Avila/Port San Luis

[klee wyck]

For the left coasties south of me:
What about this area? I have visited it a few times as a land lubber and really like it there. A distant dream would be to visit by boat for a good stretch but it looks real scary from that angle. Seems pretty exposed to anything the Pacific could throw that direction. What do those boats on moorings by Avila Pier do when something big is coming? Do they just ride it out there or run for Morrow? Anyone with experience here or know anything about it? My only chance would be Winter and expect that is when it is most troublesome in regard to the above.

 

[caltexflanc]

I've been there by land and sea a few times. It is actually pretty sheltered from the prevailing winds and seas. Just about everyone pulls their boat in winter, there is a full service boatyard and travel lift right there. You would need lead time to get to, and more importantly into Morrow. Just as well have the boat hauled.

It is a fun place in season, good boater facilities and places to eat right there, and an easy long walk or short bike ride into Avila proper. Not too far up the road from town is a hot springs type of spa.

 

[Larry M]

Bill: Send a PM to Rich, SV THIRD DAY, who's a recent TF member. He, his wife Laurie and their 2 teenage kids have lived on a mooring/sometimes anchor in Morro Bay for the last 3 or 4 years and cruised Mexico before that. He does live on a 50' sailboat but they're a great family with lots of local info. Tell him Hobo sent you.

 

[SV THIRD DAY]

Talk about a coincidence...we just motored over from our Morro Bay Mooring this morning and are now on what we joke about as our "summer house", mooring in Port San Luis.

Jan-April can sure be Nasty in Port San Luis with the Southern storm swells rolling right into the mooring field. Now in between storms is can be paradise during the winter, but I wouldn't want to keep my boat on a mooring there during a big storm. So what most folks do is watch the weather and then make the 4hr trip into protected Morro Bay during the winter storms. We did that for our first year living aboard in Port San Luis, but when a Morro Bay mooring because available, we bought it and now stay there full time just out of ease.

Port San Luis is Great....but there is no floating dinghy dock, no dock to tie-up to and walk off, just a floating work dock infested by sea lions for water and power.

I'm more than happy to answer questions for you, just shoot me an email at SVTHIRDDAY@Yahoo.com

There is NO waiting list to buy/install a PSL mooring and I think we paid about $4000 for ours and then like $450/yr to keep and maintain it, so cost are pretty damn Cheap by California standards!

 

[Britannia]

Next summer I'm hoping to take a trip from SF Bay to Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. I intend to make it down in one leg and then harbor hop on the way back north. That would include Cojo Anchorage (esp if Pt Conception is nasty) Port San Luis, Morro Bay (been there once before), San Simeon, Stillwater Cove, and Santa Cruz. I've seen it from land too, as well as San Simeon - but not visited either by water. A southerly swell is unusual in the summer but becomes a bit more likely in the fall.

Richard

 

[caltexflanc]

Hey Third Day, which boat are you? I was just there a few weeks ago and will probably be back next month.

 

[klee wyck]

Thanks all for the insights. Nice to hear from those with some experience here. What Third Day says makes a ton of sense. I have seen the degree to which the areas around and under the pier there is infested with sea lions and have tried to look around for where the dinghys go when someone wants to get to shore. I've watched a guy anchored by the Avila Pier tie up and climb that ladder over there and that is definitely a young guys gig.
I suspect there is a long wait list for Morrow moorings?