San Diego
13 October 2011
We've made it to San Diego. Let me say that again: WE'VE MADE IT TO SAN DIEGO!!!
6 weeks ago, I doubted we were going to make it out of Anacortes, let alone get all the way down the coast to some mythical place like San Diego. Turning left out past Cape Flattery and Neah Bay was momentous. The idea of getting to San Francisco seemed like sailing to Borneo. Now we're in San Diego, making preparations for sailing to Mexico and it feels like we are preparing to enter Neverland. San Diego is its outskirts and we're getting ready to open that next gate to what feels like another world.
So yeah, San Diego. Speaking of another world. The temps yesterday were in the 90's, but close to the water the air was moving and cooler, more like mid-70's. Our son Ian told us that yesterday in Kirkland, temps never made it out of the mid 50's and that fall is really closing in. This will be the first fall of our lives where we've not experienced it - a season both Melody and I have always rather enjoyed and considered our favorite. One sees a lot of T-shirts in the shops around SoCal proclaiming something about endless summer and perhaps that's not just boasting. We'll see. So far, it seems true.
The first thing we were struck by while sailing into San Diego is the fact that this is the home of the US Navy Pacific Fleet. Oh. My. God. Yes, this is truly ground zero. Scary to see and awe-inspiring all at the same time.
Coming down the waterway towards the city, from just inside the open ocean is an airfield on the right that has something like 50 F-14 Tomcats all parked on the side of the field, wings folded up like on a carrier deck. Next to them are 20 or more twin-rotor helicopters (uh, big ones...) and then around the corner from that are another 50 or so regular combat helicopters, one or two of which are constantly landing or taking off. Then a little past that, moored behind a mile of floating fences, are 3 gigantic aircraft carriers, with planes being loaded on deck by cranes. And on the left, opposite that first airfield is an enclosed pen with a couple of submarines floating in it. We have yet to get further into the bay where the destroyers and carrier escort frigates are moored. Wow.
Then there are the constant small reminders that these things are not just for show or some kind of movie backdrop. Small things like rigid black inflatables buzzing around, marked NAVY SECURITY, manned with guys in black uniforms and 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the back deck. Mind you, these machine guns are not covered discreetly with a tarp.
We attended a marine radio class on Tuesday night that was held a mile or two from our boat, so we went to it via dinghy. Coming home past the fuel dock about 9:30 that night there were five or six large black dinghy's filled with guys in black uniforms, apparently engaged in some form of night training. A little freaky for those of us who've never been in the military and have had very little exposure to this kind of stuff.
It has been a very busy few days so far, arranging for repairs, attending a few boating related classes, shopping for supplies and spare parts. No sight seeing other than what we happen to pass by going to and from where we are moored, which is a lot to see, actually. We're pumped to have Rachel, Britton and grandkids come for the weekend and in addition to all the trip prep, we are busy piecing together an itinerary for their visit. So far it seems that the Zoo, the Beach and a little sailing in the inner harbor and perhaps out on the open ocean will be the highlights. We'll see.
Funny thing is we're moored close enough to the San Diego airport that, if the airport had a dock, we could pick them up in our dinghy. It gets a little loud around here during the day (Rachel and Britton may think they are back in their old house in Georgetown), but things settle down at night. Regardless of our jet noisy neighbor, our moorage is fabulously picturesque and we have no complaints about where we are spending these 2 weeks. Shorts and T-shirt weather certainly doesn't hurt.