The shoals don't move much. They've been there a long time.
If you've crossed them at low tide in a small boat, you know. If you haven't, sail on by — they'll be there next time too.
DRAFT · INAUGURAL YEAR · INVITATION ONLY (THE INVITATION IS: SHOW UP)
"WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?" NO ONE.
· THE ZUNIGA SHOALS ·
Ocean Man
A long weekend a year, the last free open anchorage in San Diego turns into a floating field of games — open ocean, no permit, no gate, no host, no rules. You get yourself out here under your own power, you swim like you mean it, you might leave wearing the only one ever made.
PERMITnone required
COSTfree to anchor
RULESsee above
Why are all the pirates out at the Zu having all the fun?
Open-water swims to the jetty. Free-dive contests off the bow. Dinghy rowing sprints around the buoy. Mast climbs against the clock. This is a sporting event. You earn your spot.
· WHERE WE ANCHOR ·
Inside San Diego Bay, the Harbor Police run a controlled zone at the mouth — restricted access, permits/escort required, citations and tows for boats that drop anchor there without paperwork.
That's not where we anchor.
The Zuniga Shoals Ocean Man sits southeast of the bay mouth, just past the Port District line, in open Pacific water — outside the jurisdiction. No anchorage permit. No 72-hour clock. No 30-day cap. You drop the hook on Friday, swim ashore, come back Sunday and the boat is where you left it.
AVOID · HARBOR POLICE JURISDICTION
The Bay-Mouth Controlled Zone
- Restricted-access anchorage at the mouth — permit / escort required
- Harbor Police actively patrol · they cite, they remove vessels
- Three permit anchorages further inside (A-1 · A-5 · A-9) are stay-limited and enforced
- Citations and tows under Port Code § 4.38(i)(3) — at the boat owner's expense
- Drop your hook in any of it without paperwork and they will find you
ANCHOR HERE · OPEN PACIFIC
Ocean Man Anchorage
- Southeast of the bay mouth · past the Port District line
- Open Pacific water · § 4.38 doesn't reach
- No permit · no stay limit · no host · no ticket · no tow
- Anchor Friday, swim ashore, come back Sunday — boat right where you left it
- Exact GPS coordinates published with the event date — same pin every year
Bay-side anchorage rules above are verified against San Diego Unified Port District Port Code § 4.38. Past the District line, that document doesn't apply. The Pacific does what it does. So do we.
· WHO THIS IS FOR ·
This is for hearty people with fire in their belly.
- Not for the faint of heart.
- Not for cowards who will miss their morning lattes.
- Not for the carpet-and-cabin crowd who cry when a swell knocks the kombucha off the counter.
- Not for anyone who needs a permit, a host, a hand, or a hot shower.
There will be swells. Things will fall over in your pretty cabin. The tide will pull you sideways through your own finish line. You will be cold, salt-burned, and out of breath, and a stranger in a dinghy will hand you a beer for it. That's the point.
· THE GAMES ·
· THE FINALE ·
The Crowning
One weekend. Ten events. One Ocean Man.
Sunday at last light, the points from the weekend's games are added up. One person comes out on top. They are the Zuniga Shoals Ocean Man.
They pick a craft. Any craft. SUP, surfboard, dinghy, kayak, foam noodle, dive flag tied to a cooler — whatever the sea will hold under them. They paddle out alone to the center of the anchorage. Every boat in the bay forms a ring around them. Engines off. Lights off.
Then the bay turns into a fireworks show — whatever the pirates in attendance brought with them. Roman candles off transoms. Bottle rockets from dinghies. Whatever you smuggled in from the Reservation, whatever fell off the truck on the way home from Vegas. It is unauthorized, it is beautiful, it is for one person.
The Ocean Man stands on their board in the middle of it. Everyone with a horn, a shell, a guitar or a kazoo makes noise at the same time. The Hotel Del hears it. Coronado pretends not to.
One name on the cup. One body in the middle. One sky lighting up for them.
The crowned Ocean Man takes the one-of-one Winner's Tee, a permanent slot on the leaderboard, and an open invitation to every Zuniga Shoals Ocean Man for the rest of their life.
· THE TEES ·
PARTICIPANT EDITION · BUYABLE
This Year's Tee
A new design every year, dated and numbered to the inaugural anchorage. Anyone can buy it — and you have to be wearing one to enter the Wet Tee Contest.
- Open edition, dated to the year
- Same shirt the crew wears the whole weekend
- Required for Event № 09 · Wet Tee Contest
WINNER'S TEE · 1 OF 1 · NOT FOR SALE
The Winner's Tee
One is made every year. One. The crowned Ocean Man takes it home and no other ever exists. You can't add it to a cart. You can't have it for any price. If you want it, swim faster.
- Edition of one — produced, awarded, never reprinted
- Custom-numbered to the year, the winner, and the bay
- Awarded only at The Crowning, Sunday at last light
· WHAT YOU GET FOR FREE ·
The Hotel Del. Coronado Island. Point Loma. The whole skyline of San Diego on one side and the open Pacific on the other.
No slip fees, no host fees, no door fees, no parking, no permit, no problem.
· NO BOAT? SWIM. OR ASK. ·
Find someone with one. There will be a guy with a dinghy. Slip him a few bucks. He'll get you out to the Zu and back.
Or — and this is more in keeping with the spirit of the thing — swim.
Tell me the day. I'll swim out.
Dates land soon — drop your email and we'll send the call as soon as the calendar's set.
You're on the list. See you at the Zu.
SHOP THE ZUNIGA SHOALS TEES →
Two tees exist for Ocean Man: the participant edition (anyone) and the Winner's Tee (one body, one weekend, every year).
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Rules
Scoring
Prize
Safety