Sailing in San Diego this fall

August 22, 2007 7:10 PM

Sailors - I may have the opportunity to spend a week sailing with a personal instructor in San Diego in September or October in the bays and perhaps just off shore in a 28 ft sloop. Is this a good time of the year for sailing? What will the sailing weather be like? - air and water temperature, winds, etc. Any recommendations? Thanks.
posted by Jackson to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

I'm not sure what your question is...(recommendations for what exactly?).San Diego has very moderate temperatures all year round. September and October will be warm and breezy. On the coast it doesnt dip below 50 really even in December. And it rarely goes above 90. The water will be arctic cold just like it is all year round since thats where it comes down from.

I grew up sailing in San Diego, piloting a 32 footer by myself. The bay is a great place to learn since it is pretty much built for water sports with all sorts of inlets of various sizes and calmness. Off shore is a different matter, with choppier water of course but also dealing with the big boat traffic (including Navy ships) but your instructor will take care of all that...
posted by vacapinta at 7:38 PM on August 22, 2007

I am a (Canadian) sailing instructor; that sounds perfect. I am not particularly familiar with West coast weather, but we still sail quite comfortably on the East coast in Canada through October.

Go for it, and have fun!
posted by Count Ziggurat at 8:19 PM on August 22, 2007

We get a lot of Santa Ana winds during that part of the year, so there's a decent chance that it will be quite windy, with the wind blowing from the inland out to see. Santa Ana conditions are generally quite warm, but very dry (meaning that the mornings and evenings are actually pretty cool and it just heats up quickly during the day). It's also when we get major fires, but you probably won't have to worry about that.

Even if it's not a Santa Ana, the weather will most likely be perfectly fine. It doesn't start getting "cold" in San Diego until November. Water temps in September should still be up around 70, which is about as warm as it gets.

I'm not sure which bay vacapinta is talking about, but we have two that are heavily used for sailing. San Diego Bay is the main water entrance to the city and the port, and is thus travelled by boats of all sizes, including navy ships, cruise ships, and freighters. Mission Bay is almost exclusively a recereational water park, and your only company on the water will be jet skis, water skiers, and other sailors.
posted by LionIndex at 8:08 AM on August 23, 2007

I don't know where you're used to sailing, but San Diego is gorgeous that time of year, and most other times too. "Cold" at the seashore in SD, any time of year, is 60; conversely it rarely gets to 80. 90 is a temperature that only happens inland. I can't imagine a better time or place to learn to sail.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:13 AM on August 23, 2007

Oh, god. The winds blow out to the sea in a Santa Ana condition.
posted by LionIndex at 10:01 AM on August 23, 2007

lucky duck. it's beautiful this time of year. have fun!
posted by Chris4d at 1:57 PM on August 24, 2007