Marina space or mooring in San Diego

[retasker]

We are sailing our Amazon 44 south from the San Juans through the canal and then to Florida. The first leg is from Friday Harbor to San Diego during the first two weeks in Nov. Unfortunately, we will not be able to continue on to Panama until early next year so we will need a place to keep the boat for two or three months near San Diego.

Does anyone have suggestions as to where we could keep the boat near San Diego? It will not be a liveaboard for this time so that is not an issue.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Dick Tasker

[newhaul]

Honestly IMO I would rethink your departure and wait till spring here and do the trip to panama in the spring of 2017 - late November is a really rough time in the north pacific.

[retasker]

I agree with you but I have one good reason to leave before 1 Nov. I purchased the boat in Washington and got a one year deferral on the sales tax. If I leave before then I will not have to pay the 9.6% tax on the sale. If I don't leave until Spring, then I will owe the tax. We plan to continue on our way as you suggest.

Thanks for your comments.

Dick

[newhaul]

Dick OK that makes sense hope for good weather. Give rich ( svthirdday on here a call .) He currently is living in morrow bay down in sandog. He will likely have a few ideas.

[newhaul]

Also at that time of year don't forget jacklines and harnesses never on deck without clipping in
Want you to get there in basicly the same condition as you left here.

[retasker]

Already got 'em and agree with you 100%.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I concur with waiting until spring. The storms up there get truly nasty, & occur quite regularly by Nov. And by nasty, I mean winds that are closer to 100kts than to 10kts, with waves to match.
Plus, the USCG can & does close many of the bars & harbor entrances for extended periods when such storms occur. Occassionally for up to a week at a time, & down as far south as San Francisco (sometimes further). Even when the storms aren't necessarily near a certain port entrance. As they can still send underwater swells for hundreds of miles, that break as they shoal near bars & ports.

Why not just park the boat up in BC, or in Portland for the winter? That, or put her on the hard until spring. I think that most, if not all of those options would assist you in not running afoul of any red tape. Non? It's worth checking. And there are other threads on here which cover exactly this issue. Ditto on avoiding the North Coast in winter, & it's winter up there already. At least as far as Neptune's concerned.

[Wayfarer1008]

Finding a slip or mooring is not that big of an issue in the San Diego area in that there are plenty of marinas more than happy to take you in. If you expand your search a bit and include the Long Beach area and Ensenada there are many good deals to be had.
As for traveling South in November or even in the spring its not that you may but a forgone conclusion that you will encounter very rough conditions to San Francisco if not all the way to Point Conception next to Santa Barbara. There is a very good reason for the timing of the Baja Ha-Ha cruiser rally in that it gets everyone that is heading south at the end of the southern Hurricane season and the onset of Gulf of Alaska storms that reach about half way down the Baja peninsula during the winter.

My advise would be to starting now get your boat as far south as you possibly can now and not wait for a planned November/spring departure. If you can make San Francisco you will be out of the worst of it and can work your way between storms to Southern California and on.

[Buzoman]

Hello Dick, I see no one has addressed your question! SAN Diego has many marinas it depends on how much you want to spend. Kona Kai on shelter island is nice (expensive)and close to the ocean. Harbor island near the airport has 3 marinas, I am in Cabrillo Isle, there is also Harbor Island West and Marina Cortez. Harbor island marinas are less expensive than shelter island. The Port of San Diego has moorings and I'm pretty sure they are operated by "The SAN Diego mooring company. Hope this helps!
Bill

[TacomaSailor]

Sunroad Marina (Harbor Island) has
43' slips for $830/month
45' slips for $860/month

We've lived in the marina for six years and love it. Just a 20 minute walk to the airport. Ten minutes drive to every boat store you might need.

Have you studied the weather off the Washington - Oregon - California coast in November?

I've done the Seattle - San Diego thing four times as well as a lot more offshore miles elsewhere. I would be very reluctant to venture SE from Cape Flattery in November.

Can you tell the probability of seeing more than 30 knots from the SSW at Stonewall Bank? The odds of seeing more than 20' swells for more than 3-consecutive days at the Cape Elizabeth buoy? How often do the bars at Newport, Coos Bay close in November and for how long?

I've been stuck in Westport, Newport, Coos Bay for days at a time in early October, due to sudden SW storms. I can't imagine what November would be like?

[TOPGALLANT32]

Mission Bay is worth having a look at as well. Last time I was there it was still reasonable.
I have made the Alaska to So Cal passage and back many times and believe me,in Nov it is pure misery. Oct can be equally as bad and yes the winter storm patterns have alredy moved in this year. None of bar crossings are safe in foul weather. The CG will not come out to save you if you attempt a crossing.The sight of the waves breaking on those bars will stand you hair on end !
you certanilly dont want to take a green crew or a boat that has not had a good shakedown cruze.
SV Ulicia

[bruce v]

Originally Posted by Buzoman

Hello Dick, I see no one has addressed your question! SAN Diego has many marinas it depends on how much you want to spend. Kona Kai on shelter island is nice (expensive)and close to the ocean. Harbor island near the airport has 3 marinas, I am in Cabrillo Isle, there is also Harbor Island West and Marina Cortez. Harbor island marinas are less expensive than shelter island. The Port of San Diego has moorings and I'm pretty sure they are operated by "The SAN Diego mooring company. Hope this helps!
Bill

Chula Vista Marina is the least expensive of all marinas in SD. ($350/month and just over double for live aboard - for S.D., that's very reasonable. Be aware, they are hardcore about liveaboard. You can be onboard 2 nights a week and, if caught being there more, you'll be asked to leave (of course, once you are there and figure it out, going out and staying at anchor after two every two days will start another "2 nights okayaboard" - don't plan to anchor out for a couple of hours and return (that dog won't hunt!). You have many many options in S.D.

Yes and don't forget the "poor man's anchorage" under the Coronado Bridge. It used to be free for 60 days (maybe it still is) and just a very short dingy ride to a small beach on Coronado Strand right at the base of the bridge (if you leave your dingy on the beach, make sure everything is secured including the dingy itself!!!). The really nice thing about S.D. if you are a senior like myself and wife, is the transportation system. You can purchase a monthly pass for $18 ea. that provides use of the excellent bus and trolley system that will give access from the border all the way to Oceanside (if you're not a senior, the price is double - still not a bad deal). Also, the city is very bike and pet friendly. So much to offer that 2 months will seem too brief a time to enjoy it all.

[RedHerring]

If I were you, I'd also opt for leaving the boat in Canada for the winter. On the hard in one of the boatyards in Richmond, more likely than not, and do whatever needs to be done below the waterline while at it.

[LLCoolDave]

If you leave the boat in California you might get dinged with a tax bill from California. I remember SV Prism bought their boat in either WA or OR. They stayed in SD for a month or two on their way to Mexico and got hit with $7000 in sales tax. With everyone's weather concerns and California taxes I'd leave the boat in Oregon for the winter.

[TacomaSailor]

California Use (Sales) and property tax

This topic has been debated endlessly here BUT, based on my experience with three boats purchased in Washington and subsequently moved to California here is what I know for certain about moving a boat from Washington to California:

If you have not paid your Washington sales tax you will have to PROVE to the California Board of Equalization (BoE) that you do not owe them the 8% Use Tax (Sales Tax and it varies a bit from county to county). The California law assumes you DO OWE the Use tax if you have not paid it to another state. The BoE will assert their claim and it is up to you to prove you paid elsewhere.

You will have to pay property tax (1.118% in San Diego) on any boat that is moored, docked, or anchored in California on January 1. It does not matter where you live nor does it matter if you are a California or Washington resident. You will owe the tax.

2000 - We sailed our Caliber 40 from Puget Sound to San Diego, arrived in Chula Vista October, where she stayed until November 2001. We had paid Sales Tax in Washington AND maintained a Washington residence (owned a home), paid lots of taxes in Tacoma. We had to send a copy of the Washington state sales tax bill to BoE in June 2001. In March 2001 we received a property tax bill for 2001 because the boat was docked in CV.

We took the boat to Mexico in November 2001 and returned directly to Tacoma in late 2004. We had to prove (marina receipts, Immigration documents, insurance documents, fuel bills) to the San Diego Assesors office that the boat left California in 2001 and never returned. We had to send five sets of letters and documents to SD assesor before they stopped billing us.

2000 - We sailed my brothers Tartan 42 from Puget Sound to San Diego, arrived in Chula Vista July, where she stayed until December 2000. He had NOT paid Sales Tax in Washington by the same method the OP used. He went to Mexico in December 2000, returned to San Diego in late 2001 and sold the boat in early 2002. He had to pay USE (Sales Tax) on the boat in California because he kept a California drivers license current when he move to Tacoma in 1999. He could prove he was a Washington Resident for two years but since he never paid Sales Tax in WA he had to pay in CA.

He also had to pay SD property tax for 2001 and 2002 because the marina reported him as being in a slip for more than 6-months. He fought those bills and proved he was in Mexico in most of 2001.

2010 - We sailed our Caliber 40 from Puget Sound to San Diego, arrived in San Diego in September, where she has remained to date. We had paid Sales Tax in Washington (1995) but again, had to prove to BoE, in Spring 2011, we had paid the tax 16-years earlier.

In May 2011 we received a SD County Assessor property tax bill for the boat because it was at the dock in Sunroad on January 1, 2011. We sent the assessor paperwork showing we owned property in Washington State and both my wife and I worked in Washington State (she full time, me part time).

That did not matter to the Assessor - as long as the boat is in SD county waters on January 1 - the 1.118% property tax is due by September 15 of that year.

Bottom Line in California is that the courts have ruled for years that anything claimed by the BoE or any Assessor is, prima facie, correct unless the tax payer can prove otherwise.

We are currently battling BoE about income tax for 2013 when I was retired and my wife was a full time employee of a municipal utility in Washington. I made the mistake of spending more than 6-months on our boat in San Diego (so they claim) and therefore EVERYTHING she and I earned in 2013 is taxable because it is a joint property state. The husband/wife income cannot be split and IF you spend more than 180 days in California in a year you are automatically a resident and own income tax.

It is up to us to PROVE I was not in San Diego for a total of 180 days in 2013.

There are many details and nuances to the issue but the point is that California ASSUMES you owe them a tax and will litigate, attach, garnish wages, bank accounts, savings accounts, and file claims if you do not pay.

My brother discovered this years after he left California when he tried to buy a home in Florida and the escrow company found that California BoE had filed some kind of document that prevented his home loan from clearing.

You need to be very careful about bringing a boat to California for which you do not have a Sales Tax receipt!