Here is my weekly Rhine Channel update for October 24 – 28.

Hi Everyone,

·        Please see the attached figure.  You’ll notice that we only have 2 small red boxes remaining, signifying that we’re almost done dredging!

·        This week, Dutra finished dredging the 15^th Street public pier and the public pumpout dock areas.  Because of the tight quarters at the public pier, they had to use the crane mounted clamshell bucket for most of the work in the dinghy area – a slow process. But they were successful, and the backside of the dock shouldn’t be sitting on the sand at extreme low tides.  The rest of the public dock area was dredged by the excavator which was more precise and productive.

·        With the American Legion marina completely removed, the excavator was able to quickly and efficiently dredge that area to the desired depth without any problems at all.  This process took about 2-3 days, and was only limited by the availability of empty scows.

·        Today, the American Legion marina was floated back to its original position and the pile driving operation began.  There’s 26 piles to be driven, so we’re hoping to be done by mid next week.  Vessels are not allowed back in the marina until the job is complete. Many thanks to American Legion Commander Jess Lawson and his team for assisting with this tricky operation.

·        As previously mentioned, there are two areas in the Rhine Channel that need to be re-dredged so that we can get to a nice clean sandy bottom. Dutra started dredging those areas today, and will finish early next week.  After that, dredging should be complete.

·        Minor dock repairs are still taking place along all of the Phases, so please be patient with the smaller issues that you may have at your respective docks.  Dutra will get to them before they demobilize in a few weeks.

·        Interesting fact No. 13:  In all, Dutra will have removed approximately 80,000 cubic yards of material from the Rhine Channel and other areas.  To give some perspective as to this volume, 80,000 cubic yards would cover a football field about 45 feet high!

Thanks for bearing with us during this project – we’re almost at the end!

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

( (949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov

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The Harbor Report: Sailing season is coming to a close

By Len Bose

October 25, 2011 | 10:42 p.m.

No matter how much I try to ignore it, fall is here and the 2011 sailing season is winding down. That means it's time for Newport Harbor's yacht club award banquets.

For me, the award nights are like the start of the holidays with all of your friends attending and remembering all the up and downs you had over the boating season. It also gives you time to start talking about what you have planned for next year.

Who knows? If you see your favorite competitor make his way to the awards' platform for the third time, you might just find the money for that new bottom you have been thinking about.

The first awards event this year is at the Balboa Yacht Club. "The Balboas" are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12.

The most distinguished award at BYC is the Sportsman of the Year award for "displaying outstanding sportsmanship during the yachting season."

Other sought-after awards given out this night will be the "Leo Collin Perpetual for sailing in the Sunkist, Twilights and Beercans." Also on the agenda is the presentation of The William & Ann Campbell Trophy for first place overall in the 66 Series.

BYC is also very proud to recognize Barry Wood for all his efforts in promoting "The Harry Wood Regatta," a race named after Barry's father. This is a unique award and I hope you can attend to get the whole scope on how the Wood family has earned such recognition.

The next event is the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club's awards night on Saturday, Nov. 19. The big award at BCYC is the Commodore Domanski for Outstanding Committee Chair Recipient, and the Commodore Bussey for Most Active BCYC Family Recipient.

This year is also rather unique because BCYC and BYC, at each of its respective events, will be giving an award to this year's "Newport High Point Champion." This award is given to the top-scoring PHRF boat in Newport Harbor and it's my understanding that these two trophies will be something to behold.

On Dec. 3, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club will have its annual meeting. This is the night when the "mother of all awards" in Newport Harbor is given out: The Burgee of Merit, which serves as NHYC's highest honor awarded to a West Coast yachtsman.

The criteria for receiving the Burgee of Merit include competing in the Olympic Games, winning a major world championship or bringing unusual distinction to West Coast yachting in general.

Another prestigious award at NHYC is the Fletcher Olson Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the non-calm/junior sailors who have shown the most outstanding sportsmanship and leadership throughout the year.

By attending these events you will find awards that you never knew existed.

Next year, you could find yourself attending your club's fishing tournament, watching a crew regatta from the Coast Highway bridge, or joining all the C3 sabot parents screaming at their kids from the Lido Isle main dock. Attending your club's awards night might just get you to use your boat five more times next year.

Who knows? You even could volunteer to do race committee or buy that sail you need so bad.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be working on my list of Newport Harbor's 20 most interesting boats. Last year's response to this article was so strong that I was asked to do it again this year.

Look for it to appear on Fat Friday, Nov. 25. Also, if you want to review last year's 20 most interesting boats or learn who took home all the pickle dishes this year, keep an eye on my blog athttp://lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Counting Newport Harbor's amazing boats 2010

Over the next five weeks, I will be counting down Newport Harbor's 20 Most Interesting Boats. I received a fantastic response to the 10 Most Interesting Sailboats and now it's time to review this year's 10 Most Interesting Power Boats. Lets start with:

No. 10 "JUNO" 72' Built in 1969 in Holland Cammengas Yacht Yard. She is one of only six built for world cruising. Seen almost every weekend at Moonstone in the summer season, she does not sit still for long. You have to love that umbrella on the upper deck. She lives off Bayside Drive.

No. 9 "AVOCA" 36' The Seafoam Green Hinckley 36 picnic yacht. Last seen in Avalon this summer with family and friends enjoying Catalina. A truly beautiful yacht kept in perfect condition. She berthed under full cover in the dry storage racks at the Newport Shipyard.

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Next on everyone's mind is what to give this holiday season to the sailor in your life. A couple of ideas looked interesting in cruising around the harbor this week:

1.) Ultrasonic Antifouling Ltd. now has an Ultra Series II system suited for every type of hull, ensuring owners enjoy their boating to the full with minimal yearly labor and cost. This is not a gag; Google it. If this thing works it might save on your bottom paint?

2. Planus is delighted to announce the"Magnetic Seat & Cover. The product solves the problem of falling seat and covers on board. That's right, this one keeps the head cover up. How many stories do you have when the head lid has crashed down on you?

3. At Basin Marine Shipyard, Derek New showed me the "Mooring Catcher," the perfect gift for the yachtsmen who does not want to run a dirty sand line down the side of their boat. How many times have you been in Catalina and picked up the sand line, and after you have attached the stern loop, it appears that someone has gotten sea sick down the side of your boat?

Now I have some holiday gifts from our local marine vendors I would like to hand out to my readers. Especially to the mooring permit holders of Newport Harbor. These vendors are people I have learned to trust over my 23 years on the harbor, and I hope you will recognize their names the next time you need something for your boat. Please send me an e-mail with your boat name and type after you read this story and I will place your names in a hat.

This week the gift bag contains the following:

From Dave Beek at Island Marine Fuel: Get 30 cents off a gallon on either Premium Valvtect gas or diesel up to a 100 gallons and a "world famous" Island Marine Fuel T-Shirt!

I do all my boat title work with The Mary Conlin Company. Mary is the best at what see does and has saved my stern many times when making sure I have a clean title to transfer. Mary has given me one free title search for my readers!

Craig Chamberlain from Mariners General Insurance, where I tell all my customers to go for their yacht insurance, has donated a box of their boat show swag with their famous carbon money clip and much more.

Gary Miltimore, who has designed and applied most of the graphics on Newport's 20 most interesting boats, has donated one of his highly desired prints of Catalina. Looking for that special gift? Have Gary do a painting of your love one's boat.

Please send your emails to boseyachts@mac.com, and if you are a marine vendor, restaurant, or anyone else who would like to help me with my holiday gift giving to my readers over the next four weeks, please contact me.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Holiday gift ideas for a sailor 2010

Continuing our countdown at No. 8 of Newport Harbor's 20 Most Interesting Boats:

No. 8: FORGER — 74' — Commissioned in 1988 at the German Bültjer Shipyard in Ditzum to a Beeldsnijder design. It is immediately obvious that she is definitely a different sort of motor yacht. Her "iroko" topside gleam has countless coats of varnish. She came to town five years ago and is berthed on the end of Linda Isle.

No. 7: DRUMBEAT — 49' — Originally commissioned for the previous owner of the No. 9 Sailboat "Rocket." She was built to a Kernan yacht design with a type of commuter boat styling. She was finished by a team led by Richard Crow from Orange Coast College and is now owned by one of our harbor's best yachtsmen. She is berthed on the end of Lido Isle.

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I found some more ideas for what to leave under your sailor's Christmas tree. Everyone likes to be green around the holidays so I thought the Davis No Spill Fuel Recovery System would be the perfect stocking stuffer or it might bring a laugh if you bought it for the owner of the boat you are boarding for the upcoming Christmas Parade. You can find them at West Marine store locations or online.

Next I noticed the Argus Battery Bug. This looked like a very simple way to manage your electrical system on your boat. You can also find them at West Marine or online.

Harvey Wills from Western Marine Marketing told me about the GOST Cloak System.

"Most property loss occurs in the initial minutes of a break-in, before police or security teams have had a chance to respond," the GOST's website reads. "The GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies — formerly Paradox Marine) Cloak system is designed to provide protection in the critical time gap between onboard alarm activation and the response team's arrival.

"In a matter of seconds, the GOST Cloak system fills the protected vessel interior with an impenetrable cloud of smoke that makes the intruder disoriented and confused and forces them off the vessel until the response team arrives."

This would make for some funny video of the bad guys leaving your boat or me, "The Yacht Broker," who did not follow the boarding instructions properly.

Now I have some holiday gifts from our local marine vendors I would like to give out to my readers. These vendors are people I have learned to trust over my 23 years on the harbor, and I hope you will recognize their names the next time you need something for your boat. Please e-mail me at boseyachts@mac.com with your boat name and type after you read this story and I will place your name in a hat.

This week the gift bag contains the following:

From Harvey Wills and Western Marine Marketing Inc. we have an oxidation removal kit. The Western Marine Marketing product line covers everything from ValVtect Fuel to Pettit products.

Independent Rigging will do one free anchor chain to rode splice. While you have Richard at your boat, you should ask him to take a look at your standing and running rigging.

"Rob The Diver" has offered inspection and reports on bottom condition plus free replacement of one large plate zinc, two trim tab zincs or two shaft zincs up to two inches in diameter. More zincs can be replaced for free if the owner supplies the parts. Rob has most of Newport's 20 most interesting boats on his client list.

Arturo Yacht Maintenance has offered one free wash down. While you have Arturo on your boat, you should get a quote on your varnish or waxing your hull. Arturo can take care of most of your problems on your boat.

From last week, Ellen Shockro received the Island Marine Fuel and T-shirt, Megan Delaney won the Gary Miltimore Catalina print, Michel Yahn won the Mariners General Boat Show swag bag and the famous Carbon Money clip. Ray Lewis won the free boat title search from the Mary Conlin Title Co.

Continue to follow Newport's Most Interesting Boats countdown because I have some rather large gifts still in the bag. If you are a local vendor, contact me if you would like to help.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Attracting sailors, even in the rain

I wanted to give you my extended weather forecast for the rest of this year. It's going to rain, it's going to rain a lot, and I am too old to sail in the rain.

It does not mean that I do not want to sail. It just means I find other things to do on race day — like go upstairs into the yacht club, sit next to the fire, and have a huge breakfast.

It's truly not the best thing to do to increase my boat speed, but it was fun to watch the kids get ready for last weekend's Portsmouth Folly race at the Balboa Yacht Club. Harrison and Will Vandervort, Andrew Luttrell, and Megan Kenney, all moved around the club with plenty of enthusiasm, rigging their boats and watching the breeze and rain pick up.

• RELATED
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I returned back to work and watched the race from the safety of my computer screen — another bad call on my part because 35 entries and more than 50 people showed up to race on that cold, wet winter day. The big winners were everyone who attended, and Susan Kenny was there again catching everything on film, which can be viewed atsusankenney.smugmug.com/Sailing. The people who brought home the pickle dishes were Molly Lynch, Paul Blank and Derek Pickell in the center board class and Tucker Cheadle, Karl Pomeroy and John Whitney in the Keel Boat class.

Speaking of pickle dishes — no pun intended, Derek — we are down to our last four powerboats of Newport Harbor's 20 Most Interesting Yachts:

No. 4: "Royal Buzzard," a 70-foot Power Cat built in 2002 at Knight & Carver to a Morrelli & Melvin design. She has a 24-foot beam and is powered by twin 660HP Caterpillars. She can reach a top speed of 24 knots and caries 2,128 gallons of fuel. She has been seen cruising Mexico and docks at Balboa Island.

No. 3: "Shanakee," a 78-foot Nordland and built to a Ed Monk design in 2008. Built for passages off the Pacific Coast and the glacial runways of Alaska's Inside Passage. She was crafted with a high-tech composite structure and just screams perfection. If she is in town you can find her on the Lido Peninsula.

This week I have saved the best gifts for last. Marshal Duffield has donated two hours off a Duffy Electric Boat. If you have never taken a harbor cruise on a Duffy, now is the time to place your name into our hat.

Dave and Derek New from Basin Marine have donated one free haul-out to one of our lucky readers. That's right — if you own a 40-foot boat you may have saved $600.

Send me your e-mails to boseyachts@mac.com and read next week's grand finale to Newport Harbor's 20 most interesting yachts to see if you have won.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Rounding out year with top 2 boats 2010

This week it's time to wrap up my list of Newport Harbor's 20 Most Interesting Yachts. During the last six weeks, 10 of the harbor's sailboats have been recognized. Now, we are down to the last two of the 10 most interesting powerboats.

No. 2 — COLNETT. She is a 42-foot motor cruiser built in 1924 to a Edson B. Schock design and built by Seacraft Shipyard in Wilmington, Calif. This yacht's first two owners were presidents of the Tuna Club in Avalon and her original purpose was for catching swordfish. Her present owners purchased her in July 2007. She is seen cruising the harbor and over in White Cove in Catalina. COLNETT is berthed at Swales Anchorage in the southwest corner of the Coast Highway bridge.

No. 1 — GALATEA. She is a 53-foot heavy displacement trawler. She was designed by Art DeFever Sr. and built by Paul Lindwall in Santa Barbara for Bill Hanna. You should notice the Hanna name from the cartoons we still watch. She is powered by "Picnic Baskets." Just kidding. She carries a single Caterpillar D333 that pushes her 105,000 pounds displacement through the water in expedition fashion. GALATEA was the NHYC Flag Ship this year and has taken recent cruises to Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Tinsley Island, Channel Island and can be found at White Cove during the summer months. She is berthed on the Balboa Peninsula.

The year 2010 has been a very interesting one, and as I look back down the harbor there have been quite a few changes. Some good, some bad and some ugly. That's right it's time to insert the theme song for "The Good, Bad & The Ugly" of 2010. The good includes the new guest docks, No. 8 channel marker, Marina Park, the completion of the upper bay dredging, notice from the Port of Long Beach Harbor that the port will take our Rhine Channel toxic mud, BYC Rose Cup, NHYC Island Race, BCYC Around the Islands Race and the NAC rowing events. That is a lot of good, and I have to give a "well done" to Newport Harbor Resources Manager Chris Miller for doing an outstanding job this year.


Our lucky winners for the two-hour Electric Bay boat cruise donated by Marshal Duffield of Duffy Electric Boats are Samantha and Robbie Vient. I am also very proud to announce the winner of the "Free Haul Out" at Basin Marine, provided by my trusted friends Derek and Dave New, goes to Andrew Zimbaldi. I would like to thank all the Marine Vendors who took part in our Holiday gift bag and I hope you return next year.

So, what's bad within the harbor in 2010? I really cannot think of that much that is bad in the harbor other than the "overhang" issue and the huge charter boat fleet that is continuing to grow. Let's also not forget about our Harbor zoning changes. That's all! These topics should make for some good press in 2011.

Now for the ugly, and you guessed it. I still have my panties in a bunch over the increase to our tideland permits and policy change to mooring transfers. I do not plan to go on another rant. Let's just say I hope my instincts are wrong on these issues and I do not have to write "I told you so" anytime soon.

I have received some fantastic ideas for 2011 stories from you and I want to thank you all for reading my column in 2010!

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Weekly Rhine Channel update for October 17 – 21.

Hi everyone,

This is my weekly Rhine Channel update for October 17 – 21.

·        All was quiet on the jobsite this week now that pile driving is over and dredging is nearly complete.  However, Dutra used this time to perform maintenance on their equipment, and to work on some of the miscellaneous dock repairs that are still outstanding in all of the Phases.  We’re still waiting for some parts to arrive (mostly guide rollers), so that is holding up some of the dock work repairs.  We’ll finalize everyone’s docks in the next couple of weeks.

·        On Tuesday, Dutra started to prepare the American Legion marina for its temporary relocation next door to Marina Park.  Then, on Wednesday, most of the piles were removed, leaving only a couple for stability overnight.  On Thursday, the last of the piles were removed, and the entire marina was floated over and secured.  A very gentle operation, but things worked out smoothly without any hitches.  Good job to the crew for making this happen!

·        On Friday, Dutra picked up the last load of piles from the Rhine Wharf, and dropped off a load of used piles. They also completed some touch up dredging on the Lido Peninsula then moved over to the 15^th Street public pier for dredging in the mid afternoon.  They didn’t quite finish everything, so they’ll resume back at 15^th Street on Monday morning for a short while.  If you have a dinghy at this pier, please have it removed by Monday morning.

·        Also on Monday, Dutra will begin dredging the American Legion marina. This should be a relatively straightforward dredging operation now that the marina is completely removed.  This work may take 3-4 days or so.  Then, after dredging the American Legion, the marina will be floated back into its original position, and new piles will be reinstalled.

·        Most of Phase III is complete, but it’s looking as if we might have to re-dredge a couple pockets in the main channel.  If this is decided, it might take place near the end of next week, or the first part of the following week.

·        Please see the attached figure which shows our progress.  As you can see, most of the red areas are now blue signifying that the dredging is complete.

·        Interesting fact No. 12:  The disposal scows are electronically monitored for their entire trip from Newport Harbor to the Port of Long Beach.  Each scow is equipped with sensors that measure how deep the scow is floating in the water, so the slightest change triggers an alarm. This is important because it warns us if there’s a leak.  Also, there’s a GPS style tracking device that shows the exact path that the scow makes on its way to the Port of Long Beach, so there’s never any question as to exactly where the scow is at all times.  This data is monitored by a 3^rd party as per the permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Once again, thank you for hanging with us during this project.  We’ll be done in a few short weeks!

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

( (949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov

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I am going Green and it's not what you think I am doing!

Monday, October 17, 2011 Back to WORK today after 4 days of mark set for BYC and the US Sailing Match Racing Championships.

I had one of my “Silly Ideas” this weekend! What if each yacht club in Newport Beach recognized the people who pick up the most trash out of the water inside and outside?  For what’s it worth to you I will write about it in my Pilot Column!

"How I came up with this SILLY IDEA!”

This weekend I was assigned to be the weather markset boat with Mike Pinckney and while we were talking I made the comment. “If you are not busy, pick up a broom a sweep” that’s when it happened, I needed to sweep so we then started to look for Mylar Balloons. We picked up 12 of them this weekend and only missed one because we where under tow with 6 boats behind us.

So if you read my stories and you pick up some trash out of the water and take a photo and send it in. I will write about it in my column.

This is my weekly Rhine Channel update for October 10-14:

Hi everyone,

This is my weekly Rhine Channel update for October 10-14:

·        Please see the attached figure.  You’ll notice that the red area is continuing to shrink as it turns to blue which means that the dredging is complete.  In order to accommodate the three marinas on the peninsula side near 19^th and 20^th Streets, we hurried to finalize their area so their slips could be occupied again.  Hence, we carved out a section of Phase III and finalized that area before the rest of the phase was complete. 

·        Those three marinas previously mentioned were out of their slips a total of 16 days which is a record for the project!!  This is directly related to Dutra’s dredging efficiency during the first phases of the project. 

·        Pile driving activities in the Rhine are completely over, as the last pile was driven on Wednesday. We really appreciated everyone’s patience during this tricky part of the project.

·        Unofficially, Dutra has finished dredging in the Rhine Channel.  We’ll still need to do confirmatory sediment testing, so we’ll know for sure next week.  We’re feeling pretty confident that they won’t have to re-dredge the main channel in Phase III, but we’ll let the chemistry give us the direction we need.

·        There’s still some outstanding carpentry related issues on the docks in each phase, and Dutra is steadily working on taking care of these, probably on Monday and Tuesday next week.

·        Dutra spent yesterday and today dredging in the docks along the Lido Peninsula side of the channel.  This was extremely delicate dredging as the crane barge was used instead of the traditional excavator barge.  The reason for this is because the crane is able to reach out further (next to the bulkhead) unlike the excavator.   Also, each individual small slip was carefully dredged – not an easy task!  Please see the attached pictures that show this process.

·        The next, and last component of the project is dredging the American Legion marina on Wednesday.  This will be challenging because we’ll be pulling 26 piles out of the marina, then floating the entire marina over in front of the Marina Park property for a while.  This will allow Dutra to gain access to the inside of the Legion’s marina with their large equipment.  Then, the marina will be floated back to its original location and 26 piles will be driven in place.  All in all, this operation might take a couple weeks.

·        Interesting fact No. 11:  The clamshell bucket used for crane dredging holds 6 cubic yards of material.  The crane on the barge is not designed to be a “fast cycle” crane traditionally used for dredging. However, because there were limited quantities of hard-to-reach material for this project, Dutra improvised with this slower type crane…and it worked very well.

Thanks again for everyone’s patience as we get through these final steps in the project.

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

( (949) 644-3043  * cmiller@newportbeachca.gov