So Cal marinas and conditions

[jfurlong]

I am currently docked in Mission Bay north of San Diego. Am considering moving north to Long Beach and wonder if anyone has comments or reviews on marina facilities and sailing conditions.

[swimnfit]

Have not made the sail to Long Beach or stayed in a marina there. However, the LOG online has a great marina directory for all of Southern California. Check it out


The Log.com

Harbor Guide 2010

Slips 2010

[bkseawolf]

J,
You have two options in the Long Beach Area. Both Marinas run by the city of Long Beach. Alamitos Bay which is just North of Seal Beach, in fact just south of the harbor jetty is Seal Beach. I am not sure of the vacancies but a call to the City of Long Beach or get on the internet for that information.
The other is Shoreline Marina in Downtown Long Beach. Again for slip information call or get on the web. I have lived aboard in both Marinas and there are plus and minus for both.
First Alamitos Bay has better boater facilities. There is a shipyard, West Marine, and a Stoll engine and gas dock available. Not to mention downtown Seal Beach a 1/2 hour walk away. Lots of resturants and generally my favorite between the two, for its convenience. The bay around Naples Island offers some nice protected sailing although tiny, and great for the dinghy rides..
Going further north to Shoreline Marina, you can enter the breakwater and have some great sailing in protected waters all the way to San Pedro.
The wind in the Long Beach area tends to be good especially in the afternoon, and further up in the San Pedro, LA Harbor area it blows even more, and has a nick name of hurricane gulch.
Shoreline Marina area caters more to tourist and weekenders it seems than to boaters. The Marina itself has been redone with all new docks and facilities are decent, but if you need groceries or boat parts or supplies, you are out of luck unless you have transportation.
My home port now is Dana Point and my favorite of all. If you haven't been there you must stop by on your way north and anchor in the west basin in front of the Marine Institute. One of the prettiest spots around with a park like setting. There is a limit on how long you can stay, and the harbor patrol monitors closely, so check it out. Facilities at or close to the marina include West Marine, a boat yard and lots of resturants.
Better sailing in Long Beach San Pedro area but we usually have a nice afternoon breeze come up almost every day in Dana Point.
Hope this helps.
Fair winds.
Bob

[poopdeckpappy]

Love DP, we had slip at C dock ( West basin ) for 2yrs, DP is the only place I could ever find toasted pineapple/coconut bagels.

Sherri & I have killed several hundred cups of coffee sit'n right here

[bkseawolf]

Yeah,
Its a great place. I have been in the east basin on the island for 10 years now in the same slip. Where are you now? Cruising I hope.
The only down side is if you like to go to Catalina a lot, the wind is usually on the nose going, and on the direct route home you are in the lee of the island and rarely have a great sail home. But occasionally we catch some wind with some south in it and have a fine sail to and from.
Fair Winds.
Bob

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by jfurlong

I am currently docked in Mission Bay north of San Diego. Am considering moving north to Long Beach and wonder if anyone has comments or reviews on marina facilities and sailing conditions.

We were moored in Long Beach for about 6 years before we took off for Florida. Initially Downtown, first in the basin at Shoreline Village and later on G-dock, and then relocated to Alamitos Bay where we managed to get a slip in the little basin on the north side of our Club-Alamitos Bay YC.

The sailing in Long Beach was very enjoyable. Good winds almost all of the time, relatively calm water behind the breakwater, a fairly large protected area between Alamitos Bay and San Pedro and some interesting areas to poke into. It was also a relatively short hop from Angel's Gate to Two Harbors on Catalina. We'd frequently head over to Catalina after work on Thursday evening--leaving a car at the ferry landing in Long Beach--to ensure we'd get a mooring and then take the ferry back to Long Beach Friday AM in time to get to work. The ride back to the Island on Friday evening was enjoyable and quite fast and gave us Friday night through mid-day Sunday to enjoy the island. Most of the times, the trip back to Long Beach was a "screeming reach" once you cleared Bird Rock (with my wife doing most all of the screeming as we surfed down waves at well over theoretical hull speed).

Once we were in the Alamitos Bay slip, we loved the Marina. Downtown, not so much. In the Basin in the Village it was crowded, noisy, frequently very dirty, and one was forever being harassed by "street people" or drunks. (My wife was harassed so often that, if she went up to the head without me or another male escort, she carried a winch handle which she did employ on more than one occassion.) Getting over to G-Dock was an improvement but one was still frequently harassed by street people; since one was no longer parked in a fenced in restricted parking lot, one's vehicle was subject to theft or being broken into; and, despite the gates, there was a fair amount of thievery from the boats, even on the gangways adjoining the Harbor Master's office. Further, the LA River discharges into the back of Queen's Way Bay and although there's supposed to be a trash fence, it did not work very well. Accordingly, during the rainy season Queen's Way Bay and the basin were frequently inundated with floating trash and oil--once measuing a depth of 2+ feet off our quarter while we were in our slip! The foregoing, coupled with the number of activities that go on that restrict access--such as the "Grand Prix" in early April; some of the "Fairs" etc., etc. etc. make the Downtown Marina problematical.

If you can get into the Marina at Alamitos Bay, you will be much happier but you may find that you have to take what you can get and then get on the "move" list, as we did. It took us about 18 months to make the move but we were vry happy with the results. Our one complaint with Alamitos was some of the morons blasting down the channel between the jettys without consideration for the limited maneuvering capability of sailing yachts. I always breathed a sigh of relief once we'd cleared the jetty's or, on the return, the breakwater at ABYC

FWIW...

[windward54]

The City has cleaned up the area around Shoreline a lot in the past few years, and it has gotten a lot better. Long Beach did a Redevelopment Agency, and dumped a lot of money into redevelopment, so they have a vested interest in keeping the area clean and safe. And the friends that I have that are in Shoreline like it. However, there are a lot of activities that go on that make it tough to get to your boat. Some people love the activity, some hate it.

Alamitos Bay is nice, but they are supposed to be starting a rehab of the marina. Of course, the current economic issues has slowed that down a lot. Currently, they still have the old wooden docks and no gates to keep unwanted visitors out.

[poopdeckpappy]

Originally Posted by bkseawolf

Yeah,
Its a great place. I have been in the east basin on the island for 10 years now in the same slip. Where are you now? Cruising I hope.
The only down side is if you like to go to Catalina a lot, the wind is usually on the nose going, and on the direct route home you are in the lee of the island and rarely have a great sail home. But occasionally we catch some wind with some south in it and have a fine sail to and from.
Fair Winds.
Bob

We traded San Juan Pt for Pt. Loma ( shelter Island basin ) sailing mostly locally from the Coronados Is. up to La Jolla and out to nowhere in particular. ( best place in the world )

Been trying to make it up to DP, but can't seem to get week to ourselves yet...............and we are dying for a Hawaiian bagel,tuna sandwich and that awesome pomagranate ice tea.

We're also affraid we won't want to leave again


Oh, Sherri says I forgot the frozen bannanas and Jon's fish & chips

[bkseawolf]

Here is some remarks regarding a couple of the post.
LA River outlet at the Queen Mary:
First of all the remark about the LA river is so true. In the early seventies before shoreline marina was built, I was moored out by the Queen Mary. They called us the Gypsy Fleet. After heavy rains, all the spoils from the north came down the flood control channels and dumped out right there and eddied.
I would come home from work to row the dinghy out to the boat and there was so much flotsam and so thick, I would not be able to row out to the boat, and during that nasty weather would have to sleep in my car for the night, and possibly the night thereafter until the flotsam cleared out. Oh what we put up with to mess around in boats.

And John's Fish and Chips in Dana Point Harbor. A little expensive these days, but still very good.