the end tie. With the daily shuffle complete, we introduced ourselved to the new neighbors -- Sally and Bob from Fort Collins, CO on Zaffer Zephyr.
On Tuesday, we found a slip at the Dana East Marina, so we vacated the big slip and headed for the other end of the harbor. After one night on the marina guest end tie, we headed back over to the 30 ft end tie at DPYC.
By the end of the week, we had moved slips at least once, every day. On the upside, bouncing between yachts clubs and the marina resulted in only needing to pay for one night. Even though we spent too much time moving about, it was good docking practice and we accomplished our chores. On the other hand, if we knew we would move so frequently, we might have opted for the nice anchorage at the protected end of the harbor -- right in front of the Dana Point Yacht Club.
Dana Point Yacht Club
Whisper (bow just visible at far left) on a 30 ft. end tie at the Dana Point Yacht Club.
In 1998, the Dana Point Yacht Club membership funded the purchase of a complex of several restaurants on the far west end of the harbor island. This beautiful building was remodeled and repurposed as the new yacht club facility. The old building, about a half mile away is still used as part yacht club, (+ showers & restrooms), and part banquet room.
The Dana Point Yacht Club also had an "Officer on Deck" that greeted everyone -- members and guests -- on their way in the door for any social event. This was a very welcoming touch and each person seemed to take a genuine interest in what we were doing and how we got there.
Dana Point Yacht Club
The Dana Point Marina -- East Basin.
Except for moving slips, we spent a bunch of time in Dana Point goofing off. We hiked up the cliffs to the town and Pacific Coast Highway ("PCH" to the locals). We found and browsed the West Marine. We found the nearby restaurants with good happy hours (aka cheap food and beverage). We toured the marina looking at boats and meeting people in Shout. After hors d'ouvres on Whisper, Sally and Bob invited us over for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Dinner) on Zaffer Zephyr -- and we had a great dinner and visit!
We also visited the new Marine Institute that is still under construction. Currently, most of the events were day camps for kids, but new adult programs will be added soon. The brig Pilgrim, the Spirit of Dana Point, and the Marine Institute's Research Vessel all seemed to be a part of the same "Marine Institute" organization.
Friends with Transportation
Mike and Tracy stop by the boat before heading up to the Chart House restaurant.
We received an email from friends Mike and Tracy when we were in Catalina and again in Newport Beach, hoping to catch up with us in southern California. They decided to visit Dana Point for a long weekend to see family, surf and visit with us. Not only did we get to enjoy Mike and Tracy's company, but we also met Mike's sister Kellie and her family. Kellie and her husband, Che Che, are the parents of three very energetic boys. As a result, Kellie is used to being the "limo/taxi driver" for the boys. She generously offered to drop us off and pick us up an hour later at the grocery store for our reprovisioning. Keep in mind grocery shopping on foot can be a half-day to full day task depending on the distance to the store and how much we buy. With Kellie as the "taxi driver&qout;, shopping was completed in 1.5 hours. Then, she invited us over to their house for a great barbeque and ceviche.
The Spirit of Dana Point with the Dana Point Yacht Club in the background.
The next day, Kellie (our personal taxi service), drove us to down to San Onofrie beach joining Mike, Tracy, and the boys for a long beach day. San Onofrie beach is primarily a surfers beach. Mike, Tracy and the boys surfed from dawn till near dusk. We intended to try surfing, but it was way too crowded with good surfers that pinched out the lame surfers. We spent most of the time couched at the beach relaxing and reading. Duncan finished his book (the somewhat-depressing-but-excellent Wally Lamb book, She's come undone), while Robin tried in-shore boogie boarding.
On Sunday night, Mike and Tracy met us on the boat for a glass of wine before we headed to the Chart House restaurant for dinner. Our last Chart House dinner several years ago (in the bay area) was expensive and of only moderate quality. We were glad we tried the Chart House again. The prices at the Dana Point Charthouse were reasonable and the quality was high. Our service was average, but we will still try (a) Chart House again.
Our expectations for Dana Point were well exceeded. It is difficult to identify whether this is because of Dana Point the place -- or the people we visited and met. We left Dana Point feeling like we were leaving family behind and we will remember the visit fondly.
We head off to Oceanside for our last stop before arriving in San Diego.