OCEANSIDE: Visitors enjoy swashbuckling Harbor Days

Pirate theme rides crest of movies' success

By JOHN RAIFSNIDER - For the North County Times | Saturday, September 20, 2008 11:06 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- For all the changes Harbor Days organizers made to create a bigger and better experience for visitors this year, none apparently had as much effect as getting up close with a familiar swashbuckling pirate.

Dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, a character in the Disney Studios' hugely successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie series ---- and sounding every bit the part ---- Vince Bartolone once again wowed young and old at the 2008 edition of Harbor Days in Oceanside.

"Without a doubt, he was the highlight of Harbor Days, again," said Staci Chambers, a former North County resident who now lives with her husband, Paul, and their son, Jackson, 4, in Laguna Niguel.

"Captain Jack was so wonderful to our son last year, he's the biggest reason that we came back again this year," Chambers said. "We dressed our son as a pirate and we called him Captain Jackson. When we saw Captain Jack, he got such a kick out of hearing that we call our son Capt. Jackson."

Bartolone made quite an impression on others as well.

"That guy is really something ---– it's amazing how much he looks like that Johnny Depp character in the movies," said Joe Mintz, an Oceanside resident who walked with his wife, Pat, from their boat docked in a nearby slip.

"He sounds just like him, too," said Pat Mintz. "I thought it was really that Captain Jack fellow. He fits in with the whole pirate theme ---- the pirate ship and all the other pirate things around here."

Organizers added more vendor booths and entertainment stages to the venue, which increased the number of visitors to the harbor area. That in turn, likely caused parking problems for some late arrivals.

"This thing is getting too big ---- they've got to do something about all the hassles with parking," said one man, who appeared to be in his 60s, as he returned to his car at the north end of the harbor. "Older people just can't be expected to walk so far."

But the Chambers family said they disagree, and that the free bus shuttle service makes parking a breeze.

"We had no problems whatsoever," said Staci Chambers. "I parked on the northwest side of the harbor and caught the shuttle right away, I didn't even have to wait a minute ---- the shuttle was right there."

Genevieve Koesling, a lifelong Oceanside resident, was a first-time visitor to Harbor Days on Saturday.

"I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've never been here before, in fact, I'd never even heard of Harbor Days until recently," said Koesling, who was accompanied by her husband, Markus, and their three children.

"We're all having a really good time," she said. "We all enjoyed the pirate-theme stuff, especially the guy walking around all dressed up as a pirate."

Admission is free to Harbor Days, which continues from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in the Oceanside harbor area. A complete list of entertainment, directions to the harbor, and parking and shuttle information is available online at www.oceansideharbordays.com.