Weather Helmed

We arrived in San Diego too early on Monday morning for us to appreciate its beauty or anything else in life. After spending the pre-daylight hours on a quarantine buoy, we were able to move to the “Cop Dock,” a municipal dock facility offered to transients for a mere $10.50/night.  After checking in, we walked too far to get a breakfast sandwich, then walked too far back and went straight to bed, even putting off showers until we’d gotten a nap. Since then, we’ve slept a lot (though still not enough for me!) and have wandered around a bit in our dinghy and on foot. Today, we shoe-cruised up and down Shelter Island Drive which, if Fiddler’s Green ever fails to satisfy, is easily a cruiser/sailor’s alternative paradise.

I have never seen so many sailing stores in one place. I had thought that SF was a good sailing community, but compared to THIS, SF barely tolerates the sport. For those of you who drool over trigger shackles and sparkling stainless fittings, and become giddy over floor to ceiling barrels of clean, fresh line, torture yourself a little and type “marine supply san diego” into google maps and click on the area around Shelter Island and you’ll get a tiny glimpse of what we’re experiencing. Literally every other store on that street and within a two-block radius is a store revolving around sailing. Even though it’s somewhat of a main drag, we had to go about 3 blocks off of it just to find a coffee shop! 🙂

Aside from the endless sail-related storefronts, the other thing we’ve encountered here is FRIENDLY PEOPLE. Having lived in the bay area for the last few years, I’ve grown accustomed to people keeping their heads down and their headphones in, rarely saying hi or acknowledging you at all. But here, wow. Every person we’ve passed on the street has smiled and said hello. Every person we’ve asked for help has offered it kindly and graciously, with a smile. We popped into a store last night to see when they closed and what they had, then returned today to have the woman behind the counter remember us! When we randomly asked about bus schedules, she said she didn’t have one currently, but would run out to the bus and get one if she saw it drive by. Who does that?!?!?!?!!? I’m now really glad we’ve made our way relatively slowly down the coast and had encounters with such nice people because it almost is a culture shock and I’m sure we’ll only find more hospitable people the more we travel.  My brother claims it has to do with the fact that it’s generally warm and sunny here, and SD residents are thus likewise imbued with similar dispositions.  I think he may be onto something.  (Sidenote: I knew my city-attitude had become really bad when I sat in my hometown church with my mom earlier this month and every 5 minutes, I glanced at my purse next to me just to be reassured that someone hadn’t stolen it!)

We plan to be here in SD through the weekend and may stay a bit longer. I’m hoping we’ll get some of that SD sunshine soon because so far it’s been chilly and a bit overcast.  Seriously, who sleeps with a down comforter in San Diego?!?!!?!