New to West Coast - New Boat - Welcome

[vmi2008]

Fellow Mariners - I recently relocated to San Diego, purchased a 26' Ranger and am loving it. Have done all of my sailing in the Chesapeake Bay, but have not been able to unfurl my sails for quite some time. My schedule allows for some extended trips, so I am looking for any 3-5 day overnights. My first trip will certainly be to Catalina. At this point, I have a few questions as I get started again. I like group sails and am also interest in joining a club. Any experience, friends, stories, etc would be appreciated as I am new to the area. Thanks, fair weather and following seas

[Hud3]

Welcome to the Forum, vmi2008. Good to have you here! We've got a bunch of SoCal sailors here, so I'm sure you'll hear from them shortly. Big change--west coast sailing vs. The Bay!



p.s. just noticing your username...You wouldn't happen to be a Keydet, would you?

Hud
VPI '67

[Ocean Girl]

Welcome to the forum.
My first boat was a Ranger (23), great boats.
Erika

[James S]

Welcome...happy sails

[jim_thomsen]

Hi vmi2008,

You will enjoy San Diego. It's great to be able to sail year-round. We were members of Harbor Sailboats and met some great people, but it is geared more to people without boats who want to use their boats. I would also ask about groups at Downwind Marine and some of the employees at the big West Marine store are active cruisers in the area and probably have suggestions. Seabreeze Books is a great place to find all the local guides and charts, as well as infomation.

With 3-5 days you can do a lot of trips, to Mexico, exploring Catalina and you may want to sail north to some marina near the Channel Islands, leave your boat until the next weekend, then sail to the islands, returning to San Diego when you have the available days.

Another fun daysail it out and around the Coronado Islands (but they are part of Mexico so you need to check in with customs.

Enjoy San Diego. It's our Home Port and someday we will return.