02/16 - 02/20 - San Diego

Steve,
Petco park is 5 miles from the marina here

The tailgate parking lot is located across from Petco Park.

We are loaded and will be leaving Carpinteria in the morning ~9:00 hoping to miss the morning rush and be through L.A. before the lunch rush. Hope to be in San Diego and in the water before the evening rush.
Put the dive gear in the back of the jeep in case there is a place close by to dive.
 
Well, here we are in the boat, at Glorietta Bay Marina. I've got a good wireless signal from someone :lol:
We launched the boat at the Coronado Boat talked with one of the staff at the Recreational Center next to the ramp. She said we could park the vehical and trailer on the st reet for 72 hours, then she called and verified with the PD--- yes we can park on the street for 72 hours. The trailer must be attached to the vehical. We can leave the trailer in the lot during the day, while we use the car. There is no parking in the lot from 2am - 4am.

There are 3 C-Dorys in tonight; Seabran, Sea3po and Fishtales.

See ya'll soon
 
"Mid gathering."

Things started out with a bust. Steve Brandon, Seabran, was taken to the Coronado Hospital by the Harbormaster Thursday evening. As of 1pm today, 2/18, he's still there with Karen at his side. Preliminary diagnosis was pancreatitis. He's doing fine but not progressing as fast as his doctor likes so he expects to remain at least until Sunday. He's actually more comfortable than Karen now, IMHO, since she's been sleeping in a chair and hasn't left the hospital yet.

As expected, The Brats and Dogs are rallying around to both cheer him up and grease the skids for his eventual release. Rana Verde Chris has arranged to load the boat and has a spot to store boat/trailer if necessary, and Steve doesn't lack for visitors.

A group went whale watching but only Halcyon spied one. Ironically, while they were out looking, two whales entered the bay for an hour or two (an unusual event) and that made the local news.

Very few photo ops so far, but I'm hoping for some great ones on Sunday.

Don
 
Our Best Wishes go out to you, Steve! Hope You're feeling better very soon! I know Karen is keeping your spirits up. Let us know if there's anything we can do for you.

I've just recently found out that I definitely prefer the bunk on the C-Dory to a hospital bed. even though the later should be a better experience, based on the price!

Glad to hear the rest of the gang down there is doing well. Keep us informed on everything.

Joe.
 
Chris/Don: Please keep us posted on Steve.

Don: Looking at the sat photos, that boat cutting cross the bay looks like it has it's fenders out... hummm. Must be a local thing.

I see Chris has his very clean color matching fenders still looking fine.

How are Sea3Po (Joel's) shirts looking.

Give Bill and El a hug for me.

Wishing I was there.

Byrdman
 
Steve was released from the hospital about noon today, Pat. El & Bill headed over to bail him out, then head to the USS Midway. We toured with Dora Jean Steve and his son, and Journey On Boris and Sue but never did catch up with the rest. Personal comment: I forgot just how many head knockers were built into Navy ships. Either that or I grew a couple inches....

Delivered your hugs and they were reciprocated in kind.

I gotta go. Helluva headache. Midway didn't come with a "Tall top" option.
 
It's good to hear that Steve got turned loose already. What a way to spend a gathering! Hope all is well, and I think that even though the timing was a little haywire, it is neat that so many friends were around to take all the extra worry out of it.

Mike
 
Had a great time in San Diego. The crew of Sea3po and Fishtales took in the sites at Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo.

We also had a great cruise out on the big pond searching for the elusive whales, then had a great lunch in Mission Bay before heading back down to San Diego Bay and the marina.

Steve (Seabran) hope to see you and Karen at the Delta Cruise in May. May your recovery be swift and thanks for the delivery.

Chris- Thanks for having us in your home waters. Thanks also for the Clean Heat.
 
Sue and I just got home from San Diego...and a great time was had by all, or at least most...(sorry Steve)...
Chris picked the perfect spot... the marina was perfect....and only $15 per night..... with hook-ups.....and the parking was very good....we parked along the side of the road in front of the launch area and coulden't have asked for better... the ramp was just fine and not crowded at all....

I sure would not mind going back there....

Had a GREAT time....Thanks to all

Joel
SEA3PO
 
If you are going to get sick away from home Coronado Island is about as good as it gets as far as medical assistance, but having a group of C-Dory friends provide support and assistance is very special!

An unpleasant experience was made much easier to get through because of your help and assistance. Karen and I can only say THANK YOU!

When I got out of the hospital on Sunday I did not realize how weak and drained I was but I needed to get the boat on the trailer and get to a motel that had parking for the rig (parking is tough in the SD area).

I want to thank Bill for taking the lead in keeping me from over-doing-it and orchestrating what needed to be done. As many of you know Bill and El are truly warm and generous people we are lucky to know.

After Chris drove my boat to the ramp for trailering he found that the nuts that hold the trailer disk brakes on were loose and 2 were missing. Chris then proceeded to crawl under my trailer and fix the problem. A passing boater stopped to admire the C-Dory and was able to supply the 2 missing nuts. Thanks Chris for getting totally greasy and saving us from another problem!

Roger from Fishtales drove my truck for retrieving the boat and Jon from SeaShanti drove the rig from the launch ramp to the motel while Bill followed to take him back to the marina. Thanks Roger and Jon!

I would also like to thank everyone for coming to the hospital to wish me well, providing transportation for Karen and taking her out to dinner.

Karen was at the hospital with me the entire time and spent 3 nights sleeping in a chair! Love makes you do crazy things - Thanks Dear!

On Monday Bill and El insisted on driving over to the motel and taking us to the airport at 6:30 am. Thanks again.

Our good friends who live close and also boat flew to SD to drive our rig home so that we could fly home. It is very nice to have such caring friends.

We are home, the boat is home and I am recovering, gaining my strength back, and looking forward to the next C-Dory gathering.

Steve
 
Steve: Great to see you getting back into the action. Yes, C-Dory boats are more than just great boats, they bring a bunch of great folks together who for sure are willing to help....and have a bunch of fun when things go well. I too have been blessed to travel the waters with some of the folks you mentioned, at least 4 of the boats that were in this gathering. I can not wait to see a picture of Joel....to see what shirt he had on.

Truly wish I could have been there...and great to see you kicking again, even if it is just a low kick at the time. Keep up the progress.

Byrdman
 
Thanks Byrdman,
I am kicking a little higher each day. I left the hospital with enzyme numbers of 1400. Saw the Doc today and I am down to a little more than 500, 300 is normal. The next test on Monday should be good.

I don't understand what you mean about Joel's shirt! This is the second time I have been at a gathering with Joel and I thought his shirts looked just fine.

Steve
 
Chris, thanks for hosting and coordinating the first ever San Diego get-together. And what a great job you did ordering up the weather to 'synchronize' so well -- rain at night, gorgeous days! Wow.

Was great seeing old friends (I mean previous, didn't see any 'old' people there...) and meeting new C-Dogs. What a tremendous pleasure to finally meet up with Bill and El, truly wonderful people.

Steve (Seabran) a pleasure meeting you, wish it was under better circumstances, hope to spend more time with you on another get-together. Are you going to the Delta in May or Catalina in August?

Great time, great company, very relaxing -- what more can you ask for? Just posted a few pics of the trip.

Steve
 
We arrived back to Colorado last night and are snuggled into our lakeshore condo. Halcyon is snuggled into its home in Montezuma Lake, AZ, to continue enjoying winter warmth in the southland. We stopped off in AZ to visit the Naknek folks, Sandy and Casey, and had a fine time catching up on their SE C-Dory adventure this winter. They insisted that Halcyon should hang out near Naknek for the remainder of the winter, and we would rejoin the boats in April for the Lake Powell cruise. Oh, and Casey is plotting waypoints down the 1,000 mile journey on the Mackenzie River we are "thinking about" for the summer of '07 -- you'll find that river in the upper left-hand corner of Canada.

The San Diego Gathering was great (except for SeaBran's illness). One day out cruising the wide blue waters for whales and dolphins (with time-out for lunch in Mission Bay), next day a Chris guided tour of San Diego Bay, and the third day a cruise into South Bay and nearly into Mexico. In between we're good meals shared, time on the docks visiting, and for many some day trips to San Diego sights.

Karen is a trooper and hung in there with Steve at the local hospital while the C-Dorians enveloped them both with care and concern. The ol' German expression of "luck in unluck" came through again -- darned unlucky for Steve to come down with pancreatitis on the first day of a Gathering, but lucky to have good hospital, good doctors, and good friends to be support for them. Steve's unluck drew us all closer together and proves, once again, that there can be good in adversity.

Thanks, Chris, for putting together such a good time --
 
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