Dockside Dreamin’

You’ve heard of those cozy bed and breakfast spots, those romantic hideaways for harried couples. Here’s a new, more adventurous spin on the getaway theme: boat and breakfast.

Darin and Melodie Pond opened Pacific Sailing Boat and Breakfast at Ventura Harbor last December. You can spend the night dockside on one of their five sailboats and wake up to muffins and cappuccino.

If the idea of sleeping on the high seas is more adventure than you want, a night hitched securely to the dock may be the next best thing--or the best thing, depending on your point of view.

“The boat moves just enough to rock you to sleep--everyone loves it,” Darin Pond said. “It gives you the feel of being at sea. The lines creak. It can be a little damp, but we have heaters and de-humidifiers.”

The boats are docked close to the restaurants and shops of Ventura Harbor Village. Sitting on deck gives you a nice view of birds skimming across the water, people strolling along the walkway, and all the neighboring yachts, fishing vessels, kayaks and cabin cruisers.

The concept of a floating hotel room is rather unique. Pond said he knows of no other boat and breakfast in Southern California, although a similar business operates in the San Francisco area.

The centerpiece of the Ponds’ fleet is the roomy 48-foot Linda B, equipped with two double berths, bathroom with hot and cold water, kitchen, dining area, television and VCR. It has mahogany, teak and oak touches.

“The beds are quite comfortable unless you’re over 6-foot 3-inches,” he said.

A weekend night on the Linda B costs $110. That includes an hourlong harbor cruise, if you want it. At 8:30 a.m., the Ponds drop off a continental breakfast in a basket. Guests order it the night before--from a choice of items such as muffins, burritos, fruit and designer coffee.

The other boats--some owned by the Ponds, some leased--are smaller. For a weekend night on the 33-foot Syrena, the cost is $75.

“It’s for the more adventurous,” Pond said. The boat feels more cramped and with its wood veneer, it’s not as classy as the Linda B. Of the two sleeping areas, one of them is a V-shaped berth. The bathroom has a shower, but it’s a cumbersome arrangement.

“It’s not like a shower in a house--it’s sort of like camping,” Pond said. Overnight guests also have the use of the marina showers.

If guests are toying with the idea of buying a boat to live on, Pond steers them to the Syrena because its smaller size is more typical of live-aboard boats.

“We get a lot of people trying to convince their significant other how great it would be to live on board,” he said. But they don’t realize how limited space is on a boat, or how much maintenance they require.

Pond, 29, knows what he is talking about. He and his wife live aboard a 35-foot sailboat at Channel Islands Harbor. Both taught sailing for Pacific Sailing, located in Long Beach and Marina del Rey.

“Sailing is all I’ve done since I got out of college,” Pond said. The couple also operate Pacific Sailing’s Ventura location, which includes a sailing school and club.

Many of their overnight guests are people who want to learn to sail. Some spend a week on one of the boats and take sailing lessons every day. “It’s a lot more affordable than a beach house,” he said.

If you’d rather leave the sailing to the Ponds, they will take guests out to the Channel Islands for an additional fee.

They’ll provide some other custom touches too, like champagne, wine or flowers for an anniversary getaway. Check in is 2 p.m. and check out is 1 p.m., but they’ll push both times if no one else has the boat booked.

Chris Biggerstaff and his wife, Debbie, spent the night on the Linda B recently. “I like to sail a lot and my wife doesn’t, so it was a nice compromise,” said Biggerstaff who lives in the Antelope Valley. By 9 p.m., the waterfront was quiet, he said, except for the creaks and groans of the boat.

BE THERE

Pacific Sailing Boat and Breakfast is located at Ventura Harbor Village, in front of the Greek at the Harbor restaurant, off Spinnaker Road. For information, call 658-6508.