This weekend is the H20 Fleet 1 Championships which will be raced out of the NHYC in the turning basin. Looking at the entry list there could be easily 40 participants spread out between two fleets. In the A fleet the edge has to be given to Diane & Bill Menninger who have won the last two championships. But don’t tell that to Karen & Gary Throne or Anne & Kurt Wiese. Over in B Fleet Rolly Pulaski and John Whitney have recently qualified to sail in A’s so that should make for a good battle Carl Cheadle & Max Moosmann aboard “Summer Dream” and Jeff Gordon & Reid Vitarell sailing “Tres Unons”. It would not surprise me if Joe Carter came out and wins the first couple of race’s. He shown some series speed recently and if he can put the whole puzzle together he will have a good chance at wining B Fleet although my money is on Team Cheadle at this point. I will be sailing with my good friend Mary Bacon aboard “Rascal II”. Our goal is top 5 this year and if we can sail just a little more consistently we should be able to keep the attention of Team Cheadle & Gorden. This year is a little different because the moorings are still out in front of NHYC which will give us a lot more space. The big difference I have noticed this summer is the current. Because of the recent dredging the water is moving faster in different locations than in past years. I have attached a survey that shows the depths around the harbor on my blog site. Check it out if you are wondering how this might effect your tactics from now on.
2012 Bathymety Survey
Red Less than -10 MLLW, Yellow -10 to -15, Green -15 to -20, Blue Greater than -20
I took another long harbor cruise on my bicycle this Wednesday with my attention focused on our Public Piers and Waste pump out stations. My mind always wonders, must be a side effect from the 80’s, but I also observed a couple items that should be brought to your attention along with a fantastic recommendation made by Gary Hill. If you like to see a map of our harbor with the listing of these items go to my blog site and hit the link for Newport Harbor Cruising Guide. Before I tell you about my cruise, I would like to give a big shout out to my friend Carter Ford. Carter lead a group of people, a couple years back, in a long effort in updating our our Public Piers and did an outstanding job. The time has now come to take a second look and not just sit back and say well thats done, its time to check on the maintenance of the docks and keep them user friendly. I rode up to all 11 public piers, got off my bike and took a look around and talked to a number of people. Rather than describe my observations at each of the 11 public piers, I am going to make some general recommendations. The most common problem is code enforcement. The time limits for docking dinghies is being abused on most of the piers, a couple of the piers are due for a high pressure washes and repainting of the time limits. It was also brought to my attention that car loading zones time limits are not being monitored. Other ideas I heard was to place running water on a number of the docks, add bike racks, more blue meter parking, I think the City should give a discount to mooring permit holders for the parking permits? Public dinghy racks at 15th street would also be put to good use. Place used fishing line canisters, like we see at the launch ramps and other marinas around Southern California to collect all the used fishing line.
The thought of locations for additional public docks was also on my mind when Gary Hill said check out the public park at Lido Village next to the Elks Lodge? It’s a perfect location and should be strongly considered by the City Council.
After I talked with Gary I rode down the fun zone, Balboa Village, whatever and noticed that the Newport Landing fuel dock has reopened. I went down the dock and introduced myself to the new operator John Balian. John is selling Viscom fuel for 3.99 Gl Diesel and gas for 4.99 gl. You have to wish him the best in todays market place and tidelands permit increases. It was also interesting to see all the different signs around town while on my cruise. Three signs that caught my eye where all the “Slips for Rent” and “Stop The Dock Tax” sign. But the biggest sign was the size of the Newport Boat Show, so please come down to the show this weekend. Support our local marine industry and I will leave you with one last flash back from the 80’s “Its not quantity its quality”. I noticed a lot of good quality boats at the show when I walked through this week.
Sea ya
LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.
LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.
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