Urban San Diego Campground

[cb]

Check out www.santeelakes.com for info on large campground not far from lots of San Diego attractions.  It's operated by the water district.  The "lakes" are ponds that recycle waste water.  It's a lot better than is sounds.  We've camped there with grandkids in the summer, and they always want to go back.  Website is pretty accurate.  I went there yesterday for my daily walk, worked up a sweat and left eager to camp there again.  Staff is very helpful.  Newer sites tend to be parking lot style, but there are nice ones, too.  Great place to stay in San Diego, but summer tends to be rather warm.

[PopUpMomma]

we camp Santee Lakes often.....  The "parking Lot" sites are nice....if you plan in advance.....you can call and get a lake front spot.  It's just like the movies, camping at the lake.... or pretty darn close.  You can't reserve lake front on the web, you have to call.  We never been dissapointed.  I reccommend Santee Lakes.

[PITPOP27]

JUST FYI, I just reserved Lake side on the web! for May, very excited the website has such great info, the Splashground my children just about fell off their seats when I showed them! How fun, loved the idea of a dog run around the camping area, can't wait for walks with Darla Bean.  3 nights at $100, not bad for end of May. Launching our Kayaks without launching fees another great plus.  No info on the pool, so I don't know if that costs....hmmm can't wait!  I'll be sure and post pictures at the end of May.

[tinfish]

JUST FYI, I just reserved Lake side on the web! for May, very excited the website has such great info, the Splashground my children just about fell off their seats when I showed them! How fun, loved the idea of a dog run around the camping area, can't wait for walks with Darla Bean.  3 nights at $100, not bad for end of May. Launching our Kayaks without launching fees another great plus.  No info on the pool, so I don't know if that costs....hmmm can't wait!  I'll be sure and post pictures at the end of May.

Nice place for a quick getta way. My then 3yr old caught her first fish there last summer

[PITPOP27]

So we are off on thursday morning, husband did the easy thing and pulled some extra jobs for kayak racks for the TV.  Getting things ready for our first plugged in experience in the pup!  Woohoo!

[GrizzlyTaco]

So we are off on thursday morning, husband did the easy thing and pulled some extra jobs for kayak racks for the TV.  Getting things ready for our first plugged in experience in the pup!  Woohoo!

Have a fun and relaxing time PP.........Ed :sombraro:

[PITPOP27]

thanks, hubby just came home with another Malibu tonight, that brings us up to 1 tandem, 2 sport fishing, and one sport kayak  :eyecrazy: How we gonna bring all those?!?!  Gonna have to  strap at least one.  He is talking about one more he has the guy  holding off to the side.  He should work for them!

[PITPOP27]

Hey everyone,
     Just got back from 4 days at Santee lakes.  We reserved site #3 on lake 6, it was lovely!
   The first day we set up and between 5 -6 the most HORRIBLE smell came on the air and I thought for sure we were going to have to bail out of this trip.  I can still smell it on my nostrils even now.  The landfill is about a mile up the road, and they must do things on thursdays that just turn it all upside down!  I thought for sure we would be smelling it for the remainder of the weekend, but nope, only that one hour or so on thursday.  So be  forwarned!

the kids had a blast - you can see my photos on webshots link below!

Any questions let me know.  Site 3 is a favorite. And this park is very reasonable.

[wavery]

thanks, hubby just came home with another Malibu tonight, that brings us up to 1 tandem, 2 sport fishing, and one sport kayak  :eyecrazy: How we gonna bring all those?!?!  Gonna have to  strap at least one.  He is talking about one more he has the guy  holding off to the side.  He should work for them!

We took our new kayak out for the 1st time this weekend. We broke one of the cheap paddles (in the surf), first time out.

The paddles are 2 piece and held together with these cheap plastic screw on clamp/coupler/grip thingies. That is what broke. I just got back from the hardware store where I picked up some thick PVC tubing that fits VERY tight over the separate shafts. In fact, I will have to heat the PVC, put the aluminum paddle shafts in from both sides and let it cool to a tight fit around the shafts. That will eliminate that flimsy coupler that it came with. However, they will not be able to be taken apart again .

NOW.........here's my question .........what is the proper offset for the paddles? Are they supposed to line up or are they supposed to be offset some? I had them lined up and that seemed natural to me (the obvious novice). However, when I look at pictures of some of the ones on the internet, they appear to be offset :eyecrazy: . Can anyone explain that to me :confused:

[PITPOP27]

By offset do you mean the end of the paddle is pointed one way and the other is opposite?

My husband says it is by personal preference.  He has always likes his to be lined up, and yes paddles come cheap then work their way up.  My hubby and I use the two more expensive pair we have and give the cheaper ones to kids. we haven't had that problem, them breaking.


What kind of kayak did you end up with?

[wavery]

By offset do you mean the end of the paddle is pointed one way and the other is opposite?

My husband says it is by personal preference.  He has always likes his to be lined up, and yes paddles come cheap then work their way up.  My hubby and I use the two more expensive pair we have and give the cheaper ones to kids. we haven't had that problem, them breaking.


What kind of kayak did you end up with?

Thanks. I just couldn't figure that out.

We bought this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7240552494&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Today I went to the hardware store and found PVC tubing that wouldn't quite fit over the aluminum paddle tubing. I brought it home and put the aluminum paddle tubing in the freezer and cut the PVC tubing to 9" each and rounded the ends. I then put the PVC in boiling water. After sitting in the water for about 10 minutes, I took the aluminum tubes out of the freezer and pressed them into the softened PVC tubes. When it all came to room temp, they were one very solid piece. I just made the blades line up.

[PITPOP27]

We see those ones quite a bit when we are tooling around the back bay in Belmont shores, I wonde rif there is a distributor close to there!  So glad you had fun, bummer paddle issues.

I edit to add my hubby's comments:

1. Pretty smart!
2.  Why did you choose the gemini?
3.  The paddle line up is how much you want your wrist to roll while paddling.

[wavery]

We see those ones quite a bit when we are tooling around the back bay in Belmont shores, I wonde rif there is a distributor close to there!  So glad you had fun, bummer paddle issues.

The guy sells them on eBay. He has sold thousands of them and he has them stored in warehouses around the country. The shipping is cheap and if you can pick it up at the warehouse, it's only $40. That's probably what they charge him for storage. I picked ours up in Torrance.

I don't know anything about kayaks but I know a heck of a lot about boats, from small ones to big ones. All I can tell you is that this kayak is very stable in choppy ocean water.

My wife has never been in a small boat before (we've been married a short time). She loved it and felt safe and secure. We went right through the surf with it and had no problems. I'm really looking forward to this weekend because we are taking a couple of our teenage grandkids with us to Pt. Mugu. It should be a blast.

[wavery]

We see those ones quite a bit when we are tooling around the back bay in Belmont shores, I wonde rif there is a distributor close to there!  So glad you had fun, bummer paddle issues.

I edit to add my hubby's comments:

1. Pretty smart!
2.  Why did you choose the gemini?
3.  The paddle line up is how much you want your wrist to roll while paddling.

I chose the Gemini because it looked like the center of gravity is nearly as low as a "sit in" kayak. The way that the seats are molded, you are practically sitting on the bottom of the kayak. It also has a 600# capacity and is built very ruggedly. I feel comfortable bringing it in, in the surf where I wouldn't feel as comfortable with some of the ones that I've seen.

[PITPOP27]

We were just looking at your Point Magu shots and my husband was saying how great it looked to kayak there!  We are definitely going to camp there!  I've heard about the wind conditions that could occur so we'll be prepared with not too much out in case of breakdown!

I hope you all have fun!

Do you happen to know the dimensions on it length and width possibly even the depth you been talking about?