On the Harbor: Meet Captain Andrea Bill

Captain Andrea Bill at the helm

By LEN BOSE

It was my second year sailing FJs at Orange Coast College, where I teamed up with Julie Norman as crew. Norman is a naturally skilled sailor and was much faster than I was, yet it was her first year on the team, and she agreed to crew for me.

In our first regatta, we won the B division and sailed in Newport Harbor. My coach separated us because he said, “You two are too fast; it’s not fair to the rest of the team.” I never understood my coach’s decision, but what I did understand was that there is no male advantage over females while competing on the water. My observations have always recognized that females have better awareness, focus, swiftness, and temperament…just to name a few advantages they have over men.

She returned home again and then had a short stay in the Cayman Islands before obtaining her U.S. captain’s license, where she drove the yellow submarine and glass-bottom boat along with the shore boats in Catalina for a season. This is where Bill met her partner, Desi Jones, who has been the go-to marine mechanic on Catalina for many years. The thought occurred that maybe she should get a real job in wholesale mortgage lending. “Well, that did not work out very well,” Bill said.

She then found work driving boats on Big Bear Lake, where she became attached to the owners. “I still consider them like my second family, which is why we purchased a house in Big Bear some 20 years ago,” Bill said. She then found work in Lido Village next to Electra Cruises, where she was then hired by Electra Cruises to captain any one of their five large vessels.

I recall when I first met Captain Andrea Bill at the dock of a 43’ Express Cruiser, she was to deliver it to the Basin Shipyard for the owner. Even before stepping on the boat, there was no apprehension in her step – she owned this. It was immediately apparent that her piloting skills were the best I had ever witnessed. Fast forward two years, and the same owner of the 43’ Express Cruiser just purchased a 76’ SunSeeker. It was déjà vu all over again – Captain Bill already owned this boat with all of its advanced features and masterfully maneuvered the yacht in one of the most difficult areas of our harbor, which is the new side tie where the Reuben E. Lee was berthed. We were headed out on sea trials on the 76’ SunSeeker, and the tide was ripping out of the breeze coming from the west at eight knots, and traffic was approaching from every direction. Bill picked me up from the side tie, showing no effort at all, just confidence that she owned this. I walked up to the helm and thanked her for making it easy for me to step aboard; at 65 years old, I don’t jump any longer. That’s when I had my flashback and asked her if she would be interested in an interview.

I’m not sure if my long introduction is truly relevant to interviewing Captain Bill; it’s just how my observation filters through my head. She grew up in Newport Beach and spent her childhood sailing, exploring, and enjoying the Newport Dunes Water Park in the Back Bay. She explained she was always a water brat and attended California State University, Fullerton, on a volleyball scholarship with two degrees in marketing and finance. During this time, she did a study abroad in Florence and traveled to Egypt, where she stayed with a friend for a month, wanting to go snorkeling in the Red Sea each day. After graduating, she traveled to Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand, where she planned on staying for two weeks, and ended up staying for two years. She then became a dive instructor.

“As an instructor, you end up driving the different boats,” Bill said. These boats were more than 100 feet and always on the move; each crew member had to stand a watch, so that is where she started to develop her boat-handling skills. She quickly realized that there was no real money as a dive instructor and started the path to become a captain, where she completed her first two tickets. A ticket is a captain’s license pending the size of the ship and amount of passengers.

After her first tour in New Zealand, Bill returned home for a short time and then headed to Belize for a year, continuing to upgrade her captain’s license. Then she headed back to New Zealand and ran 45’ boats and smaller ones with six passengers.

“This was pretty cool because they just gave me the keys to the boat and I had a chance to dive all over the South Island,” Bill said. When COVID hit, this impacted the charter fleet, with Bill thinking it was time for her and Desi to travel. Fortunately, that’s when the marine industry was selling every boat in inventory, and the phone rang off the hook for lessons. Captain Bill is now working full time on the 76’ SunSeeker while instructing with Newport Coast Maritime Academy as a personal instructor and the Maritime Institute 100 Ton Course instructor.

I have been rather good at putting together offshore sailing teams and recognizing highly skilled boat operators and programs. Captain Andrea Bill is one of the best I have ever seen, and I am extremely fortunate to have crossed tacks with her.

To my readers: I must apologize, as all my time has been focused on sailing, and I have not found a story in more than two months that got me to sit down. I’m back on board now and will be back in a couple of weeks.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.

On the Harbor: Why a Reyn Spooner shirt?

By LEN BOSE

Over the years I have mentioned my preference for wearing Reyn Spooner clothing from socks, hats, and sports jackets to shorts and shirts. What crossed my mind the other day was what is the connection between Reyn Spooner clothing and Newport Harbor. I started my research by going to the Spooner webpage, then I interviewed Newport Beach Harbormaster Paul Blank, Nik Wassiliew from Dirt Cheap pre-owned Spooner wear, Balboa Yacht Club Commodore Brent Hemphill, and a sailing friend of mine – Mike Frucianco who lives in Arizona.

If you didn’t already know Reynolds McCullough (best known as Reyn), grew up on Catalina where after coming home from the service as a paratrooper in WWII he worked at a men’s shop in Avalon. In 1949, he purchased the shop and renamed it Reyn’s Men’s Wear. In 1959, Reyn moved to Hawaii and opened his shop in the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu. He felt that aloha shirts were too bright and poorly constructed when someone introduced him to an inside-out shirt sewn by a local bartender/surfer. That was when Reyn pieced together his concept of surfer “cool” with an Ivy League feel. You can feel it when you wear one that has a “Brooks Brothers of the Pacific” feeling. Another part of the story I felt was interesting, is when Reyn meets Ruth Spooner who put together the best surf trunks on the islands with her one sewing machine operation. In 1961, the name Reyn Spooner was born.

Preppy and Hawaiian style go together as well as ice in your mai tai and that translates to Newport Beach. In my mind, our harbor is an extension of Avalon or any of the beach cities in Southern California. The connection between Newport Beach and Reyn Spooner has a long history starting in the 1990s when Reyn did custom shirts for the fire department/lifeguards with fire trucks and firemen in the print. We all have a couple of the Newport Beach 2006 100th anniversary shirts. Blending sailing, fishing and surfing – who doesn’t want to be part of the crew?

I notice the people who can wear Spooners at work, and I always seem to make a strong connection with them similar to someone you have raced a Transpac with – they are part of the crew.

I first reached out to Newport Beach Harbormaster Paul Blank who said, “I wear Spooners essentially every day. If I am out on the water and/or performing some Harbor Department function, I put on a department polo shirt. Otherwise, the Spooners are the first thing I grab out of the closet when it’s time to get dressed.” Blank said he purchased his first shirt in 1980. “It was a brown and white hibiscus print Spooner cloth shirt with wooden buttons. I have the same print in two newer shirts in pink and blue and blue and white today. Sadly, I no longer fit in that brown and white shirt from 1980.”

Then I asked Blank how long his shirts last before he purchases new ones? “Unless I outgrow them, I generally don’t get rid of them.  They are very well made and pretty easy to care for. It’s really rare that I throw one away. It’s more likely I give them away, in some cases after decades of wear. The only new one I bought in 2024 was the Christmas edition in white. I believe the oldest shirt in my collection is the Christmas shirt from 1986, which I got as a Christmas present during my senior year in college. I have one other shirt from that era which is the Lahaina sailor print in mango (BYC orange),” Blank shared.

I also heard from Brett Hemphill, Balboa Yacht Club Commodore and owner of Hemphill’s Rugs and Carpets on 17th Street in Costa Mesa. He responded to the question: how long do the shirts last? His reply was “forever.” My next question was about his thoughts when he notices someone else wearing a Spooner? “Chances are they are from Orange County…maybe a sailor/boater,” Hemphill said.

Mike Frucianco from Arizona was introduced to Reyn Spooner in the late ‘80s after a Transpac. “I enjoy wearing my shirts for work on Fridays. My colleagues and customers enjoy seeing the collection,” Frucianco said.

I also had a chance to talk to Nik Wassiliew from Dirt Cheap, specializing in pre-owned Spooner wear, located on 17th Street behind the Wild Goose. Wassilliew and I talked on the phone like we have sailed three Transpacs together. He carries hundreds of Reyn Spooner pre-owned shirts for sale. We discussed the early western wear Reyns, the Newport Beach fireman/lifeguard shirts and the connection to Avalon. Because of the high quality of the shirts, many customers will make a trade for their shirts that no longer fit for larger sizes. Wassilliew is a wealth of knowledge and very easy to talk to. We discussed the only Christmas shirt I am missing to complete the collection, which is the 1984. I asked Wassilliew what’s the most sought-after Spooner people were looking for. You will have to go in and visit him to ask him yourself because I am now searching for those patterns.

My favorite Reyn Spooner story is about going to complete a boat deal in one of the extremely fancy business buildings near John Wayne Airport. You might know the type where you have to register to get an elevator to take you to the top floor. I walk into the reception room which feels like the set in the show Suits. I’m in yellow shorts and have a yellow and blue Phil Edwards Spooner on. Everyone in the room double-takes, wondering who the heck I am. I go to the receptionist’s desk and announce, “Len Bose for Mr. Smith.” The receptionist replies, “Mr. Smith is expecting you, so please follow me to conference room one. Would you like anything to drink?” Smith immediately joined me and for the next 20 minutes, we talked about boating. (I knew everyone had to hear us laughing.)

As I was leaving, Smith said, “Thanks for making everything so easy for me and I will see you and Jennifer on Saturday.” I’ve never seen so many suits just stare at me. I was just smiling and wanted to tell them where I purchased my Reyn Spooners from.

If anyone from Reyn Spooner reads this, I would truly enjoy a print with Duffy Electric Boats in Newport Harbor.

Sea Ya

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