Ensenada Race weather reports

I will do write up the morning of the 27th with all the weather information I have gathered. Should have it posted by 7:30 AM.

At the start we will sail as fast as we can down rum line and lean into the coast. By 3:00 PM I will start heading back up to rumline and plan on being just west of it by 6PM. I will try to only go ten miles off shore then work as best as I can to head towards the finish line staying about 6-10 miles offshore.

If we are not past the Coronado Islands by 12:00 PM Saturday we will go to the iron genoa.

Sea ya

"All The Way"

Lower Bay dredging update No. 3.

Hi Everyone!

This is my Lower Bay dredging update No. 3. 

1.     The dredging contractor, RE Staite, will mobilize their equipment between April 30 – May 2.  They’ll have 2 dredge barges, 3 disposal scows and about 3 tug boats.  Things will be busy in the harbor indeed.

2.     They will be staging their equipment off Bay Island near the east end of the anchorage area because the water is deeper compared to the area traditionally used for this purpose off Harbor Island.  However, the Harbor Island site may still be used from time to time.

3.     The anchorage area between Lido Isle and Bay Island will be removed for the duration of the project.

4.     Both Chuck South (South Mooring Company) and Carlos Contreras (Harbor Patrol Mooring Deputy) will be coordinating the mooring relocations throughout the project.  Many thanks to John Fuller and Gary Hill who are helping to orchestrate the moves for the NHYC field.  Their help is very much appreciated!

5.     We will be relocating moorings to any available space in the immediate vicinity.  Extra rows in adjacent fields will be added.  Also, we may need to create new temporary areas elsewhere in the harbor.  Of course, once the dredging is complete in that area, the moorings will be moved back to their respective field.

6.     On about May 3, the larger dredge unit will start near the eastern tip of Lido Isle, then work around the corner along Via Lido Soud in order to reach the POLB material.

7.     On about May 2 or 3, the smaller dredge unit will start near the Balboa Bay Club.

8.     The Coast Guard / Harbor Patrol / Balboa Yacht Club area has been rescheduled to be dredged a bit later near June 1 or so.

9.     Remember, we will only be dredging in the main channels – not under individual docks. 

10.  We will contact you if you have a boat that overhangs into the channel, and will request that it be moved for 1-2 days while the area is dredged.  However, I highly recommend any vessels adjacent to the main channel be moved to avoid mud splashed on your boat.  We will be as careful as we can, but splashing is inevitable.  

11.  Please remember, as with all construction projects like this, the schedule will continue to evolve and shift.  I will provide updates often so everyone has the most current information.

12.  For the sailboat racers in the harbor, some of the race markers will be removed or relocated (space permitting).  At first glance, it appears that markers Q, T, U & W will be affected. 

13.  The Port of Long Beach (POLB) is allowing us to dispose material up until June 30, then our window of opportunity closes.  We will not miss this opportunity, and we are prepared to make special accommodations to allow RE Staite to fulfill this goal.  This includes working earlier hours, or later hours into the evening (or even 24 hours), and maybe Sundays as well, at least during this initial push.  I am thanking the community in advance for your patience, understanding and flexibility.

14.  Please see the attached figure that shows the dredge footprint.  I will continue to update this figure as the project progresses.

15.  These email updates will be my primary method of communication to the public.  Anyone can email me their contact information to be included.  I will also be happy to speak to any harbor communities, associations or yacht clubs etc…to help spread the word and answer any questions.  As always, please contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

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

I am Speaking at the Oasis Center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvH7pNfpKSM&feature=colike


Please use my link to the left and go to JoySailing for the best photos of Newport Harbor and the sport of sailing.

I am Speaking at the Oasis Center  today at 1:30 PM about The BYC Beer Can races. If you have time and want to see more of Joysailing great photos please stop by!

2012 Race Picks

        DR and I on the J 125 "Double Handed" Ensenada Race 
         DR on the way into Ensenada Bay " Len WAKE UP!" 
         Len "What, What?" 
         DR. "WE ARE GOING SO FAST!"


          GOOD TIMES!    "ALL THE WAY"


My Picks (Close at 5:00 4-26-12) Leave your comments on who you think will WIN!


Maxi
1. Med Man
2. Taxi
3. It's OK

PH A
1. Blue Blazes
2. Fifty One Fifty
3. Timeshaver

PH B
1. Amante
2. French Kiss
3. Airwaves

PH C
1. Brown Sugar
2. Rolling in the deep
3. Patriot

Ph D
1. Travler
2. Renegade
3. Gunslinger


PH E
1. Pussycat
2. LuLu
3. Starckweather

PH F

1. Campaign II
2. Sly McFly
3. Golden Skye

PH G
1. Cimarrow
2. La Marquesita
3. Aries


Sprint A
1. Jim
2. Hot Tamale
3. Adios


Sprint B
1. Anarchy
2. Linstar
3. Plankton

For Sale: Santa Cruz 50

    PRICE REDUCTION   "NEW ASKING PRICE OF $ 185,000"


ADRENALIN is the perfect name for this boat because when you first see this amazing yacht your heart will begin to race. The up dated bow sprit, open transom and Vibrant light blue hull will grab your attention like “Love at first sight”. When you walk behind the helm and grab the wheel you will be one step closer to your dreams. 
I have sold seven Santa Cruz 50’s over the years and this boat is one of the best 50’s that have ever come on the market. She is a great value, please come and inspect her today. Please contact Listing Agent Len Bose (714) 916-0200

Dons Weather/ Don Anderson has passed away.

I received this email today: Stan Heirshberg

It is with sadness that I report that a well known weather forecasting/reporting resource has been lost. For years Don Anderson has provided a free daily weather reporting service for the Pacific West Coast over the Baja Net and other ham radio networks from his home here in Ventura, CA. He did this selflessly out of his love of cruising and the cruising community. Don was a member of our yacht club the Ventura Yacht Club and passed away on his boat Summer Passage while moored in her slip in Ventura. He will be missed by all of us who knew him and all who depended on his daily reports.

This is a story I did on Don two years ago.

By Len Bose

Don Anderson

Last Wednesday, I headed out to the harbor with three different ideas for a story and I struck out locating my sources. I thought, “What am I going to do now?” I had to be in Ventura on Thursday to meet with Don Anderson and list his Valiant 47 sailboat “Summerpassage.” Then it hit me – there's my story. To you seasoned yachtsmen – this is the same Don Anderson that does the weather forecast for the “Amigo Net” with the call sign “Summerpassage.” Online, I found two very good stories about Don atwww.csus.edu/indiv/f/foxs/summer%20passage/don-bio.html. But like always, I wanted to ask Don questions he hasn't answered before.

I arrived at Don's home in Ventura at 11 a.m. Commodore Don is a staff commodore of the Balboa Yacht Club. "How've you been, Don?” I asked. “Good, good ... please come in Len, you’re looking the same, with your warm smile and greeting,” he replied. He and I got to know each other quite well over the years, doing mark set duties during two Governors Cup regattas. Over the next couple of hours we talked about his boat and “Don's Weather.

Now, if you read the stories I referred to above, you'll see Don puts in about eight hours a day into his weather forecasts, and you'll also find his broadcasting schedule. But as Don pointed out, you better receive your information from the source; and to receive “Don's Weather” you'll need to tune in your Marine Single Side Band, SSB, daily at 1415 hours zulu (utc) on 8.122.0 Mhz, upper sideband. It's too bad Don turned me down to run an advertisement for Len Bose Yacht Sales, because with more than 1,000 boat owners listening to him twice a day, i'm sure I would increase my sales. Don also does weather routing for about 25 people this time of year. This isn't hobby ... he just can't walk away tomorrow and leave all these people in the dark. This is a big job he's taken on, and to my knowledge the only person in the world that does this service for free.

While interviewing Don, I picked up on a couple of things regarding his listeners: Be on time for his broadcast ... he's not going to send you an email with weather information; he's more than willing to spend hours with you over the SSB if you find yourself in a unexpected situation; he doesn't have a Web site; and he truly enjoys helping out any yachtsman.

I also picked up on some facts that I thought would be fun to share with you: 99% of the cruisers he talks to are husband/wife teams traveling about 160 miles a day. He receives three to four emails a day for people thanking him, (you saved or lives) or (you saved us three days off our passage ... thank you). Don also receives phone calls from the Coast Guard about once a week asking if he knows the location of different vessels.

I then asked Don what he could pass on to our readers about yachting safety. He replied, “Have a Marine SSB, find the local cruising radio nets for the area you will be in, make sure you have jack lines and a harness on your boat, and a EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons). He also recommends you take a sake down cruise (practice cruise) before you leave, and make three to four cruises around San Miguel Island in the summertime. If you can make several cruises around San Miguel you're ready for anything. He also advises to have two radar reflectors up; they don't have to be the expensive ones. Just make sure you read the instructions first and have them displayed at the proper angles. My last bit of safety advice from Don was to try and make contact with any commercial ships, while at sea, on VHF Channel 16 during any crossing situation. Should you make contact with the ship and they inform you of a course change, make sure they give the direction they will be making that course change.

When I left this interview, I felt honored that I have gotten to spend time with this man on the water and I also wondered who might take his place when he has to sign off? I'd like to recommend to the Balboa Yacht Club's Commodores that Staff Commodore Don Anderson be placed on the “Wall of Recognition,” because I know of no other member that honors BYC more.

Sea Ya'

Len Bose

Len Bose is a contributing writer to the Newport Beach Independent and owner ofLen Bose Yacht Sales.

Lower Bay Dredging Update No. 2

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on the status of the Lower Bay dredging project.

1.     The contractor, R.E. Staite, has indicated that they may commence dredging as soon as next week or so.  We will be having a construction meeting in the next couple days, so I will have a schedule after that.  I just wanted to give everyone a heads up as the final countdown has begun.

2.     Please see the attached figure which I will be building upon throughout the entire project. It’ll show a updated snapshot of what areas are currently being dredged, and what areas are complete.

3.     We will be dredging under some of the mooring fields which will need to be temporarily relocated.  If you are a mooring permittee and would like to move your vessel to another mooring in the harbor for a few weeks, please contact the Harbor Patrol’s office and they’ll be happy to reassign you on a first-come, first-served basis, no charge.  If you do not want to move your vessel, the City’s contractor will move it, along with the mooring, to a temporary location close by.  South Mooring Company will be assisting the City with this effort.

4.     Most vessels at private and commercial docks will not be required to move during dredging, but a few that overhang into the federal channel may need to vacate their slips for a day or two. (If affected, you will be contacted ahead of time.)  However, please be warned that there will inevitably be splashing of water and sediment near the dredge zone, so it is highly advisable that you move your boat(s) while the dredger is near your dock.  The impacts in any given area will be temporary, and may last only a few days in front of the docks, and perhaps a few weeks in each mooring field. Please ask your harbor friends or neighbors for assistance with temporary boat storage during this project.

5.     Feel free to pass along this information to any other interested parties, or ask that they contact me with their email address to be included in my updates.

I will provide more information as it becomes available.

Thank you,

Chris Miller

Harbor Resources Manager

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

The Harbor Report: Start of sailing season 'off the charts' Unedited

      OEX Finishing BYC Cabo 2012

I am so excited about the start of this boating season I cannot stand it! This last weekend was off the charts, Newport at its best and there is so much more to come.

This last weekend started with the Balboa Yacht Clubs Corona del Mar to Cabo race on Friday and Saturday. The winds where light for the two starts with the breeze coming in with a vengeance early Sunday morning. By the end of Sunday the carnage reports started to filter in with “Medicine Man” suffering a broken boom in a 38 knot puff, crew is safe. If you are getting 40 knot gusts of wind, with a big swell off Cedreos Islands running, then blend this all together and you are going to have some wide eyed sailors, walking really low to the ground when they finish this race. Looking at the weather reports and watching the “yellowtrack” race tracking, I can hear the “Help me Mr. Wizard’s” from the crews from behind my computer. Go to balboayachtclub.com for a full report.

Onboard CONDOR during Sunday Squall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqw4a03EZOI&context=C456ea08ADvjVQa1PpcFMIx7VzoHKeqv1HaYlDsicxq3oz85mOiaI=

Speaking of wide eyed sailors if you did not stop by Newport Harbor Yacht Club this weekend to watch the Baldwin Cup Team Race then you missed some of the best sailing our harbor can provide. Sailed in Harbor 20’s the event ran from March 30- April 1^st with Sunday finals pegging out the fun meter. The wide eyed sailors where all the 100 + people watching from the dock. Best described by Chris Raab when commentating the semi finals over the docks PA system to the crowd. “Oh wow, wow, WOW! that was close” with out a doubt this is how you promote sailing. I have never been a the edge of my seat watching sailing before and with boats sailing within a “wet sponge throw” of the main dock I do not know how it can get any better than that. Well done to The Newport Harbor Yacht Club and all the volunteers from around the harbor. I happened to have noticed a large number of people from other clubs helping out and that’s truly what’s it all about. NHYC also has the revised Ahmanson Cup Series starting April 21 & 22. This is also part of the Newport High Point Series. The new format is Random Leg racing with pursuit starting, which means we will be doing longer courses with the smaller boats starting first. To me the event has more of a grass roots feeling for our harbors club racers. Make sure you sign up for this event, its time that we clean out our bilges and go boating together.

Over at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club the Angelman Series will be running windward/leeward course’s on April 14. Paul DeCapua and his crew has been doing an outstanding job this season setting up perfect windward leeward courses for our local PHRF racers. BCYC will also be running the Lorin Weiss Harbor 20 Series April 15, the last date was cancelled because of to much wind so make sure you sign up for this one. I have to get my name of this trophy, Lorin was a good friend and one of our harbors finest. BCYC is also very involved with this years Ensenada Race starting April 27. This years race will set a new record on the fun meter and I can’t wait! Everything will be centered at the Hotel Coral , with scheduled bus trips to and from the hotel. Entry’s are approaching maximum capacity and everything seems to be lining up for a memorable year.

We have had a little set back with finding a place for our Harbors Marine Recycling Center. If any of you ever have a chance to talk with a City Council members please ask them for a Marine Recycling Center, reconsider the proposed tideland permits tax increases and while you have their attention have them throw a little spiff of 8 annual parking permits for this years Newport High Point winners. I have one more story this week to tell you about so head over to my blog site at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com

Sea ya

I crack myself up sometimes!

Last week I was with a new client bring home his Navigator 61 from San Diego to Newport Beach.

I was by myself on watch just in front of the San Onofre power plant when I started to pick up calls from a female radio operator on warship # 5 advising other boaters to keep their distance.

As I approached the USS BATTEN warship # 5  I kept thinking to myself what might be a fun response should warship 5 hail me.  As I approached, the female radio operator hailed me on Channel 16 by calling out my location, heading and speed.

I quickly replied:  "This is “I Have a Nice Fanny” going to channel 10". I could hear her take a breath and wonder if she should call me by my stated name. Rather than hailing me as "pleasure craft" she then said  “I Have a Nice Fanny, I Have a Nice Fanny this is warship # 5” in which I replied “I bet you do?’ and I could hear the laughter break out behind her, when a more authoritative voice came across the radio asking me to repeat my call sign. I changed it back to the boats real name. They requested I change course and take their stern, In which I immediately did with a “copy that, I am taking your stern” which resulted in more laughter on my part.

I have to assume I got away with one and started calling my boating friends informing them of my little joke.

Good Times