Jim Gandee
Veteran Member
This past week I motored down the So. Cal. coast from Long Beach to San Diego, Chula Vista Marina to be exact. I was searching for good marinas to overnight so as to break up the trip into two days. Oceanside looked good so I called ahead to get some information. I was told they only accepted slip reservations via US mail. Prepayment was required via check and I needed to provide a copy of my Documentation and Proof of Insurance.
HUH? U.S. Mail….ONLY? Okay, I jumped through their hoops and received a slip assignment via U.S. Mail a few days prior to departure. (So it takes at least a week to get a slip reservation!) Fast forward to the arrival day, we pull in about 1600 LT only to find our assigned slip already taken. The City of Oceanside marina personnel do NOT monitor any marine radios thus I attempted multiple cell calls to resolve the issue. After a series of holds and dropped calls I receive a secondary slip assignment and motor down only to find that slip also taken! After additional calls I’m finally directed to an end tie near a restaurant which works. I make my way to the harbor office where I’m admonished for being late as they close at 1630. I tried to explain that if my reserved slip had been open I would not have been late but all they would say is “it’s been crazy around here since the fishing has been so good.” I ask for the shower keys and am told they require a $35 deposit payable by check only. They City will refund my $$ after I return the keys which can be deposited in a night drop box or brought back to the office at 0800 the next day. What a bunch of BS! The City will take 3 months to refund my $$ and there’s no method to prove I dropped the keys in the box and I plan to depart at O-Dark Thirty. I somehow persuaded the employee that I was trustworthy enough to return the key, and she really wanted to go home, so she gave me the shower key. Guess what, the key didn’t even work!!! Luckily we accessed the showers via other boaters.
For the return trip, four days later, we originally planned to stop at Dana Point but the Admiral decided that was a bit to far so I was back on the phone with Oceanside Marina where I was again told they only accepted reservations via U.S. Mail. “Look, I was just there four nights ago. You already have the documentation you require what’s the issue?” “We require prepayment” the clerk stated. “No problem I can give you my credit card info.” To which she again told me they only accept checks. Cut to the chase….she reluctantly gave me a slip reservation and assignment and I thanked her.
I bet you know what happened next! We pulled into Oceanside Harbor the next afternoon and of course learned the Marina personnel had no record of any reservation for me, the employee that I had spoken to was off that day and I was out of luck! After a lot of discussion I was eventually assigned a side tie adjacent to the bait barge with no power, water or shower accessibility and they charged me the same as the slips with power, water etc!!
At first I thought this was a one off incident but the more I speak with other So. Cal boaters I see the overall attitude of the local marina personnel is that of disdain, apathy and you’re lucky to be in our marina! Contrast that to the PNW where you can call most marinas on the VHF and receive a friendly welcome and slip assignment. Perhaps my assessment of the So. Cal. area marina’s pervasive overall negative attitude is premature but I’m seeing a pattern here. I’d sure like to hear from others out there in my area that motor up and down the coast and desire overnight harbor accommodations.
What have been your experiences, good and bad?
P.S. Chula Vista Marina folks were pleasant and helpful but beware it's ten miles from the harbor entrance!
HUH? U.S. Mail….ONLY? Okay, I jumped through their hoops and received a slip assignment via U.S. Mail a few days prior to departure. (So it takes at least a week to get a slip reservation!) Fast forward to the arrival day, we pull in about 1600 LT only to find our assigned slip already taken. The City of Oceanside marina personnel do NOT monitor any marine radios thus I attempted multiple cell calls to resolve the issue. After a series of holds and dropped calls I receive a secondary slip assignment and motor down only to find that slip also taken! After additional calls I’m finally directed to an end tie near a restaurant which works. I make my way to the harbor office where I’m admonished for being late as they close at 1630. I tried to explain that if my reserved slip had been open I would not have been late but all they would say is “it’s been crazy around here since the fishing has been so good.” I ask for the shower keys and am told they require a $35 deposit payable by check only. They City will refund my $$ after I return the keys which can be deposited in a night drop box or brought back to the office at 0800 the next day. What a bunch of BS! The City will take 3 months to refund my $$ and there’s no method to prove I dropped the keys in the box and I plan to depart at O-Dark Thirty. I somehow persuaded the employee that I was trustworthy enough to return the key, and she really wanted to go home, so she gave me the shower key. Guess what, the key didn’t even work!!! Luckily we accessed the showers via other boaters.
For the return trip, four days later, we originally planned to stop at Dana Point but the Admiral decided that was a bit to far so I was back on the phone with Oceanside Marina where I was again told they only accepted reservations via U.S. Mail. “Look, I was just there four nights ago. You already have the documentation you require what’s the issue?” “We require prepayment” the clerk stated. “No problem I can give you my credit card info.” To which she again told me they only accept checks. Cut to the chase….she reluctantly gave me a slip reservation and assignment and I thanked her.
I bet you know what happened next! We pulled into Oceanside Harbor the next afternoon and of course learned the Marina personnel had no record of any reservation for me, the employee that I had spoken to was off that day and I was out of luck! After a lot of discussion I was eventually assigned a side tie adjacent to the bait barge with no power, water or shower accessibility and they charged me the same as the slips with power, water etc!!
At first I thought this was a one off incident but the more I speak with other So. Cal boaters I see the overall attitude of the local marina personnel is that of disdain, apathy and you’re lucky to be in our marina! Contrast that to the PNW where you can call most marinas on the VHF and receive a friendly welcome and slip assignment. Perhaps my assessment of the So. Cal. area marina’s pervasive overall negative attitude is premature but I’m seeing a pattern here. I’d sure like to hear from others out there in my area that motor up and down the coast and desire overnight harbor accommodations.
What have been your experiences, good and bad?
P.S. Chula Vista Marina folks were pleasant and helpful but beware it's ten miles from the harbor entrance!
