San Diego
Marriott Marina
333 West Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone:
619-230-8955
Office Hours:
Monday -Saturday
8:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday
9:30am - 6:00pm
Engr./Security:
619-234-1500 ext. 6100
Room Service:
619-230-8368
E-mail Address:
ken.guyer@marriott.com
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Nautical trivia - Slush Fund
On ships of old, if your nose could stand it, you could get a slushy slurry of fat after a long voyage by boiling or scraping the empty salted meat storage barrels.
This stuff called "slush" was often sold ashore by the ship's cook for the benefit of himself or the crew. The money from the sale became known as a slush fund.
From
Your Marina Manager and Staff - Dock Captain's BBQ a Hit With Marina Guests
What happens when you take about 225 marina guests - mix in some hot dogs, hamburgers, Roy's Ribs, cold beer, and some steel drums?
Simple! One great time! What will hopefully become a tradition here at the Marriott Marina, the Memorial Day Dock Captains BBQ was held on the boardwalk just south of Roy's on Saturday, May 23rd. Marina guests were ready to join in right when we opened up at noon and it stayed packed until we ran out of food and beer right at 3:00, our closing time.
There was space available on F-dock for marina guests to bring their dinghy in for the party. D Dock Captain, Larry Ingram, got into the spirit of the day and hosted the "Margaritaville Annex" at the head of F-Dock serving up made to order Margaritas and shrimp till around 9 p.m.
Larry, a retired Marine, celebrated the Memorial Day event by flying the Stars and Stripes above the Marine Corp and POW flag from his yacht in honor of our men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.
If you missed out, plan on coming to our annual Summer "Island Fever" Party to be held on Coronado Terrace, Friday, August 21, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
See you there!
Selecting Underwater & Topside Maintenance Services
Speaking about summer, here are some great tips courtesy of Gerry Charest at Marina Village about selecting a professional maintenance service that will protect your boat and the marine environment.
Ask your boat maintenance services to follow the marina requirements as outlined in your lease, and use Best Management Practices (BMPs) to avoid damaging boats or releasing pollutants into marina waters.
Ask the Marina office staff for a selection of service providers. Hire a professional! Ask to see the service's current business license and liability insurance. You want to be assured that if there is a problem, your vendor will stand behind the product.
Some maintenance services may belong to a professional association that uses BMPs. Get several references from a prospective maintenance service or other boaters who know their work. Ask if they were satisfied and try to see the completed work. Obtain and verify the service's business address and telephone number. You may need to contact them in case of incomplete work, illegal discharge or improper waste disposal.
Finally, explain your expectations. Let the contractor know what you need and how it should be performed. We welcome any feedback, good or bad, regarding how a particular vendor performs their service.
One If By Land ...
For a number of legitimate reasons like those above, marinas like ours have tightened up security in recent years for marine service vendors working on boats at our docks.
Some of the new restrictions are to make sure vendors have liability insurance, but a lot of it has to do with making sure best environmental practices are being followed.
However, all too often vendors have taken to "arriving by boat" in order to bypass marina security.
Please make sure your vendors are cleared for work by your marina. This helps protect both the boaters and the marinas.
A Few More Words About Water
Reminder - Your Water Hose Can Sink Your Boat
Remember - you should never leave the city water hose connected to an unattended boat, even if it's turned off. This is because if another person uses your water connection while you're gone, they could turn it back on and forget to turn it off.
If there's a failure, your boat could potentially actually sink at the dock if this happens. Fill your fresh water tank and disconnect the hose from your boat for everybody's safety.
Help Conserve Water
As you know, the Southwest is expecting significant water shortages this summer. We need everyone's help to do what they can to conserve water. One small step is to make sure that your water hose has an automatic shutoff nozzle on it. Please don't let us see running hoses laying on the dock. Thank You.
Please Check Your Power Cords
This is the time of year to make a visual inspection of your boat's shore power cords. Frayed and scorched lines are a fire hazard and are subject to a fine by the Coast Guard when they inspect our marina.
That's it for me - enjoy the newsletter and I'll see you at the marina.
Yours Truly,
Ken Guyer - Marina Manager
ken.guyer@marriott.com
A Word About the Internet
Since this is an e-mail newsletter, it's appropriate to include an occasional word or two about e-mail and the Internet.
Today's word is "public". You may already know this, but if you don't, you should know that there's nothing private about e-mail and browsing the internet.
The fact is, if you're "out there" e-mailing and exploring on the internet, anybody can have it, and anybody can see it. Adding to the excitement, whatever it is that you did out there is probably archived somewhere and can pop up again - often at a most inopportune time.
So the watchword is, "if you wouldn't do it in the middle of Interstate 5, don't do it in an e-mail or with your browser" - it's a public highway out there.
Why Boat People Don't Play the Piano
- By Gus Giobbi
There are more things on a boat that can nick, bang, smash, scrape, and bruise your body than you can shake a stick at.
What's interesting is that most of the time we boaters have no idea how or where we got our latest "boat bite".
"Geez Gus! You have blood dripping all the way from your elbow to your ankle! How'd you do that?"
"I don't know! - I was in the engine compartment contorting my body into the two inch space above the headers to check the batteries the manufacturer tucked in the obligatory out of reach location back by the prop shaft, and the next thing I know I have blood everywhere.
My own personal boat nemesis is the back of my hands. "Hi Gus - Nice black and purple bruise - it matches the one on the back of your other hand!" I usually get one these unsightly boat bites just as the last ugly one has almost healed.
The drawers on our boat have those nasty metal tabs that stick down to make sure they don't fly open when rocking and rolling at sea. It should be easy to remember not to lift and scrape your hand as you pull something out of a drawer, but for some reason I haven't learned not to do that yet.
Then there's the head. Not the flush kind, but the one sitting on top of my shoulders. "What was it about the last time I smashed it into the overhead on the way down to the salon that didn't cause me to store this info on my memory's hard drive for future reference?"
And don't get me started on my knee pains! Half a boater's life is spent on the deck peering into dark hatches or kneeling on bone-crunching decks doing something or other.
Maybe I'm just clumsy or a slow learner - but then, I do notice a lot of other band-aids around the docks. And you know me - I don't complain.
Besides - as the pump-out man said when asked why he didn't get a different job, "What? And get out of yachting?
Editor's Note: Gus Giobbi is the Chairman of BlueSkyNews.com.
He occasionally plays some "oldies but goodies" on the piano, but not after he's spent the weekend a boat because of the boat bites on his hands. To send him an e-mail about your own personal favorite "boat bite" experience, click here.
Today Could Be Your Day!
By Richard Benscoter
- Do you own a sailboat but have never entered in a race? Have you wondered what it would be like to win one and be number one on your dock along with the associated bragging rights? (At least until the next race).
But you marvel at the new one design boats, boats that are built for one thing only, racing, and you think how can I compete? You probably don't have the resources to outfit your boat with the latest state of the art computer designed sails, wind resistant fairleads and blocks, and let's not forget the running rigging made of the strongest, will not stretch one centimeter, material. So you make the decision not to compete.
Well, that may be the wrong choice for you, and here are some reasons why. All boats have ratings that are applied to your particular boat, based on its size, sail plan, and a host of other variables that once applied to all the boats in a race, level the playing field.
Additionally, in a race, you compete against boats in your same class such as spinnaker, non spinnaker. Race starts are also staggered depending on the class you are racing in - another way of leveling the playing field.
Still not convinced? Then let's look at this year's Newport to Ensenada race, the world's largest international yacht race. This annual race draws all types of boats and competitors from the very experienced to the person that has just two races under their belt.
This year 260 boats crossed the start line in Newport Beach and 157 finished in Ensenada, Mexico. But who took all the trophies home? The 80 foot boat? No, all the trophies this year went to an out of production Catalina 30 and owner Cleve Hardaker and crew. So what did they win, the whole enchilada, (1) the President of Mexico Trophy for first place overall in the race on corrected handicap time, (2) first among PHRF boats, (3) first in PHRF-K class for the highest-rated boats, (4) first Catalina boat and (5) a $5,000 Corum watch for first overall.
So what magic rabbit did Cleve Hardaker and crew pull out of their hat? Experience! Every race is different and conditions are never the same, so you rely on the knowledge you have on how your boat performs in any condition.
If you haven't raced yet, you should give it a try. You will gain a wealth of knowledge about your boat and its performance, and you too could be in the winner's circle. See you on the water!
Editor's Note: Richard Benscoter is a long time avid sailor. He's a member of the Silver Gate Yacht Club and owner of the Mariners Woodshop. If you have a sailing question for Richard, send e-mail to richard@BlueSkyNews.com.
From the Poop Deck
Hey Buddy! Nice new boat you got there! Oh, it's your first boat?
Don't forget, you have to adjust your lines when the tide comes in and goes out, and I notice you don't have any "Automatic Line Adjusters". I can get you a set for only twelve hundred dollars - of course, you'll need two sets, one for the front and one for the back. They're expensive, but these are the most reliable line adjusters made. By the way, how's your supply of relative bearing grease?
Editors Note: We do apologize for Madeline. We keep trying to smooth out her rough edges. If you have a pet question or pet photo to send to her, please e-mail it to Madeline@BlueSkyNews.com
Holidays in June
The month of June has some great holidays in it - Most notable are Flag Day on Sunday, June 14th, and Father's Day on Sunday, June 21st.
But here are some June holidays you may not be aware of - The first week in June is National Fishing Week. The whole month of June is designated as "Adopt a Cat" month.
June 1st you'll be happy to know is "National Donut Day" .
The list goes on including famous birthdays - for example, June 9th is Donald Duck's Birthday. For fun, you can check out the whole list of June holidays on About.com.
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