The Harbor Report: A thank you to the race organizers

By Len Bose

January 24, 2012 | 8:26 p.m.

Are you ready to rumble? The attention signal has been sounded for the 2012 sailing season. That's right, it's time to pick up the Assn. of Orange Coast Yacht Clubs (AOCYC) 2012 racing calendar and start marking down which events you plan on sailing in this year.

I would like to give a shoutout to the people in our harbor who are managing our winter races. If you are like me and say "I do not sail in the rain," you have to give these people a big thank you for doing race committee work, because no matter what the weather is like, they cannot call in sick.

The first person I need to thank is Paul DeCapua and his crew from Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in running the Hot Rum Series, and starting the Bogart Series for our harbor's PHRF boats.

The next person who comes to mind is Balboa Yacht Club's Pinky Green, for running the inside Sunkist Series and the Super Sabot Saturdays.

Next up is BYC's John Lee and his crew for running the Outside Sunkist Series. Make sure you ask John who his mark set people are and give them a thank you (outside mark set is not an easy job this time of year).

Next we have Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Fleet Captain Robert Kenny, who is running this year's Winter Series. By the time the Winter Series is complete, he would have started and finished 12 races with as many as 56 boats entered.

Well done to all our harbor's PROs this winter season, and thank you.

Our top sailors this winter have been: Gale Pickey, Lee Sutherland and Kurt Wiese, in the NHYC Winter Series Harbor 20 A Fleet; Harbor 20 B Rolly Pulaski, Len Connelly and Jack Cannon are leading B Fleet, with Tom Corkett and Nic Froehlich taking a commanding lead after the next three races and receiving their third throw out for the series. With one point separating Nic and Tom going into the last three races, it should be a good race.

In the Harbor 20 C Fleet, Jonathan Cheadle appears to be holding a strong lead over the fleet. Overall Winners of BCYC "Hot Rum Series" are John Szalay, Dan Rossen and Beverly Evans. In BYC's Sunkist Series Outside, there is a close battle in PHRF A between It's OK, Amante and Dare.

In class B, Doubletime has a solid lead. Over in Class C, Legacy seems to have the advantage, and in Class D, Violetta de la Mare has a comfortable lead. Class E will come down to the last race between Whisper, Campaign II and Pussycat.

BYC Inside Sunkist has been well attended, with Bob Larzelere and Brian Mason duking it out in the Thistle fleet. In the Harbor 20 As, Gary Thorne and Guy Doran are going into the last two races tied for first place. In Harbor 20 B, Rolly Pulaski appears to have this series wrapped up. That's no easy task with more than 18 boats signed up in Harbor 20 B fleet in this series.

In the Harbor 20 C fleet Jonathan Cheadle appears to be ready to move up to B Fleet. Next are thosefrostbitten Laser sailors with Gator Cook trying to keep Steve Kent and Alan Andrews behind him. Of the fleet of 14 Sabot A fleet sailors signed up, Molly Lynch has closed the deal, but there appears to be a good race for second place between Terese Ivory and Lyn Acosta.

For those of you who did not want to sail in the rain last Saturday, BCYC hosted the start of the Bogart Series. I sailed with Dan Rossen aboard his boat, Problem Child, and I can describe the race in one word: epic.

We had 24 knots of breeze when we headed downwind and surfed the whole way home from Long Beach.

On Jan. 29, don't miss out on at BCYC "Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing" given by Mr. Harbor 20, Peter Haynes.

In my next column, I will go over which events to attend in 2012.

Sea ya!

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

Understanding The Racing Rules

Other than having a new faired bottom on your boat "Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing" is going to give you the best result possible results in the upcoming 2012 sailing season. My gut tells me, if you take this Seminar you will save yourself 10 places this season and improve your overall results by 25%. Thats GOOD VALUE!

For you Harbor 20 Sailors in March at the time change we will start sailing on Tuesday Nights at M Mark. Look for some Fleet and Team Racing.

Great Story from Sea Mag today.

(During a resent engine check, in ruff water, I was reminded to change your motor mounts every ten years)

Embrace Engine-Room Checks

Posted: January 1, 2012

There's A Lot To Learn From Being Diligent

By: John Torelli

While some people view hourly engine-room checks under way as an interruption of the fun of cruising, my wife, Maria, and I actually embrace the activity. Boating’s enjoyment comes with responsibilities that we do not take lightly, including ensuring that all systems are functioning properly. The last place we want to deal with mechanical issues is 25 miles offshore. To help us minimize this possibility, we always adhered to a detailed preventative maintenance schedule on Maria Elena (we are between boats right now) and made hourly engine-room checks to help us spot potential problems long before they became major issues.

Our hourly checks started in the pilothouse, recording date, time and GPS location followed by the basic engine instruments, including the hourmeter, oil pressure and temperature, engine temperature, voltage, rpm and speed. After that information was recorded, I walked downstairs to the engine room for visual inspections and temperature readings. During this time, Maria stayed in the pilothouse and kept watch. Prior to entering the engine room, I always looked through the small glass window in the engine-room door to make sure there were no signs of smoke or fire.

Upon entering the engine room, I conducted audio and visual inspections of the main engine. You can learn a lot from listening to your engine. Our Lugger diesel engine had its own unique rhythm that didn’t change except when the rpm did. Visual inspections included the transmission, the fuel valves and lines, the hydraulic system and the propeller shaft coupling for appropriate dripping. After all of the visual inspections were complete, I used our infrared heat gun to record temperature levels — 10 different readings of all of the vital systems on board.

Once the readings were recorded, I returned to the pilothouse, compared the new data to previous inspections and looked for unfavorable trends. Diesel engines take a little time to reach normal operating temperatures, and understanding their temperature in relation to running time and rpm is important to avoid potentially serious damage.

Another critical system that requires timely attention is the main engine propeller-shaft stuffing box. The stuffing box can overheat in just 30 minutes of running time if it is adjusted too tightly. We took temperature readings at both the coupling and shaft to ensure we were running at the correct temperature based on engine rpm, water temperature and duration of the cruise.

After our trip, I entered the handwritten data on an Excel spreadsheet and plotted the data on a graph by system. The graph provided us with a nice visual, showing trend data that we saved and compared to other cruises. Some interesting observations we gathered from the data included the effects of running with and against the current, a clean vs. dirty bottom and variation in water temperature.

One additional bonus to maintaining good records was when it came time to sell the boat. Being able to show prospective buyers this level of detail on the operation of the boat provided them with a good sense that we cared for and maintained the boat to the highest standards. It also helped the new owner understand what was normal and abnormal with all major systems.

BCYC Islands Race June-8th

Great Promo from BCYC

Mazatlan 2012

YOUTUBE would not let me attach this song. What do ya Think? I used another song at Youtube

The Harbor Report: Observations about Newport Harbor

As I carefully tucked away my prized collection of 27 Christmas Reyn Spooner shirts and thanked the Man Above that the holiday commercials have stopped, I thought it was a good time to head down to the harbor and take a look around.

When I started out on the afternoon of Jan. 2, I expected that Newport Harbor would be quiet at this time of the year.

At my first stop on the Lido Peninsula, I was surprised to see how many big boats were still in town. In years past a number of owners would do their best not to be around on Jan. 1 in an effort to avoid property taxes.

With this in mind, I going to leave out the names of the boats and just describe them as best I can. Two of my favorite race boats were receiving new bottom paint and rudder repairs at the Newport Shipyard, along with one of my favorite performance cruising boats.

It's always fun to imagine which type of boat you would buy if you won the lottery but discouraging to find out that winning the state lottery would not be enough to purchase the megayacht in front of the shipyard.

On my way off the peninsula, I stopped at the Lido Bridge and counted 16 large charter boats. That's one more than last year, and my mind wandered to the Christmas Boat Parade. I had heard reports that as many as 10 large charter boats sailed into town to load and unload passengers.

According to my simple calculation, that equaled 25 large charter boats, and almost half of them were guests. Did our guests receive their Marine Activates permits? Did they use their holding tanks, etc.?

I placed a couple of calls to find out the answers to these questions, and have not received a return call at the time of writing.

I then drove down Mariner's Mile — no simple task this last month. It's taken me over a half-hour to drive the mile, plus blend in holiday stress and bicycle riders.

It's become a lot easier to notice my car in town with the boat fenders hanging down the side.

There was not much to report at the repo yard or at the Larsen and Basin shipyards. But I did notice people working on their boats by themselves and had to laugh at one person who had been working on a fiberglass project.

This poor guy came up from his aft lazarette completely covered in fiberglass dust with no shirt on. I am talking Casper! Ya think he is still inching?

I wrote my column a week early because I am helping my good friends Carole and Bill Craig deliver their Grand Banks-Europa 42 La Sirena to Mazatlan, Mexico. This boat is perfect.

This will be my 30th time past the cape first-time power. The weather looks good and I just checked the boat for bananas; it's all good! Note: It's bad luck to have bananas onboard a boat.

Sea ya!

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

Un Edited Harbor Report

As I carefully tuck away my prized collection of (27) Christmas Reyn Spooner’s and thank the man above that the holiday commercials have stopped. I thought it was a good time to head down to the harbor and take a look around.

When I started out, January 2 from 1:00-4:00 PM, I thought to myself that harbor would be quite this time of year. My first stop was the Lido Peninsula and I was surprised to see how many big boats are still in town. Pervious years a number of owners would do there best not to be around January 1^st in an effort to avoid property tax. With this in mind, I going to leave out the names of the boats and just describe them the best I can. Two of my favorite race boats are getting new bottom paint and rudder repairs at Newport Shipyard along with one of my favorite performance cruising boats. Its always fun to pretend what type of boat you would buy if you won the lottery and kind of discouraging to find out that winning the State lottery would not be enough to purchase the Mega Yacht in front of the shipyard. On my way off the peninsula, I stopped at the lido bridge and counted 16 large charter boats are in town. That’s one more than last year and my mind wondered to the Christmas boat parade. I had heard reports that as many as 10 large charter boats came into town and load and unload passengers? In my simple mind that is 25 large charter boats and almost half of them are guests. Did our guest’s receive their Marine Activates Permits, do they use there holding tanks, etc? I placed a couple of calls to find the answers to these questions and have not received a return call at the time of writing. I then drove down Mariners Mile, which has been no simple task this last month. It’s taken me over a half hour to drive the mile, now blend in holiday stress and bicycle rider’s, it’s become a lot easier to notice my car in town with the boat fenders hanging down the side.

There was not much to report at the repo yard or at Larsen & Basin shipyards. Although I did notice people working on their boats themselves and had to kind of laugh at one person who had been working on a fiberglass project. This poor guy came up from his aft lazarette completely covered in fiberglass dust with no shirt on. I am talking Casper! Ya think he is still inching?

I was looking for more entertainment so I headed over to boat ramp at the dunes. On my way over I remembered that the new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has taken effect Jan 1^st. Now everyone that knows me understands I am not a fisherman and I do not look like  one. So when I approached people, pulling their boats out, an enquired if they had seen any Fish and Game Wardens. The response was not very friendly until I noticed some local’s who know me. “ I was in Catalina all weekend Len and fishing next to what I understand is the boundaries. We did not notice any Fish & Game anywhere”. Another person told me “ ya see that person over there, he is a retired warden and he told me earlier that he was going to fish wherever the heck he wanted”. Don’t get me wrong, I am not challenging our local wardens to get on the water more or to fix their two broken down boats on shell island. Most of the people I talked to told me that if the wardens really wanted to get something done they should ride a bike around the back bay and hang out at the launch ramp. “That’s where you are going to find the people that do the most damage to our marine life” one old salt told me.

I wrote my column a week early because I am helping my good friends Carole & Bill Craig deliver their Grand Banks –Europa 42 “La Sirena” to Mazatlan Mexico. This boat is perfect just ask Derek & Dave New at Basin Marine they did all the work. This will be my 30^th time past the cape 1^st time power. Weather looks good and just checked the boat for bananas it’s all good!

Sea ya

Note: Bananas are bad luck to have on the boat.