OCEANSIDE: Harbor Days ready to set sail

Annual event draws thousands for pirate-themed fun

By North County Times | Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:55 PM PDT ∞

El Camino High School drama students Sheryl Bray, 17, right, Krystal Cornell, 14, and Austin Cook, 16, sing "A Pirates Life For Me" with Sprinter's Fare Enforcement Officer Steve Haemig on Thursday afternoon on the train in Oceanside. The students donated their time to spread the word about the Oceanside Harbor Days festival that will take place Saturday and Sunday at the harbor. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - staff photographer)

A smoke ring from a cannon blast hovers over the Spirit of Dana Point during Harbor Days in Oceanside last year. (File Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff Photographer)

Pirates capture the Captain and The Spirit of Dana Point ship during Harbor Days in Oceanside last year. (File Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff Photographer)

OCEANSIDE ---- Tens of thousands of people are expected to flood into Oceanside Harbor this weekend, where the city's annual Harbor Days festival will offer a bounty of pirate-themed fun.

The free, two-day festival, held at the north end of Oceanside Harbor, will feature pirate battles, pirate costume contests, pirate-themed stage show, pirate music and even Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp's heavily eye-lined pirate character in Disney's three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films).

The yo-ho hoopla has been a popular addition to the longtime festival, old-timers said this week.

"Last year was one of the best (Harbor Day's) ever," said Monte Yearley, the owner of Yearley's Sailboats. "The pirates just added enormously to the personality of the whole thing. It creates an atmosphere that the kids just love."

Yearley said the annual festival is a great way to highlight the city's popular seaport.

"It's just a really neat time for the harbor to show a nice smile to the rest of the community," he said, adding that harbor regulars have their own way of dealing with the teeming crowds.

"I think the boaters mostly lay low and do their Christmas shopping," he laughed.

Harbor Days draws about 50,000 people each year to Oceanside's harbor area. Besides the pirate-themed activities, the event includes live music and dancing, strolling entertainers, food and vendor booths, a fishing derby, a huge military, fire and police equipment display on the beach, boat tours, spinnaker and outrigger races, beauty and costume contests and the ever-popular "Nail and Sail" contest, where teams build their own "boats" and try to sail them across the harbor before they sink.

New to Harbor Days this year will be a "Pirates Dinner Show" at the aptly named Jolly Roger Restaurant on Harbor Drive. From 5 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the restaurant will offer a buffet dinner with live pirate interaction and close-up seating for the pirate battle show in the harbor outside. Tickets cost $29 for adults and $15 for children. Reserve to (760) 722-1831.

The Spirit of Dana Point tall ship will be the staging ground for the twice-daily "When Pirates Attack" water battle show at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sept. 21, featuring rope-swinging and plank-walking pirates, sword battles and cannon fire.

Entertainment has also been expanded to two stages this year. A main Harbor stage will feature live music by bands including Fender Benders, Igniters, Clay Colton Band, Modern Day Moonshine, Atomic Groove, The Burnsville Band and Alex Woodard. And a Pirate Stage will offer diverse entertainment including Caribbean belly dancers, illusionist Smoothini, Fiffin Market, Skelpin, LeperKhanz, a Caribbean bird show, Sligo Rags, Silent Planet and The Bleeding Irish.

The festival's main hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Harbor. Parking is limited, so festivalgoers are encouraged to park downtown (or take the train to downtown's Transit Center) and ride a free city-sponsored double-decker bus to the harbor. The last bus from the transit center to the harbor leaves at 6 p.m. and the last bus to the transit center is at 7 each night.

Call (760) 722-1534 or visit www.oceansideharbordays.com.

Highlights of Oceanside Harbor Days:

Saturday:

7 a.m. -- Civitan Pancake Breakfast. Kick things off in the morning with a hearty breakfast to raise money for charity. Tickets cost $5 and food will be served until 11:30 a.m.

8:30 a.m. -- Children's Fishing Derby (ages 13 and under only) begins on the fishing pier and runs until noon.

9 a.m. -- Show grounds open, including craft, vendor and food booths, static displays by the Marine Corps and Oceanside fire and police departments and tours aboard the Spirit of Dana Point tall ship, a 118-foot topsail schooner replica of a 1770s privateer ship.

9:30 a.m. -- Live entertainment begins on the main Harbor Days stage.

10 a.m. -- A children's pirate treasure hunt will be held at Port Royal Encampment. Also, beer garden opens and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter opens for tours at Harbor Basin.

11 a.m. -- Outrigger canoe races begin in Harbor Basin.

11:30 a.m. -- Entertainment by Smoothini begins on the Pirate Stage.

Noon -- The Oceanside Yacht Club hosts opening ceremonies, including an address by Honorary Commodore Byron Jessup, Ms. Oceanside singing the national anthem, and a flag presentation by a U.S. Marine Corps color guard.

12:30 p.m. --- Children's pirate costume contest.

2 p.m. ---- Pirate battle show in the harbor.

5 p.m. ---- Pirate dinner show begins at the Jolly Roger Restaurant.

6 p.m. ---- Activity and display areas close.

7 p.m. ---- Pirate battle show in the harbor.

7 p.m. ---- Last shuttle back to the transit center.

Sunday, Sept. 21

7 a.m. -- Civitan Pancake Breakfast. Tickets cost $5 and food will be served until 11:30 a.m.

9 a.m. -- Show grounds open, including craft, vendor and food booths, static displays by the Marine Corps and Oceanside fire and police departments, tours aboard the Spirit of Dana Point tall ship and a Caribbean bird show on the Pirate Stage.

10 a.m. -- The 27th annual Miss Southern California Children and Teen pageants gets under way on the Harbor Stage, and a Pirate Tavern Show begins on the Pirate Stage. Also, the beer garden opens for the day and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter opens for tours at Harbor Basin.

10:30 a.m. --- Nail and Sail boat-building competition begins. Contestants have two hours to build their (they hope) seaworthy crafts.

11 a.m. --- Pirate battle show in the harbor.

Noon ---- Pirate sail aboard the Spirit of Dana Point. Book passage for the two-hour sail at the dock. The Oceanside Yacht Club hosts an open house until 4 p.m.

12:30 p.m. ---- Nail and Sail Boat Race begins

1 p.m. ---- Children's Pirate Costume contest on the Pirate Stage

4 p.m. --- Pirate battle show in the harbor.

6 p.m. ---- Activity and display areas close.

7 p.m. ---- Last shuttle back to the transit center.