24 Embarcadero Boat Slips Go Begging; Port Extends Length of Stay, Lowers Rent

One of the assumptions at the San Diego Unified Port District is that armadas of pleasure boats are descending on San Diego Bay and finding it nearly impossible to locate a slip.

There is evidence suggesting a basis for this assumption. For example, there are months-long waiting lists for some of the Port District’s 220 slips that are set aside for those seeking to stay up to a year.

All of which makes what’s been happening on Harbor Drive--between Laurel and Hawthorn streets--all the more difficult to explain.

For almost two years now, since the port finished an extensive multimillion-dollar face lift along that part of the waterfront, a section of 24 buoys--set aside for boaters in need of a place for a month--has gone virtually unused.

What’s ironic is that only a few dozen yards away, there are 70 boats bobbing in the water, tied to the so-called yearlong buoys, which are at capacity and have a waiting list.

“I’ve been going by there regularly for a year and a half, and I’ve never seen more than three boats there,” said Port Commissioner Bill Rick. “The spaces have gone begging.”

Officially, the port estimates the transient spaces, as they are called, have been used no more than 30% of the time. On Friday, four boats were tied up there.

No one seems to know exactly the reason for this marine vacancy, given that the buoys are near the heart of downtown, the embarcadero and several well-known restaurants, but several theories abound. One is that at $5 a day for the first 15 days, increasing to $10 a day for the next 15, the buoys were too expensive, especially since the bay has several free anchorage locations.

Another is that without amenities such as showers, electrical power and nearby grocery stores, the buoys have taken a back seat to similar transient berths located at the Harbor Police dock on Shelter Island, which is also close to boat repair yards.

Yet another potential reason concerns security. Called Mediterranean-style buoys, the Harbor Drive slips require boats to tie up from both the bow and stern, one of which is secured to a mooring directly on the promenade, a popular walkway for bicyclists, joggers and those out for a stroll. And still another theory holds that the Port District simply hasn’t done enough to publicize the slips.

“We’ve all been baffled. It seems like a great place. You can get off the boat and go to Lubach’s,” said Dan Wilkens, spokesman for the Port District.

Faced with the vacant spaces, the port last week instituted some changes.

First, the price to use the buoys has been reduced to a $1 a day, bringing the slips in line with what is charged for the adjacent buoys that allow yearlong berthing. And, second, half of the 24 have been set aside for those who want a berth for up to one year. The other half will remain open for boaters who want to stay a maximum of one month.

Already, port officials say, those boaters on waiting lists who have been notified of the changes are indicating a willingness to move in.

“At this point,” Rick said, “we’re just about ready to try anything.”