FLASH BACK: Newport Beach Bridge Jumping

This last week a good friend of mine posted on Facebook “Jumped all 10 Newport Beach Lower Bay Bridges in 2 hours and 10 min”

The first thing I thought to myself is “I want todo that” and now I also want to beat the time record. The key to being safe is you have to go on a full moon so you have the Higher High Tides and plan your route out and pray you do not get caught by the Harbor Department. Because if they do catch you, you will be fined severely. You could also crash and burn and end up in a wheel chair the rest of your life!

If you want to take this challenge and beat the record let me know? I will be willing to time you and place you in the record books.

The Harbor Report: Beautiful weather for the Long Point RacWednesday

Long Point 2014 Photo Courtesy of Joysailing.com

By Len Bose

August 29, 2014 | 6:26 p.m.

This time each year, I reflect back to previous Long Point Race Weeks, and this year's event — which took place last weekend — was another extraordinary regatta.

The race starts on a Friday in Newport Beach, headed toward Long Point in Catalina. Saturday we race up and down the island, and on Sunday we return home to Newport Beach.

As always, the Balboa and Newport Harbor Yacht clubs host the regatta at their Catalina Island way stations at White's Cove and Moonstone. The two coves are almost side by side, and the festivities rotate between the two. With picturesque views as a backdrop, the event offers a perfect way to wrap up the summer sailing session.

This year we were greeted with perfect warm summer days, plenty of wind in all three races and flat seas. As we headed out of the harbor for Race 1, I noticed a large swell running down the inside of the break water. This normally indicates a south swell.

South swells do not make for a pleasant night's stay in most of Catalina's coves, and I was picturing myself having to swim in with my camping gear to stay on the island. Fortunately, upon our arrival, swells from Hurricane Marie had not arrived yet and our weekend could not have turned out any better.

As always, I spent a couple of hours in my happy place — the red chairs at the entrance to the Balboa Yacht Club station — looking over the cove and listening to all the sounds under a dark, star-filled sky.

With more than 40 boats entered in this year's race, the competition was as strong as it has ever been. Team Bolt, sailing its new-to-them Trans Pac 52, was the overall winner this year. Roy P. Disney, sailing his Andrews 70 Pyewacket, came in second, while Chad and Kerrie Downey took third aboard Elixir.

It's difficult for me to explain just how picturesque this regatta is. Therefore, I strongly recommend going to joysailing.com and clicking on the 2014 pictures link, which will take you to Long Point Race Week photos. As always, photographer Bronny Daniels hit it out of the park, perfectly capturing every moment of this race.

For us on the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon, it was a dream come true. I have to tell you, earlier this year we traveled to the island of St. Maarten, in the Caribbean, for the Heineken Regatta. Personally I prefer the Long Point Race and sailing against all our good friends.

Now don't get me wrong. I am very fortunate to have experienced the Heineken Regatta, and it's very well known around the world as one of the best, but to me Long Point is what it's all about. It beats it on the fun meter by a large margin.

One of my favorite moments of the regatta occurred last Sunday as the fleet was waiting for the breeze to blow in. Over the VHF radio, a voice very familiar to the community broke the radio silence. It was Steve Steiner aboard the light blue Medicine Man. "I just want to take the time and tell you how grateful I am to get to participate with all of you in this wonderful event," he said. "This place is so beautiful, thank you."

A roar of applause followed and echoed across the water.

I have to assume you have all been down to the beach to see the large swells from Hurricane Marie, now a tropical storm. If you head over to lenboseyachts.blogspot.com, you will see the damage done at White's on Catalina.

I asked Newport Harbor Yacht Club Rear Commodore Gary Hill how Catalina's Moonstone has held up, and he had heard that it was in good shape with only a couple of large boulders being swept into the station by the large swell.

If you are headed over to the island this weekend, better keep your game face on. Part of my routine before heading over is to visit the different web cams on the island. My favorite is on the Balboa Yacht Club's web page. Look to the White's Cove web cam. If the water has a lot of turned up sand in it, and you notice the large white wash on the beach along with the pier float missing, best to reconsider your plans for the weekend.

One last interesting observation I noticed this week was that, with the swell, all the large sea lions have come into the harbor because they cannot sun on the bell buoys. These new guests are not resting in the normal places, so make sure you check on your boat this weekend.

Sea ya.

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

Wednesday at Long Point

Last Sunday before the swell rolled in. You will not see this in The Pilot.

Santa Cruz 50 Horizon New's Letter

Hello crew,

This years Long Point race played out like a wet dream with a happy ending. As you all have read by now we finished third in class and seventh overall. Thats our second best finish over the last ten years.

Ten years and we just keep getting better. The party’s, the wine and the company will keep a smile on my face, as big as Milton’s when he was told his bag was being returned to the boat, for the next thirty years.

We had more good times at camp Ada this year, thank goodness our team mother kept me from getting up and having that last whiskey by handing me a water bottle Friday night. It still cracks me up that in the middle of the night, with only the sound of the waves slapping onshore and echoing down the beach, that I hear Big Rob yell “YAAHHHH” in his sleep. Big Rob seemed to be a little quieter Friday night than normal and it was confirmed that he did have a roasted chicken in his tent. I heard Rob say, at the end of the night as he entered his tent to go to sleep, “YAAHHHH come here you little chicken.”

This regatta’s MVP has to be given to Liz and Mark Mueller for hauling all of our stuff to and from the island, then dealing with the disappearance of Milton’s bag. Please give a big shout out to the Mueller’s and if you see them at the bar this Thursday night please buy them a drink. I feel they played a very big part in our final result. Thanks guys! 

This has been an amazing season this year with the Heineken Regatta, 3rd in class in Ensenada, 2nd at Yachting Cup and 4th in Long Beach Race week. I’d like to try again to have a year end party at my house for John where we all thank him for this amazing year. Give me your ideas this Thursday night.

The season is slowing down and I will forward our calendar for next year before the end of September. Thank you all for your efforts, it was obvious to me that everyone was giving their best effort and you can’t ask for anymore than that.

How did I miss this?

SB-KH 2014   

At one with the Horizon

Hello Team,

I hope everyone enjoyed the Santa Barbara to King Harbor race in which we placed 2nd in class and 16th overall out of 91 boats. I could not think of a better way to be introduced to the new ride, John liked her so much he drove the first four hours of the race. "Do you think he is going to drive the whole race?" Milton asked me. " No I think he is just getting to know her." I replied. Did anyone else notice how many people stopped and stared at Horizon has they walk down the dock?

I am sure you all noticed the quote on the front page of Sailing Anarchy "here's the nicest Santa Cruz 50 on the planet" when you hit the link the below photo appears.  Another great quote and or expression was on Eric face when the kelp pole strap broke "Hey Dad check this out!" he said with a little red in his face. 

I am sure the new crew members were all amazed with all the different pieces that Eric kept taking out from down below to trim the boat. It goes without saying that Erik was this weeks MVP along with all the original Horizon crew members by not losing a step and completing their tasks without hesitation while running like a well oiled machine.

For me, I found myself stepping back and observing. It took me a good five hours and a couple of sail changes before I could shake the feeling that I was in an expensive wine store and if I touched anything I could break it.

Some observations I noticed that we will need to improve on. If you are not trimming stay out of the cockpit, if you need to take a leak use the head. If Jon posts a "watch list" follow it and make sure you get on deck in time for your watch. When you are sitting forward of the cockpit make sure you are on the rail and not the cabin top and make sure you stay tuned with the boat on whether you should be on the high or low side. 

Next Race is Long Point August 22-24th. I need to confirm that you will be able to attend ASAP. Let me know if you will be camping at "Camp Ada" or would like to stay on the boat.

Erik Sampain this races MVP

Patrick Kinkade &  Len Bose "Yea bitch this is our ride"

The grand master Jon Sampain

"It's all good"  Tom O' Keefe

The Cheese

The sexiest looking Santa Cruz 50 on the planet, can I get an amen?  

The Harbor Report: Fiberglass repair artist keeps busy

Hans Van Iseghem

By Len Bose

August 22, 2014 | 2:30 p.m.

Most of this week, I have been busy showing and selling boats. I hesitate to say this, but things appear to be picking up in the marine business.

As I make my way around the harbor each week, I see the same marine industry people hard at work and eager to stay busy. Over the past seven years, some people have disappeared into the corn field while others have continued to prosper.

One person who has kept his head down and kept working is Hans Van Iseghem. He is best described as an artist in fiberglass repair who works on everything from a sabot to mega yacht.

Van Iseghem moved to Newport Beach 30 years ago from Belgium to help a friend build a 65-foot catamaran. Over time, Van Iseghem made fiberglass repair his niche, and he has been busy ever since.

"It's a dream for me and the time has gone by fast," he said, adding that he is now 72. Looking at Van Iseghem, I would have never guessed — he moves as fast as a 30-year-old.

"I've always had a job to go to. Sometimes things might slow down a little, but I have been very fortunate," he said.

Van Iseghem said fiberglass has not changed all that much. In the early years, boat manufacturers used a lot of fiberglass because it was unknown how long it would last. Over time, builders have used less and less when constructing a new vessel.

"Fiberglass is very forgiving. It's not dangerous for the surrounding area should you notice a chip or a type of crack in the gel coat," he said.

Fiberglass boats should be buffed and waxed twice a year and washed weekly, he said. If you have a dark-colored boat, you will need to wax your boat four times a year to maintain that rich color.

Van Iseghem's repairs tend to range from structural to cosmetic.

"Each job is different," he said. "I have to assess the damage, match the color and blend it all together to look like the rest of the boat."

Work comes to Van Iseghem by word of mouth, and he's at it six days a week. He spends most of his time on the east end of the harbor, and from time to time he might even be seen on the west end.

He is easy to notice in his white disposable suit, as dust swirls around him. Never hesitate to say hello.

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

Harbor 20 BOOTS & BOATS End of Summer Regatta

Boots and Boats was the theme for fleet 1 end of the summer fun regatta this year. This event has moved around the harbor over the years, taking place at the Reuben E. Lee, Nautical Museum and now has moved over to the Lido Isle Yacht Club.

The day started with a relay race which unfortunately my wife Jennifer and I missed. It was rather gratifying sailing up the harbor, on this warm sunny summer day, and seeing thirty Harbor 20’s sailing on the south side of Lido. We gave our trusted stead, Only Child, the spurs and quickened our pace in an effort not to miss the second race of the day. On our arrival we found John Whitney and Peter Haynes to give us the quick run down on the upcoming random leg race.

This being my first rodeo with Only Child I was doing my best to listen closely to the instructions Whitney and Haynes were giving me. Now I must have been in the sun to long this last weekend because I heard Haynes tell me to read the story, find the marks and if you win the race you get the prize in the story. I’m not sure if you all read the A fleet story but, no pun intended, the last paragraph made me a little confused and bunched up. I kept looking for Wyatt Earp and I was not about to try and win the race. In fact, I was doing my best not too. In each fleet, A, B and C, were all given their own course chart with a different story and course description. As the fleets would get tangled within each other I could hear people say “I just passed TeXas, I need to find the whisKey next.” The red letter was our mark to round as you read through the story.

For those of you fleet one members, that did not attend, you missed a perfect relaxing day on the harbor. For the class members and fleets directors this idea should be remembered and copied. 

Shana Conzelman & Jim kerrigan

What happened next was classic fleet one, which the other fleets can try to copy although something tells me there is only one Shana Conzelman. Shana is our fleets social director and she is more important to our fleet than a new bottom is to your boat. The Boots & Boats event, was all hers and not only did she come up with this idea she sold it to most of the fleet members.

Bridgett & Argyle Campbell

Now if I heard John Whitney, the awards presenter for the Harbor Heritage Perpetual, correctly “ This award was originally given out by the Nautical Museum and we took it from them.”  He then went on to explain the whole event is in fun and we give the award to who ever we want.” This year Bridgett and Argyle Campbell took home this prestigious award. Hearing all the names of the past winners it became a goal of mine for the future. I’ll have to turn up the fun meter a couple of notches next year to make sure we can get in the running.

The turn out for this event was fantastic, I think I was the only one who did not dress too the theme of the party. Good food, an open bar, dancing and Jennifer and I came home with a new pair of glass boots. 

On our way home Jennifer commented “ That was a great day, I want to go out with you an learn how to trim the jib and jybe that metal bat thing forward better.” It does not get any better than that.

For those of you that want to improve your “Strategy & Tactics”, and learn when to gybe that metal bat thing,  for the up coming fleet championship we do sell a pill for that and that’s Peter Haynes seminar September 6th at BCYC. For information look on the class web site.

Sea ya

The Harbor Report: It's August, and the marlins are biting

Tuna Division winner Dave Elm (left) with Yellowtail Division winner Greg Taite

By Len Bose

August 15, 2014 | 4:50 p.m.

I made my way around the harbor this week and checked in with some old friends.

From the Balboa Angling Club, Amy Elliott gave me the following: "This year's Helen Smith Offshore Tournament was held Aug. 1 and 2, and the fishing was awesome. We had 51 anglers on 17 boats, and 37 fish were weighed in at the BAC and Avalon — seven dorados, 19 yellowfin tuna, seven bluefin tuna and four yellowtail. Conditions were muggy, breezy and choppy on Friday, but it smoothed out on Saturday."

She said Dave Fink brought in the top dorado, weighing 16.55 pounds; Dave Elm brought in a whopping 32.74-pound bluefin tuna; and in the yellowtail category, Greg Taite's catch of a 8.84-pounder put him in first place.

Taite vowed to fish in every tournament this year, and so far he's gotten first place in the Lily Call, YSH and now the Helen Smith tournament. Next up is the Newport Harbor Bay Bass Open, followed by the Master Angler Billfish Tournament.

The awards barbecue was held Sunday, with Elm and Jeff Clary running the show.

Elliott also reported: The first marlin of the season came in at 7:33 a.m. Aug. 2. Angler Steve Behrens hooked a marlin on 20# Dacron aboard Joker with George Garrett as captain, Todd Garrett (no relation) as crew and Jack Rainwater as gaffer. Behrens' fight went on for 26 minutes, and Rainwater was able to tag the fish, earning the first Tag & Release Marlin of 2014 for the Balboa Angling Club, just in time for the Master Angler Billfish Tournament. Last year, the crew of Joker not only got the High Boat Award but also was a big part of the High Club Award. This year is looking really good for marlin.

My next stop was with this year's chairman of the Ahmanson Cup, Phillip Thompson of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. In an effort to increase participation, Thompson has been working hard to come up with some fresh ideas. One of his first thoughts was to create the California Family Cup on Sept. 20 and 21.

"Utilizing the Governor 21 class yachts, the same as used in the Governors Cup, sailing families can show their depth and abilities as a group and claim bragging rights for the next 12 months," Thompson said.

"To participate requires chartering one of the boats via NHYC for the weekend. The charter includes practice time on Friday to iron out the wrinkles. This is perfect for families currently without a yacht. You can crew with three or four, and one crew [member] must be 18 or less. For those families without an 18-year-old or less, you can take any child you like, 18 or less. We already have one entrant from outside NHYC, so the 11 remaining boats may get snapped up quickly once the word starts to spread outside NHYC."

You can contact Thompson at philipt@just-marine.net.

Coming up Aug. 22 and 24 is Long Point Race Week. This regatta attracts the best of Southern California's PHRF fleet, and with more than 40 boats entered, it looks like another round down. This event starts next Friday in Newport Beach and sails over to Long Point in Catalina. Saturday's race is up and down the island, and Sunday we race home. The key to winning this event, all depends how much you have been served the night before.

We have our new ride entered this year, the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon, and Liz and Mark Mueller will bring their new boat as our support boat.

Sea ya.

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

Boaters on ballon watch

Make sure you send me your photos!

The Len Bose Yacht Sales "Catch and dispose mylar ballon challenge"

For those of my readers that follow me on Facebook I have continued to encourage a friendly competition on who can catch the most balloons this year.

I went out on a sea trial the other day and could not believe how many balloons I found, the same thing happened last memorial weekend.

Send me your photos of the balloons you have caught and I will post it on here and in my column in The Daily Pilot. The idea will be to start a catch board like the fisherman use and who knows with a little effort we might even find a sponsor. You will get your name in the paper!

SEND ME YOUR PHOTOS!

Mylar Catch of the week!

7-7-17 NEWS FLASH! Bents family bring in record haul!

Bents family brings in record setting catch of 18 balloons, which bring them to the top of our leader board for July

The Bents family joins in on the "Catch and dispose" board

Joy Sailing Catch this week

Team Linstar still leads the Mylar balloon "Catch and dispose" leader board for the week. Although we do have four new competitors that can place their names on the catch board. Which is what this is all about!

The Bents family is the first team that sent in a photo of their catch this week!  At Long Beach race week Sam Heck, who was driving the J 120 Shenanigans before the start of the race, maneuvered his boat in front of Linstar to claim their first catch.




Bronny Daniels from Joy Sailing picked up this large group of balloons and sent in her photo.

Jane Hoffer crew getting into the hunt.

Just received word that Jane Hoffer crew on Catalina 37's was in the "catch and dispose" hunt this weekend.


I also received an email from good friend Megan Delany who should being joining the competition soon aboard their boat Ripe Tide?

Lessen learned: If you find a ballon, that has been in the water a long time, and you notice the ink starting to dissipate away place those balloons in a garbage bag. The ink will stain your cloths and your boat.

Happy hunting!


PLEASE send in your photos of you catch!