Sea Lions, Ahoy!

In Marina del Rey we stayed at the guest docks of Burton Chace Park. This was our first time at a park; we've docked at marinas and a yacht club, we've rafted and we've anchored. This was a little strip of guest docks along the edge of an urban park. Burton Chace was the mayor of Long Beach and then a longtime member of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors. The construction of Marina del Rey, the second-largest man-made port in the world, was his pet project. The guest docks are right on the central channel, which makes them choppy (your boat gets slapped by the wake of every passing boat), but they have incredible views. The sunsets were glorious, and each night a gondolier came by with a couple nestled in his cabin. By our third night there, the gondolier and I were waving evening greetings.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at

Hey there, it’s Caryn and West. Loved reading your adventure! West says the best way to deal with stubborn sea lions is to get a sling shot!

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Oh, Caryn, it’s so great to have you along here! Thanks for the tip.

How are things going for y’all? Did you decide to winter at Marina Bay or are you moving along?

We arrived at the docks at Angel Island earlier this summer and the sea lions were basking in the sun and had no interest in moving. In addition to lounging in the sun, they had covered the docks with poop that makes cow pies seem small! Needless to say it was quite a hazard trying to dock the boat and step off onto the dock. The park rangers eventually cane by with a hose which successfully shooed them away and wiped the dock clean of sea lion poop—but the smell lingered a long time.

We don’t have a slip available in Eureka where we wanted to go, so we are staying here for the winter… we went out sailing for a couple days last week and had a bit of an accident… ran into a buoy and put a hole in our bow… so we are learning how to do fiberglass now.

Did you do any lobster diving in southern cali?

Oh, eek! So sorry to hear you hit buoy, and so glad you are safe. We have enjoyed working with epoxy; I hope you find some fun in it, and that all is safe and well soon.

This is the first time I’ve heard of lobster diving!

Oh yes, they look quite comfortable up there, don’t they? It’s like they wanted to have their picture taken with ‘joice! And who wouldn’t?

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