What is a derelict boat in Newport Beach?

Title 17 HARBOR CODE*

Chapter 17.20

VESSEL LAUNCHING AND OPERATION

17.25.020 Anchorage, Berthing and Mooring Regulations.

f. Maintenance in such non seaworthy condition that it is unsafe, unsightly or poorly maintained, including, but not limited to: broken windows, unsecured doors and hatches, excessive marine growth attached to the vessel, the vessel is inoperable for its intended use, partially destroyed or partially repaired for more than three continuous months, provides access to marine mammals, is actively seeping hazardous or toxic material into the surrounding waters, and would present a physical danger to public safety personnel during emergency access;

The Harbor Report: Serious stuff: rising seas and harbor protection

Proposed Tide Gate at entrance of harbor.

By Len Bose

June 6, 2014 | 3:04 p.m.

Last week, I attended the Tidelands Management Committee meeting, where the main two topics were protecting Newport Harbor from rising sea levels and replacing the Balboa Island seawalls.

Assistant city engineer Robert Stein gave both presentations, which lasted close to 2 1/2 hours.

Regarding protecting against rising seas, Stein recommended verifying predictions by observing levels over the next five years. Of course, an earlier discussion was about which predictions the city should use. What was presented were the predictions from the California Coastal Conservancy-adopted climate-change policy.

The following was taken from Stein's report: By about 2020, king tides could be 3 inches higher than today, on track for a 55-inch rise in sea level by 2100.

He also suggested setting new harbor-wide standards for seawall elevation to 10 feet and establishing new requirements for the finish floor elevations from 1 to 4 feet.

The report considered tide gates at the harbor jetty and whether they could reduce overall harbor protection costs. Another concern was sea-level-rise protection measures for the Balboa Peninsula.

So what will start to happen when five years go by and the sea level has risen by 3 inches? I would hope you would see the city purchase a consultant's report to see if a tide gate will work. At this point, a tide gate would still be more than 10 years out before completion.

The city's standard for seawall height will be increased to 10 feet. The Balboa Peninsula will have to consider sand berms up to 5 feet high and hope that its floor elevation is above 11 feet.

The second presentation looked at the Balboa Island Seawalls Replacement Project. To see the best explanation of what is being considered, go to the city's website, newportbeachca.gov/seawalls. Send comments to seawalls@newportbeachca.gov. Also, while walking around the island, look for the story boards located at different light poles on the boardwalk.

My observation was that the committee members are leaning toward new seawalls at 10 or 9.5 feet and moving forward with plans and engineering. The committee is reaching out for more community input.

A great deal of time was spent talking about how to pay for the seawalls and plan for the worst. I felt the consensus was to hold off on committing to build anything until there are more facts. The city will also wait and observe sea levels for the next five years to see if predictions are reached.

As 5 p.m. approached, I looked out the window and was overcome by the desire to go sailing on the Thursday night beer can races. I quietly made my way out the door with the intention of not missing the boat, no pun intended.

As I looked to the sky and reviewed all that was said in the meeting, the thought of the predicted upcoming El Niño made me wonder if this winter storm might move things along a little faster.

Sea ya.

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

The Harbor Report: Lots of high points in High Point series

2014 Harbor 20 Championships at the NHYC

By Len Bose

October 10, 2014 | 5:21 p.m.

Over this last week, we wrapped up the 2014 Newport Beach High Point Series. We have a new Harbor 20 Class champion and Harbor 20 High Point winners.

Every year, our local sailboats race under the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) in an event sponsored by the Assn. of Orange Coast Yacht Clubs (AOCYC).

This series of races is called the Newport Beach High Point Series and determines our harbor's PHRF champion. The Newport Beach High Point started in February with the American Legion running the Midwinter Regatta and wrapped up with the Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. (NOSA) 14 Mile bank race.

The other regattas that make up this series are the Balboa Yacht Club's 1st 66 series race, race eight of the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club's ocean racing series and the Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Ahmanson Cup.

Amante taking this years Ahmanson

By the time we completed three of five races, Roy Jones' J 133 Tango and Brian Dougherty's J 105 Legacy were tied for first and the Richley family's Amante was in a very close third.

Then came the Ahmanson Cup, which was sailed in September. At this point, the Richley family decided to put the hammer down and won their class and took home enough points to take the lead in the High Point Series. With one more race left in the Newport Beach High Point Series, any one of these three boats could have taken home the coveted champion's light blue burgee.

With little to no wind last weekend, the 14 Mile bank race was abandoned and a round of Coors Light was passed around Amante as the race committee notified the participants.

This makes the second year in a row that Amante has won the light blue burgee, with 29 boats entered in this year's series. Be sure to give Amante a "well done" at the start of the BYC Sunkist series on Nov. 2 when you see it on the starting line.

While the 14 Mile bank race was being abandoned, another race had opted to keep going. The Harbor 20 fleet had 41 boats waiting around for wind after completing one race in the Saturday class championships.

With the weather as hot as it was, along with the light wind, this was one of the most difficult regattas I sailed in this year. Shannon Heausler was my crew, and we found some breeze on the far left of the course and sailed into a fifth-place finish on Saturday.

While waiting for the wind to fill in on Saturday, the eventual winners in A fleet, Gale and Jon Pinckney, sailed by, and Jon commented, "So, Len, I guess you sailed all the way over to the left and kissed the pig?" My reply was: "Not only did I kiss the pig, Jon, I dressed it."

Sunday, we got in five races in more light air, and the Pinckneys sailed a very consistent regatta, digging their way through the fleet when they needed to have all top-four finishes. If you are wondering how the Pinckneys did it, Jon wrote a detailed account of the race, and I posted it on my blog site at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Mark Conzelman had a tight battle with five other boats to win B fleet. The difference between first and seventh place was only nine points. In C fleet, Kathryn Reed won on a tiebreaker over Roxanne Chan.

Gale & Jon Pinckney

The Harbor 20 High Points Series results are in for 2014. In C fleet, Michael Volk was third; in second place was Andy Everson; and this year's winner is Jan Houghton. In B fleet, Len Connelly was third; Tom Corkett was second, while Conzelman sailed away with the trophy. In A fleet, Helen Duncan was second, and Peter Haynes took home the trophy.

Before we call it a year and prepare for our winter series, Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club has one more big regatta coming up Oct. 25 and 26. The Corinthian Cup is a junior event sailed in Sabots, Lasers and CFJs.

This is a huge event with approximately 70 to 80 juniors sailors representing themselves and their yacht clubs in an effort to win the Corinthian Cup. NHYC will be defending its title this year.

Sea ya.

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

2014 NEWPORT HIGH POINT SERIES AMANTE REPEATS!

Amante repeats and takes the 2014 Newport Beach HighPoint Series

Legacy finishes in 2nd place

Tango in 3rd

Amante repeats and takes the 2014 Newport Beach High Point Series. I will do a complete write up of this years series in my column this week.

                   Midwinters         66      BCYC  NHYC

Amante         07              17        7      14   = 45
Legacy          10              18       4       9    = 41
Tango           11               13       8       5    = 37

eXigent                          16          0      13   = 29
Cirrus              0              19         5       5   = 29
Linstar          08              14         3            = 25
Adios            09              15         0            = 24
Berserk                           12          0      10   =22

In Appropriate               18          0            = 18
RD                                  12          6             =18

PussyCat      05              10          2             =  17
Maiden                          16           0             = 16
Sting                               14          0              =14
Kokopelli2                                          12      =12
Free Event                      11          0               =11
Margaritaville                                       11    =11
Beserk                                                   10    =10
Whistler                          10          0              =10
TNT                                 09          0           = 09
Lickity Split   01             08          0    1      = 10
BOLT                                                     8      =8

Hot Ticket     06                             1           = 07
Its OK                                                  07      =07
Marisol                                                 06     =06

Violetta         04                0           0            = 04

Lucky Star    03                 0           0            = 03
Rebel Yell                                              03  =  03
Bud                                                         02  = 02

Baraka          02                  0          0            = 02

Next race: ALYC Midwinters 2015    2-14 & 15

NOTE: The AOCYC

"online" calendar is incorrect. 

Editorial: If you are enjoying the Newport High Point Series please work with your yacht club and ask them to make an extra effort for this series and promote the next event at the awards. 

This years lessons learned: When a yacht club hosts an event it is highly recommended that if only one race is sailed  all classes sail the same distance. 

For those of you who wonder how the scoring works?

The Harbor Report: A new shine on the shore boat

NHYC refit shore boat

By Len Bose

October 3, 2014 | 2:37 p.m.

It was brought to my attention this week that the Newport Harbor Yacht Club had completed a major refit to its shore boat.

I'm sure most of you can give a flying burgee about NHYC's shore boat, but this story is kind of cool. Hearing the rumor of the refit and how it was powered brought me down to the club the day I caught wind of it.

I noticed the old shore boat had a new glow. The gel coat on the hull, deck and interior had all been redone, the fenders, rub rail, boot strip, bottom paint and CF numbers had been replaced, and everything was in its proper place. For being more than 50 years old, the shore boat is standing tall.

As I walked closer to the boat, one of the club's prominent members, Chip Donnelly, was waiting to be shuttled out to a boat when I inquired about the boat's power system and who had done the refit work. Donnelly is a straight-to-the-facts kind of guy and I am not a very good listener, so most of what he told me about the boat's drive system went in one ear and out the other.

Donnelly has known me now for more than five years and probably realized that I am more of a seat-of-the-pants sailor who needs to touch and feel. So he told me I needed to go for a ride and see how this vessel performs.

Donnelly told me that the refit was completed at Duffy Boats as he peeled back the engine hatch and started to explain all the features of this electrical motor. I started to understand that the motor has 150 horsepower, same as the previous diesel. The motor is driven by AC current, which is provided by an inverter located just in front of the engine. The drive is cooled by a heat exchanger, and all the batteries on the boat have a one-point filling system. The batteries looked a little taller than the ones I've seen on other Duffy boats, and I was noticing how much thought went into the installation.

I had reached my input limit when we closed the engine hatch and Donnelly requested the boatswain, the boat's operator, to punch it. The torque was immediately felt as the large wake moved through the mooring field, and we quickly reduced speed. I asked the boatswain if he had towed anything to the dock yet, and he explained that they had brought in a 65-footer the other day without any problem. I then asked if he had to recharge during the day, and he replied they have not even come close to that point.

Marshall "Duffy" Duffield, who has always been easy to talk to

I was taken back to the dock and grabbed a couple photos of the boat from the club's long dock. Next, I gave a call to Marshall "Duffy" Duffield, who has always been easy to talk to because I always end up laughing, then feel like I have done something to make the harbor better. Did I happen to mention that Duffy is running for City Council this election?

He explained that this has been a dream of his for over 40 years when he first brought the concept up to the club's board of directors. He pointed out that the annual fuel and maintenance cost savings for the shore boat would be $15,000. The batteries should last for more than 10 years, and one of the keys to all this coming about was that people are becoming more familiar with electrically powered vehicles.

Another big factor was that the technology became available to purchase and install. We need to give the NHYC a "well done" for leading our harbor into the future of yachting.

Sea ya.

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