Harbor Days 2008

Oceanside’s Harbor Days is an annual two-day celebration that is free to the public. It is a family-friendly event which attracts an estimated 40,000 people each year and seems to get better and better every year.

This year’s Sat. and Sun. event started on Thursday with the Thespian students from El Camino High School decked out in pirate costumes storming the Sprinter Train from Oceanside to Escondido. On Friday, professional pirates from various local pirate guilds created fun and mayhem at the Coaster Station.

I myself started early on Saturday morning, with a Civitan pancake breakfast. After this I strolled past the kids fishing from the pier, each child hoping to win first place in the Harbor Days fishing derby. Trophies were awarded to first, second and third prize winners with everyone receiving a fishing pole. Everyone was a winner!
Next I went to Pirate’s Cove and as I approached it I could see the magnificent Spirit of Dana Point.. The Spirit of Dana Point is a traditionally built replica of a 1770s privateer employed during the American Revolution. She is classified as a 118-foot’ topsail schooner, with a sparred length of 118 feet and 5,000 square feet of sail. Her design, known for speed, precedes the Baltimore Clipper, enabling these vessels to be used for smuggling, the slave trade, and privateering. I was as excited as the eight year old boy running next to me to explore this ship.
And just when I thought this was going to be the highlight of my day, the British showed up. After some taunts back and forth, the real battle began. The pirates, led by Captain Jack Sparrow (Orange County actor Vince Bartolone, aka Captain Jack) came out the victor of this battle. Captain Jack captured the attention of many festival attendees, including me and stole the show.
I walked past the belly dancers and watched for awhile in hopes of bumping into Captain Jack Sparrow. I did find him at the main stage where he was posing for pictures. I watched the pirates pillage for awhile then headed for the venders and food. I was hoping to not eat too much and partake in the buffet dinner at the Jolly Rogers which offers the opportunity to eat dinner with the pirates. Not eating too much turned out to be harder than I initially thought when there were so many wonderful vendors offering such an array of dishes.
Next I meandered down to the beach and caught some of the participants building their boats for the Nail N Snail race. I wanted to make sure I was back in time to watch these sail when they were done building. Of course many of them sink and it was all fun.
After this, I went to see the Marine Corps Static Display, Navy Static Display, Oceanside Fire Department Display, and Oceanside Police Department Display. Wow! What a wonderful group of people who strive to protect us and keep us all safe. I felt a great deal of admiration and appreciation for these young men and women.
After walking all day I worked up an appetite and did mange to feast the buffet dinner at the Jolly Roger which brought laughs and fun for everyone, as the pirates took over the Jolly Roger restaurant for a dinner show.