Vaya Con Dios, Lee David, John Taylor;

We’ll Miss You At San Diego’s Islandia Marina

There is so much that could be said about a good friend to Arizona boaters who have made Islandia Marina their home away from home while in San Diego. However, what we do want to say is good luck and vaya con dios to Lee Davis as he leaves the marina after 37 years as dockmaster there.

We also say farewell to John Taylor, another friend, who has been at the same marina for 17 years.

A change of ownership and policy resulted in both these long-time employees of Hyatt being given 30-day notices and severance checks.

Of course there is more to the story than that: owners and managers who are new to the marina business and the waterfront, conflicts of priorities, tensions among personnel, and so on.

However, Davis prefers to concentrate on the positive — things such as the 500 banners flown by tenants of Islandia Marina, saying “We want Lee. He is the best dockmaster ever!”

And, his memories of the Christmas decorations he donated and prepared annually for the adjacent hotel: his miniature train displays, beautiful lights and trees, animated figures, and more. Davis has set these up the day after Thanksgiving and removed them on New Year’s Day for the past 10 years.

As Davis said, being a good dockmaster means that those in the marina become family and that it takes more than just training to be a good one. The job he has had for nearly four decades required common sense, logic, being a good judge of character, and above all, “a people person.”

So, where does Davis go from here? He left the marina Nov. 1 to begin a long road trip in his new Corvette. One of his main destinations will be Florida where he will visit his 97-year-old mother.

We wish Davis and Taylor the very best. Arizonans such as Ed Hale of Hale’s Marine Services will miss the two at Islandia Marina.  But then, the great memories and the future plans have superseded the problems of the present.

If you would like to send messages to Davis, you can call him on his cell phone: (619) 871-5900 or write him at 542 Hotz St., Spring Valley, CA 91977.