Oceanside Sailing on a Teak-Decked 45-Footer You Can Steer
A 1978 Explorer 45 with Brazilian teak decking, booked as a private charter, with a seat built out over the bow and the wheel available if you ask.
Oceanside Harbor sits behind a breakwater in northern San Diego County, and most of what motors out of it is a fishing boat or a sightseeing catamaran. The Song of David is neither. She is a 45-foot sailing yacht built in 1978, she carries two or three sails, and she goes out on the wind.
The operator has built a seat that overhangs the front bow, so one passenger at a time can sit out past the hull with open water underneath. They call it the dolphin seat, and what it is for is what swims under the bow. The sail runs two hours and books as a private charter, from a slip on P Dock.
Departures leave from Oceanside Harbor, close to Joe's Crab Shack on P Dock. The listing takes one booking at a time for the whole boat, and the booking has to clear with the operator before it is confirmed.
Experience Oceanside Sailing with Whales and dolphins!Two hours under sail out of Oceanside Harbor on a 45-foot yacht, booked private, with bottled water aboard and the wheel available on request.www.viator.comThe Boat Is a 1978 Explorer 45
Pura Vida Sailing publishes the specification on its own site: an Explorer 45, built in 1978, 35,000 pounds all up with 10,300 pounds of it lead ballast in the keel. The hull is fiberglass moulded to look like planking, not actual wood, which is worth knowing before you step aboard expecting a varnished antique.
What is real is the joinery. The operator lists generous teak throughout, a radius cockpit, and Brazilian teak decking, and the cabin top is long enough to sit along. That is the part the photographs are about.
The operator says the boat can carry upwards of twenty people, while the listing sells a maximum of seven travellers on one booking. Those two numbers measure different things: the first is what the hull holds, the second is what the distributor sells you in a single reservation. Since the charter is private either way, the practical number is whoever you bring.
Steering is offered rather than performed at you. The listing includes taking the vessel's wheel on request, and the operator's own page frames the choice plainly: sit and feel the breeze push the boat along, or get involved and be part of the crew.
Two Hours, and What Goes On in Them
The sail is fixed at two hours, and there are no scheduled stops to work through. The boat clears the harbour mouth, puts up canvas, and spends the time working the water off Oceanside.
On wildlife the operator is specific about what they go looking for and careful not to promise it. Their own description names dolphins and whales as the search, with sea lions, pelicans and gulls as the company you tend to keep along the way. Nothing out there runs to a timetable, so treat a sighting as the reason the course is set that way rather than as part of the fare.
Sunset is the slot the operator writes up separately, and the two-hour sail is the one it fits. Light goes quickly once it goes, and the deck cools with it, so a layer you can put on at the turn is worth more than one you have to carry all afternoon.
Booking Is Manual, and It Closes a Day Out
This is not an instant-confirmation product. The reservation is confirmed by the operator by hand, and the booking window shuts a full day before departure, so a same-afternoon plan is not available here however much space the calendar appears to show.
The fare is priced per person, and the listing will not sell a booking with fewer than two adults on it. One booking tops out at seven travellers, and an adult has to be on the reservation. Infants, children and teenagers all have their own fare bands rather than riding free.
Cancelling more than twenty-four hours ahead returns the full amount; inside that window nothing comes back. Weather is the operator's call, and the listing allows them to cancel for it, which on a sailing boat is a feature rather than a nuisance.
What the Sail Costs You Beyond the Fare
Two things sit outside the ticket, and both are easy to miss at checkout.
A tip is expected, not optional in tone: the operator's own rate page puts customary tipping to captain and crew at 18 to 30 percent, while the listing you book through asks for 20 to 30. The two sources disagree on the floor and agree on the ceiling, so budget somewhere between a fifth and a third on top of the fare and you will be right either way.
Champagne and a charcuterie board are available on request and are not part of the fare. The lighter refreshments that are included all carry the same condition: a cheese and cracker plate if you ask ahead, strawberries and melon on request, and bottled sparkling water aboard. Ask when you book, not at the dock.
The operator also says outright that guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink, which on a two-hour private charter is the cheaper and usually better answer.
Getting there is the easy part. Oceanside Harbor comes straight off the Harbor Drive exit from Interstate 5, and the operator points visitors to P Dock, close to Joe's Crab Shack, next along from docks U, V, W and X.
Arrive with a layer and soft shoes. The operator's standing invitation is to leave your problems and your shoes at the dock, though they are quick to add that keeping the shoes on is fine too.