Land Is a Stone’s Throw From Home for Coach

Each morning, as he sits in the cabin of his 36-foot Catalina sailboat, Captain Mike Stone charts the inland route from San Pedro Harbor to Reseda High, his daily destination. . . .

Let’s see. That’s from 33.45 North and 118.19 West to 34.13 North and 118.30 West. If the westerlies don’t kick up too much of a crosswind on the San Diego Freeway, I ought to be able to make it into port before first period begins at O800.

When Stone’s not at the helm of the Reseda baseball team, you see, he is at the helm of the boat, where he and wife Stephanie have lived for the last year. Stephanie, a San Pedro native and a naval officer of 11 years, is stationed at the Los Alamitos Naval Base in Long Beach.

“It’s something we always talked about doing,” Mike Stone said. “We started looking for a boat last spring, and we finally found what we were looking for. It’s a whole different environment down here. We really enjoy it.”

While living on a boat has its merits, it can also have drawbacks. For instance, Stone spends as much time navigating the highways as he does the high seas.

“At least 100 miles, round trip,” Stone, 41, said.

The cost is also taxing.

“It takes two jobs to pay for it,” he said. “It’s not cheap.”

And with his wife spending much of her time in Long Beach and Stone spending his days and evenings coaching baseball in the Valley, they don’t see much of each other. In the fall, Stone is an assistant coach of the Reseda football team.

“She still manages to make it out to most of the games,” Stone said.

All things considered, however, Stone figures he’s got it made.

“The drive, that’s something I’ve been doing for eight or nine years now so it doesn’t bother me much,” he said. “And I really like the school and the kids at Reseda. There’s no way I’ll transfer to another school.”

Highways, basepaths or waterways, Stone seems to have it pretty well charted out.