CHULA VISTA YACHT CLUB RECIPROCITY
Chula Vista Yacht Club (CVYC) honors reciprocal moorage to members in good standing of other landed yacht clubs who offer the same or similar courtesies. We are located in the extreme southeast end of the (navigable) San Diego Bay at about 32 degrees 37.3 minutes North, 117 degrees 06.1 minutes West (see chart number 18773).
We are a tenant of the California Yacht Marina and do not own or control any slips within the marina except our reciprocal area, one hundred feet of side tie. As a result, advance reservations are required and we are generally unable to honor any last-minute requests for moorage.
We offer 72 hours of free moorage to our guests with the potential of a maximum of ten days if no other reservations have been made and if we do not have a competing activity (regatta, etc.) The additional period of stay is at the rate of $1.00 per measured foot ($1.50 for boats in excess of fifty feet) including bowsprit and other overhangs, per day, payable to the California Yacht Marina. (This rate is subject to change from time to time.) In no case may one of our guests extend their stay beyond the ten day maximum.
We ask that you display your home club burgee and any house/officer flags to which you may be entitled.
Requirements.
We will ask to see valid yacht club membership cards upon check-in and we are required to confirm membership, proof of ownership, and liability insurance in the amount of $100,000.
All visiting yachts must comply with the rules and regulations established by the California Yacht Marina. Generally, the only potential changes to what one may be accustomed is that dinghies must be on the parent boat or tied to the dinghy dock, no vessel maintenance may be performed and, in certain instances of high usage, a yacht may be charged for electrical service. The Marina does not permit parking of trailers nor is overnight staying in RV’s permitted.
Access to the docks, heads, laundry room and parking lot (from 1800 to 0800) is via an electronic access cards. These cards require a $20 deposit (cash, check or credit card) that will be returned when the yacht checks out.
Facilities.
Our dockage has potable water and 115V, 30A service – no 210V or 50A service is available. Visitors have access to heads, a (coin-operated) laundry facility and, of course, the yacht club itself. Temporary parking passes for vehicles may be obtained from the Marina office.
The club bar is open six evenings per week (Tuesday is dark) from 1600 until the crowd dies out or our (volunteer) bartenders fall asleep. We serve two meals a week, Friday evening dinner (1830-2030) and Sunday morning breakfast (0900-1130), both normally from menus with daily specials. Our office is open five days a week (Monday-Friday) from 0800 to 1600. (Check-in and check-out outside of these hours can be negotiated.) Check-out is generally 1200.
How to Get Here.
By Boat…
(Refer to Chart Number 18773) We are about 12NM from the entrance to San Diego Bay. One the way in you’ll pass Pt. Loma, Ballast Point (watch out for the submarines), Shelter Island, North Island Naval Air Station, Harbor Island, downtown San Diego and the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.
Once you pass under the Coronado Bridge, the controlling depth is at least ten feet (even outside the channel) all the way to the Chula Vista Channel EXCEPT for a shoal west of the ship channel and south of the channel leading into Glorietta Bay/Coronado. If you follow the main ship channel, you’ll pass the San Diego Naval Station (home of the U.S. Navy Pacific Surface Fleet) and the 28 th Street Terminal (unloading autos from Japan and Korea).
The 28 th Street Terminal is also used from time-to-time to load and off-load military supplies and material to and from the Middle-East. If this is taking place, there will be extra security boats present, Navy and/or Coast Guard. (You may also be shadowed by Naval Security boats as you pass the Submarine Base at Ballast Point, the aircraft carriers at North Island and the Naval Station.) On your right is the last remaining free anchorage in California, the A-8 Anchorage (stay out – numerous hazards and a foul bottom).
At this point, you should be abeam channel marker (red buoy) 38. Directly in front of you are markers on poles, they say “SHOAL – DANGER.” The last of the main ship channel marks is (red) buoy 40. It bears about 180 degrees (magnetic) from buoy 38 Do not go any further south until you find buoy 40. Head out to buoy 40 and take it close aboard to starboard.
From buoy 40, a course of about 150 degrees (magnetic) will lead you into the channel for Chula Vista Boat Basin (channel minimum depth about 18 feet). The markers now are on poles and the numbering starts over. CAUTION – the area to the east of this channel dries out at low tide! The channel has a 90 degree turn to port between marks 7 and 8 and another 90 degree turn to the starboard between marks 11 and 12. As you continue south, you’ll pass the South Bay Boatyard and a beach on your left. The entrance to the basin is just beyond the fishing pier (ahead on your left) --between it and a stone breakwall.
The basin contains two marinas, the Chula Vista Marina to the north and California Yacht Marina to the south. When you enter the basin, bear sharply to starboard (watch for shoaling close inside the breakwall). As you head (slowly) south, you’ll pass the last of the Chula Vista Marina docks and approach the California Yacht Marina docks. The docks are lettered “A” (it has a pump-out station on the end of the dock), “B”, “C”, etc. as you move south and they run east-west. (The letters are painted on the end pilings.) There’s a public launch ramp and pump-out station on your right.
Our reciprocal area is the south side of “D” dock. Turn left on the south side of “D” dock (between docks “D” and “E”) and proceed all the way in. Tie your boat to “D” dock as close to the ramp/shoreline as possible. Low-low depth at the east end of “D” dock is about 6-7 feet. Welcome.
First attempts to get into the Chula Vista Boat Basin after dark have often ended in contact with dirt and a call to Vessel Assist. Try to get here in daylight the first time you come.
If you get lost or confused on the way in, give us a call (619.422.7888) and there’s usually someone who can talk you in.
By car…
Head for the Border!!! I-5 south (or north) to the City of Chula Vista. Exit at J Street-Marina Parkway and turn west. You make a four-way stop and cross a single set of rail tracks and there’ll be a park on your left. The first street to your left is the road to the launch ramp and we’re located in the California Yacht Marina, in the first driveway on the left.
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