On the Harbor: with the weather warming up, lots of racing and a boat show

By LEN BOSE

To steal a baseball slogan “I Live For This”…with the weather forecast reaching the 70s and just three weeks away from the start of summer sailing.

Activity within the harbor is beginning to blossom with the Newport Beach International Boat Show, and the Palmer & Baldwin Cup this weekend. While reviewing last week’s Harbor Commission’s meeting, there is plenty of activity in the harbor with things just beginning to warm up.

Speaking of “warming up,” the temperature in the City Council Chambers was a bit hot during the last Harbor Commission meeting on Wednesday, April 10. After months of discussions, special meetings, accusations and threats of legal action, the Harbor Commission will be recommending to the City Council a mooring permit increase to meet the market value of a mooring permit. There has not been a price increase for a mooring permit for close to 30 years, and that’s what popped the thermometer in the turkey, or staying with my baseball analogy, throwing a spitball causing the ball to react unpredictably. I don’t keep my boat on a mooring; I have never had the means of purchasing a mooring permit. I do pay $700 a month for a slip for my Harbor 20, which is a steal compared to other locations around the harbor. To get straight to the point, I’m sure I’ll get “called out looking” for saying I feel the proposed market rate is fair.

Today a 40-foot boat on a mooring is paying $133 a month; at the end of six years it will be $480 a month. I’ll get brushed back from the plate, probably even beaned, from my friends with mooring permits for writing this, but remember we are playing in the best stadium in the world. On a sidenote while at the ballpark, don’t heckle the umpires – it’s just lame and accomplishes nothing.

There were three or four people during public comments who called out the commissioners; one came really close to getting ejected from the “game.” What was strange, is most of the people in the stands left the game early on that night. The next topic to “Step on the Hill,” was to form an ad hoc committee to review the utilization of the public docks which should be rather important to mooring permit holders. 

Talking about the moorings, while at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club this week to watch the Palmer & Baldwin Cup, the first comment I picked up on was, “look how beautiful the harbor is with all the mooring removed.” I just felt like I got “a base on balls,” and trotted down to first. During these events, the mooring balls and boats are removed from the NHYC mooring field. I led off by talking to many of my friends who were watching the Palmer Cup which is like watching an Old Timers Game. Each competing skipper must be 60+ years old and the crew 50+. Looking over the competition, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s team named Fire was favored to win.

This event was a 3v3 team racing event; I don’t have enough room to explain team racing. Let’s just say it brings out a very high level of skippers’ and crews’ skill level. NHYC team Fire consisted of Bill Menninger and Bob McDonald, Chris Raab and Buddy Richley, Phil Thompson and Jamie Hardenbergh. Team Fire dominated in round robins, yet in the finals against the San Diego Yacht Club it did go the distance which was a best of three series. This had to make the win that much sweeter for the home team. The Baldwin Cup started on Thursday and runs through this Saturday. Compared to previous years the teams are now 2v2, but the past it had been 4v4. Looking over the competitors, I’d have to bet it will come down to the Newport Harbor and San Diego yacht clubs. There will be some exciting racing going on in the harbor this weekend.

Next “on deck” is the Newport Beach 

International Boat Show. I walked the show this week, and I was taken back by the Sun Country Yachts’ display of their new yachts. I’m not a huge fan of Sunseeker, although I am an admirer of Prestige and Riviera. Walking down the main gangway, this display reminded me of looking at a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, as every yacht was gorgeous, followed by Silver Seas’ display of Princess, Tiara and Cruisers yachts. I was extremely pleased to see how many sailboats are at the show this year. South Coast Yachts has a large display of Beneteau sailboats. Walking past these boats, I admired the large cockpits and placed myself in Catalina, just hanging out watching the day go by from the cockpit of these new designs. Denison Yachts is displaying Defour and two Catamaran lines, along with the Jeanneau dealer showing their new models. All my favorites are at the show: Fleming, Offshore and Mag-Bay. I also noticed a couple of Downeast-style yachts with Eastbay and Sabre. Unfortunately, Hunt and Hinckley Yachts were a no-show this year. Of course, Duffy Electric boats will be unveiling their new 20’ hardtop.

I strongly recommend attending the boat show this year as it looks like the weather will be perfect. If you are a Duffy owner, just take your boat to the public dock next to the Elks and walk over to the show.

Sea ya

On the Harbor: an early morning cruise

By LEN BOSE

I took an early morning harbor cruise this week, just to remind myself how many different faces the harbor has throughout the day. I started my cruise from one of the first slips in the harbor entrance near channel marker six. Walking down the gangway, the dense fog plays tricks with you with the foghorn sounding, unable to see or recognize the clear instructions from the crew of a whale watching boat to its passengers, which I first thought was coming from a nearby dock. Never comfortable on the water with a thick layer of fog over the harbor, I postponed my departure.

Twenty minutes later the visibility increased to 50 feet, so I pushed off the dock and started to work my way further into the harbor towards the ferry crossing. While passing by the Balboa Yacht Club’s mooring field, I always scan through the field looking for my favorite yachts. I first looked for one of my all-time favorites – the 61-foot Nordland “WASABI” standing tall in pristine condition. Looking through all the boats, I noticed the Ranger 33 “ANTARES” looking ready for opening day. I am not a fan of many of the newer power boat yacht designs, because in my opinion the large windows along the sides of the hull whose shapes resemble a floating billboard, just don’t do it for me. I have a hard time looking at them, yet I assume it looks much better when you’re aboard one and looking out.

 I put my head down and quickly shook it, then looked ahead towards green channel marker 11. There she was appearing as an angel descending from the heavens, slowly revealing herself as the layers of fog lifted upwards into the warmth of the sun. She immediately grabbed my attention, reminding me of the time I first noticed a Raquel Welch poster of the One Million Years BC movie, or Farrah Fawcett’s red swimsuit poster. The profile of this yacht was now etched into my mind, resembling many other Ray Hunt designs that are in our harbor. The Hunt 63 Ocean Series has captured this old man’s heart with this proper true yachtsman design flowing from bow to stern. At first glance, she projects the appearance of a personal yacht that can be owner-operated, a true family boat. She comes from royal pedigree of Hinckley Yachts, first noticing the rounded corner windows of the salon, the wide side decks for moving around the yacht, and the curved stairwell going from the aft cockpit up to the flybridge. I can picture the granite countertops – satin-finished teak with high gloss trim. She is POD-driven and can reach speeds of 31 knots. If you are looking for a range at 10 knots, she can stretch out to 877 nautical miles. I can already picture her at Catalina this summer anchored in the Moonstone Beach (Cove) with the entire family aboard.

As I continued my cruise I had to wipe down the windows, as they had fogged up; it must have been from my heavy breathing or the need to pick up all the traffic in the five-points area of the harbor. In the early morning proceeding into the Lido Channel, you quickly recognize that this time of day is all about the rowing teams, and it’s always has been this way. But its challenging, because one is aware of their inability to turn or stop along with a boat’s stealth qualities. Should you find yourself on the harbor in the early morning hours, keep your phone in your pocket as there is a lot going on around you that you should keep aware of.

Another item I noticed is that this weekend is the Balboa Angling Club’s Lily Call fishing tournament. This is the super bowl of the in-the-harbor fishing tournaments with the best of the best entered, and many of the competitors were out on the harbor looking forward to going back to their favorite spots. It’s game day on the harbor with very few smiles.

Speaking of very few smiles, I have a very special bird I would like to present to the kids on the Lido Bridge that dropped the water balloon on the top of my boat while I was traveling underneath them. The impact sounded like someone had dropped a brick on me, and got my heart rate up so much that I called the Harbormaster. I forgot how early in the morning it was and I am sure I awoke him. That was about the time I realized I had not thought through my actions, so now I was embarrassed and disappointed in myself. I find I am rather good at that on the harbor, and remind myself just to breathe and notice all the snow on our surrounding mountains. Before I leave you this week, remember that the staging for the boat show is going on and there are many floating docks anchored out around Z Mark in the turning basin.

Sea ya.

~~~~~~~~

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

On the Harbor: Spring is abuzz on the harbor

By LEN BOSE

While looking into the western sky, the dark clouds of winter are starting to reveal the clearing of summer on the horizon. The winter and mid-winter events have come and gone, and with an increase in the daylight hours of spring, the harbor becomes active throughout the week. Spring cleaning has filled the harbor users’ calendars, and we are noticing an increase in activity.

Most of my spring scheduling is around the Newport Beach International Boat Show scheduled for April 18-21 with many of the big names in the marine industry attending, such as Crows Nest Yachts, Fraser Yachts, Chuck Hovey, Northrop & Johnson, Novamar Insurance, Schock Boats, South Coast Yachts, Trident Funding and us – Duffy Electric Boats. Duffy Boats will be unveiling our new Duffy 20, which features a hard top, lithium batteries, an ice maker, a cocktail dispenser, and a U-shaped settee that can be made into a double berth. Promoters are indicating that the show is already full, with many builders displaying new models.

 “For whom does the bell toll?” A five-bell alert was heard across the harbor this Wednesday when the Coast Guard announced that it is considering removing our harbor entrance lighted bell buoy with a virtual AIS aid to Navigation. At first tintinnabulation, my reaction was that this would reduce the large expense in maintenance of sea buoys. Everyone has a chart plotter with the AIS feature now that has been guiding us into the harbor for years. Then the thought awoke me from my sleep last night, that I have spent endless hours searching for that entrance buoy on the darkest of nights in extreme weather conditions…standing above the boat dodger in my foul weather gear taking wave after wave in the face making sure I was lined up for the entrance into the harbor. There was always a huge sigh of relief when I spotted the buoy’s red light followed by the continued search for it as it hid in the swells – and the anxiety of passing the buoy to starboard, with the exhaling feeling that overcomes your soul while entering the protected waters of the harbor. “Cheated death again” was said often under my breath, as the boat calmed down while gliding to her berth within the harbor.

To remove the bell buoy is dangerous in my opinion, breaking one maxim of all good yachtsmen of “sailing with your head out of the boat.” Too many boaters are lost within their chart plotters, along with their phones, looking for that lost phone signal as they approach the harbor entrance. With an AIS system, boaters will fall deeper into their instrumentations, missing all the lobster pots and large pieces of flotsam flushing out of the harbor during all sea conditions. The bell “tolls for thee” fortunately for me, with most of my boating now aboard a Duffy Harbor 20 and my remote control sailboats. I plan on staying off the rocks for many years to come by continuing to operate my boats with my “head out of the boat.” My guess is that no one from the Coast Guard reads my column, but just in case they do, we have some old very outdated channel markers within our harbor that are in desperate need of replacement, along with some channel markers that should be lighted. Now that would ring my bell!

I’m going to assume my readers have heard of the $8.3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board the Balboa Island Ferry received. As many of you are friends of the Beek family, it warms one’s heart that the long tradition of our harbor’s ferry crossing shall continue. It kind of reminds me of obtaining a good job; it feels good then it hits you that now there is work to be done. The devil is always in the details, while wishing all the Beek family our best to complete this very meaningful task.

As the winter passes by, there are many things to notice around the harbor. The Balboa Angling Club has its membership drive this Saturday, March 23 between 1-4 p.m. at the clubhouse. I have mentioned that this is one of our harbor’s best values. The junior program is perfect for your little fisherman’s summer activities. One will quickly notice the mother of our harbor’s sailing events – the Palmer Trophy and Baldwin Cup – are starting to take shape with the local teams sailing their qualification round this last month. The moorings will be removed in front of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club by April 13 and then redeployed on April 21.

Sea ya.

~~~~~~~~

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

On the Harbor: offshore mooring leases, a hot topic

 By LEN BOSE

The hot topic around the harbor has been the proposed offshore mooring increase; on the other side of the spectrum has been our mid-winter conditions on the harbor with a dim light showing at the end of the tunnel.

I attended the special Harbor Commission meeting on February 1 regarding the proposed increase to offshore mooring. With a rough estimate of 100 people in attendance, on arriving I scanned the faces in the crowd, looking for people I recognized and respected for their opinions. As the topic was presented by the Harbor Commission to the public, rather than getting lost in all the big words and review of data, I watched the people that I respected looking for their reaction, how long they would stay at the meeting, and any comments they wished to present. Within the crowd, there were many new faces. I spotted 10 people that I wanted to observe during the meeting, one of them was my publisher from Stu News, Tom Johnson.

Keep in mind, that I am not a true journalist. I consider myself more like a seat-in-the-pants sailor describing the approaching weather. My observations on this night started with Harbor Commission Vice Chair Ira Beer reviewing the history of mooring rates within our harbor then reviewing the appraisal of Netzer & Associates for offshore mooring, followed by the Harbor Commission’s sub-committee recommendations. This is where I missed a wind shift. On entering the meeting, I was taken back by the attendance and was scanning the crowd rather than paying closer attention to Beer’s comments. I recall hearing the proposed increase and that it would be implemented over time rather than as one lump sum increase.

Looking over the crowd, I found the person that I told myself I would call the following day. This person is a mooring permit holder and stayed at the meeting longer than I did. I followed up the next day and listened to their side of the story. I could have countered their opinion with my observations, but I decided for the first time in my life just to listen to this person’s concerns. They made a clear and very strong argument regarding the appraisal recommendation that was grossly over estimated, and at the same time indicated that the mooring permit fees are undervalued at this time.

To quote my source: “The moorings have been mismanaged for as long as I can remember by the city. To just drop down a huge rate increase to fix the problem with one price increase is just unethical.”

Now this argument rang a bell – I realized I should have been raising the rent of a house I own annually rather than with one large increase to bring it to market value. I had mismanaged the property, so it would take me many years to bring it to market rate. There are many arguments for this comparison with the mooring permits, but my gut tells me this is how the increase should be implemented with a slight increase over a long period of time.

In my example, I was fortunate that my renters moved to Texas. I don’t know why anyone would want to move to Texas but that’s another story.  This allowed me to increase my rent to market value; maybe this example might be the format of some type of compromise. Keep in mind after my renter had moved out, there were many upgrades to my home that I had to complete before asking the market rate. What I am getting at is that I am sure there are many improvements that should be made within the harbor for the mooring permit holders.

This Wednesday night, February 14 is the next Harbor Commission meeting, where this topic is on the agenda. I am quite sure I will not attend this meeting because not being at home with my wife on Valentine’s Day for dinner will differently increase the rent at my house. This issue definitely has a resemblance to an arrow piercing a heart let’s just strive to keep a long-lasting relationship.

• • •

For all you boat owners, make sure you have inspected your boats recently. I have never pumped out more water out of my Harbor 20 than I did this last Sunday (Feb. 11). Last week, I called my good friend Harbormaster Paul Blank to request help to pump out one of my Duffy listings that the bilge pump had gone out. The boat was not at risk of sinking; I just asked a friend to help me out and a couple of minutes later a patrol boat stopped by to assist me in emptying out the water from the boat. What is the dim light at the end of the tunnel I referred to at the top of my story? I have long been bringing up the topic that many of our channel markers are not lit up at night. The other day I noticed that someone took it upon themselves and placed lights onto some of our channel markers that are desperately in need of illumination. A Bravo/Zulu is in order to whoever completed this task.

Sea ya.

On the Harbor: a new year update

                                                                  

                                                                     By LEN BOSE

Welcome to a New Year which takes me back to The Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” whose message is summarized in the last line, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” and its meaning is “nothing changes and so don’t get fooled again.” Which is a very confusing way to report on what’s going on in the harbor this first month of 2024. So let me backtrack before throwing a few soft punches.

I ended last week by walking through Basin Shipyard and took a moment to talk to owners Dereck and Dave New. As always this time of year, the yard is packed with Dave reporting that they are two months out. So, if you own a boat with outboards or Pod drives, you better call now and book your annual maintenance to be ready for the spring/summer boating season. The yard was full of new Tiara products, but I’m sure there were many other makes of yachts in the yard, yet the pretty ones always grab my attention first.

For most of January I spent my time in the Duffy Boat yard. Did you know that if you need to haul-out your boat while just leaving the boat in the Travel Lift slings for an inspection or quick repair, the Duffy yard can help you? There is other breaking news coming from the Duffy yard with three new maintenance programs known as “Duffy Care” Silver, Gold & Platinum being offered, along with a very generous trade-in program for new boats. If you would like more information, contact the Duffy Sales office. I’ve also heard more rumors that there has been an ownership change at Larson Shipyard. I really should check in with Abe Parra before commenting; I have noticed that the front office, facing PCH, is empty at this time.

Over at the City Harbor Department at Marina Park, I had a chance to listen in on a code enforcement update from Deputy Harbor Master Matt Cosylion. This is where our harbor is leading all other harbors in making improvements. The main focus of enforcement activities since the creation of the City Harbor Department, was to clean up and remove all the junk that was on the moorings. This effort has been a huge success, because no longer do I see derelict vessels on moorings with a fleet of junk tied up next to them, or the homeless sneaking aboard abandoned vessels. Cosylion reported a new focus on vessels with non-functioning running lights, so make sure coming out of these winter months that your running lights are working. I have always kept a spare back-up that can be added to my vessel should the running light go out while on a harbor cruise. Cosylion also reported that his focus is being placed on slip owners with nothing but overhanging junk in their slips. I have been using the term “junk” which means inoperable, unseaworthy and abandoned vessels.

After Cosylion completed his report, many who attended the Harbor Commission meeting showed their support with applause, which doesn’t happen that often, but was much deserved in this case.

The Harbor Commission meeting then moved on to the next item on the agenda to review an appraisal and discussion of rental rates for offshore mooring permits. The Harbor Commission works at the will of the City Council and is tasked with making a recommendation to the City Council. Before making this, the commission is holding a special meeting at 5 p.m. on February 1 in the council chambers and opening further discussion with the stakeholders. At the Harbor Commission meeting, many who were first to make it to the podium for public comments were making clear arguments requesting the annual mooring permit rate increases be adjusted to the Consumer Price Index as it has been since 2016. Some of the public understood that should the commission recommend a rate increase exceeding the CPI, a condition of the rate increase should include more wash down & maintenance docks, added dingy storage and any other features that help permit holders. Later during public comments, on this same topic, what I witnessed was an embarrassment. I would not call myself a skilled negotiator, but I know better than calling out buyers and sellers, and throwing personal insults at them is not a good strategy for coming to a working compromise. Yes, it’s fantastic these people attended the meetings. But before speaking and throwing personal insults, I would suggest doing your due diligence by attending more meetings and presenting a better argument.

Sea ya.

~~~~~~~~

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

On the Harbor: 2023 end-of-the-year wrap-up

Photo of Jen and I for the 2013 Wrap up

By LEN BOSE

The customers ask me how long have I been selling boats. My reply this year has been, “Longer than I care to admit,” which is similar to telling someone how old you are. Well, I’m thinking the same thing when I count back how many end-of-the-year wrap-ups I have written. Some years, I referred to these stories as  “The good, the Bad & the Ugly,” “My 10 best stories,” “Looking back at this year’s highlights” and “Counting down my favorite 10 stories.” So, I am not going to tell you how long I have been writing these year-end stories. Let’s just get this party started.

Each year we must ring eight bells – “End of the Watch” – or when a sailor has passed away. This year was “Remembering Douglas M. West.” Go here to read it. For me, it was West’s personal touch, on topics he knew I had a personal interest in. He would meet with me for breakfast or lunch at his request. He was an extremely easy person to approach while sincerely considering many of my silly ideas. At the same time, I recall a couple of Harbor Commission meetings when he would firmly remind people when they were out of order.

I spent some time this year with Harbormaster Paul Blank. Go here to read “Touring Newport Harbor with Harbormaster Paul Blank Part 1” and go here for Part 2.

In the first interview, Blank and I discussed moorings, pump-out stations, public docks, liveaboards, Caulerpa algae and so much more. At the end of this year, I felt I should check back in with him. Read “Catching up with Harbormaster Paul Blank Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

This second time around the harbor, we reviewed harbor objectives, harbor code enforcement, reviewing all that had happened in the harbor this past year and dredging, and more. I ended the interview with “I should get Harbormaster Blank to sail with me on my Harbor 20; I’d never miss a wind shift again!”

One of my favorite stories this year was “Getting to know Carolyn Smith, the new BCYC sailing director,” which you can read here.

“When I received the phone call, it felt super nice to be thought of for this position. This is a passion for me, so accepting this position was a no-brainer,” said Smith. As I was leaving the interview, Smith came up with the quote of the year. After I had told her this story would be running in Stu News’ Friday edition, she said with a huge smile, “Stu News, that’s where I get all my Newport news.”

I stopped by to see one of my many old friends around the harbor this year. Catching up with Eberisto “Abe” Parra, owner of Larson’s Shipyard. Go here to read it.

The real reason I stopped by to say hello to Parra that week was I had heard a rumor that he was retiring and closing up shop. When I asked him about this, he laughed and said, “I have been here 43 years and plan on being around another 43 years.” This was good to hear, because the last thing we need is to lose another shipyard from our harbor.

Mooring Issues and changes are always a hot topic each year. Now to the elephant in the room – a proposed pilot program to change the mooring system within our harbor. The history of the mooring system is lengthy, so let’s dive into the murky sand below the surface. Harbor Commissioner Ira Beer has been tasked with providing the Harbor Commission with a recommendation that can be presented to the City Council. You can read about that column here.

Meeting Harbor Commissioner Steve Scully reminded me to stay more active within the harbor. I was able to contact Harbor Commissioner Chairman Scully for an interview, and after I leaned back in my chair realizing just how much I missed this summer by not attending the meetings. The good news to report is that the Harbor Commission has been busy, and taking their tasks to hand by completing their objectives. You can read the column on Scully here.

This is the perfect segue to Harbor Commission goals and objectives, which you can read here. I wanted to take the time to update you on what the Harbor Commission has been tasked with in the upcoming year by reviewing its objectives and goals, along with any observations I made from the commission’s meetings.

Finishing the year on a good note, let’s go back to my column, “Recognizing our annual sailing winners,” which you can read here.

The top-shelf award at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club is the Jon Pinckney Perpetual, which is awarded to junior sailors with the most outstanding racing record this year. This year’s recipients were Zarrin Harvey and Kingston Keyoung. I have never seen juniors more excited about receiving an award than these two deserving awardees.

The time sure goes by much faster when you are having fun, so let’s go sailing!

Sea ya next year.

~~~~~~~~

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

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