Giving berth to contraceptives

Went to Alameda Marina, Grand, and Fortman's. All booked solid, with wait-lists of years.

Went to West Marine on my way home. Spoke to John, a lanky Dane with twinkling swamp-green eyes. After giving me reams of advice (some of which I've remembered) about everything on my list, he gave me a brand new insight into the reason for the wait-lists.

Some single women use it as a base of operations for commercial sex work; women in this country who do that also tend to use it as a base of operations to deal drugs. They had to clean out a marina nearby because the illegal activity was getting out of hand and was having the usual effect on the neighborhood.

The fact that this marina was within sight of the Coast Guard base and practically next to the old military base is the sort of thing that makes me hoot sardonically until I fall off the settee. (Alone, thanks very much, you filthy-minded putz.)