Marina Park Sailing & Boating Center

What grabs you first is the sound: halyards clinking, gulls arguing, children squealing from the small sandy cove. This is naval practicality dressed in sunscreen and picnic blankets. Pass holders pop in for a morning session, tourists tie off for a quiet night at a slip, and kids colonize the nautical playground. Boats are honest boats. J/22s sit ready with crisp new sails, dinghies line the float, and the staff moves with the easy competence of people who have put other people's boats in the water a thousand times. There is a little waterfront restaurant and clean, key-card restrooms and showers for overnight guests. Launching is simple, the water inside the harbor is calm, and you can be out on a rented sailboat before lunch. If you want to get on the water without owning anything, a dinghy goes for about sixteen dollars an hour.