Thanks to Silver Gate Yacht Club, we had a perfect place to stay in San Diego.

I highly recommend visiting if you have a reciprocal membership – docks were in excellent condition, the club and port captain were organized and welcoming, the restaurant had shockingly good and affordable food, located close to everything, secure bike parking, coin-op laundry, very clean showers, and even a pool/hot tub and grill area. We thought Santa Barbara was the nicest club we would visit, but Silver Gate is superb.

We arrived in San Diego on Saturday, 10/15/2022, at 1700. Exhausted after a 32 hour sail, we wandered up to the club for dinner and a drink.

The next day was planning, errands, and then – last minute thanks to our wonderful viola-playing friend – a visit to the San Diego Symphony at the Rady Shell! One of the cooler venues I have visited. I would see pretty much any show there, but getting to see the symphony and to see my friends perform was so special. We had a table with a great view of the stage, the sun setting behind the shell, the boats sailing past in the harbor, and the buildings reflecting the sunset.

The third day was rig tuning, running errands (charts & parts), and doing a last grocery store run. We probably could have been more strategic (bike the longer distance to Trader Joe’s for more affordable easy food), but there was a lot to do. We got to visit with our buddy Shane (S/V Outrun) Engelman for a moment, got a last dinner in America, made our route plan, then managed an early night’s sleep.

The next morning, we packed the bikes on board, filled water one last time, and left for Mexico!