Yacht Brokers Credit where credit is due

Michael Peters wrote this story in the latest issue of Power & Motoryacht. Anyone know who Len is?

The Harbor Report: As tide rolls out on 2014, a look back

By Len Bose

December 19, 2014 | 12:57 p.m.

It's that time of year again, and like the tide that rolls in and out methodically, I was able to complete my weekly columns one after another. Over the last five years, we are now at 195. That's a lot of water coming in and out of our harbor, and I again look forward to many more tides.

While reviewing this year with me, you are always welcome to go to the Daily Pilot's website at dailypilot.com and enter my name in the search bar, or just head over to my blog site at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com and scroll down the pages.

I have to start with a huge shout-out to my editor, Michael Miller, for hanging in there with me again this year. He will be the first one to tell you I am not a writer, just an active harbor-user hammering out these stories one letter at a time.

This year, I had 11 interviews with people like Deputy Sean Scoles, who kept us updated with the harbor patrol's activities. Harbor Commissioner Paul Blank always responded to my phone calls and emails within moments and helped me stay informed about our harbor's issues.

Michelle Clemente, our city's marine protection and education supervisor

The two most interesting interviews I did this year were with Michelle Clemente, the city's marine protection and education supervisor, and Jim Dastur, a Balboa Island resident who sits on the Tidelands Commission advisory panel. Clemente's office is in the Back Bay Science Center.

According to the center's mission statement, "The BBSC mission is to provide a hands-on facility where students and the public can study and enjoy the estuarine ecology of Newport Bay, and the marine ecology of the ocean, while promoting natural resource conservation and stewardship throughout the watershed." (View it at backbaysciencecenter.org.)

This was a very informative interview, and I still hope that our City Council members and harbor commissioners reach out to her more often. The same goes for Dastur, who happens to be my go-to person for information regarding bulk head heights and tidal gates. If you happen to look up any of my stories this year, make sure you find these two interviews.

Jim Dastur

Each year, I try to talk to one of our Junior Sailors, and this year, I met up with Abby Hampton from Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, who reviewed her experience at the Junior Sabot National Championships this year. It was a cute story and was released the first week of August.

A couple of other interviews I did this year that piqued my interest were with Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin, who are the world's top catamaran designers, and Capt. Brian Blair from the commercial fishing vessel Ultra Pacific, which I feel is one of the best-looking vessels in our harbor. I was amazed by how regulated this business is.

My fun interviews this year were with fiberglass repairman Hans Van Iseghem, representative Harvey Wills of Western Marine Marketing and Troy Heidermann, the dock master at the Balboa Bay Club.

This year's weekly topics also covered many of the Balboa Angling Club's tournaments and the active fishing season we had. Of course, I kept everyone updated on the Harbor 20 fleet and my silly ideas of picking up mylar balloons out of the water and establishing day moorings off Big Corona beach.

I also spent plenty of time talking about floating docks and water taxies. I am still a big believer in the mooring floating dock system and hope we do not give up on that idea.

Speaking of not giving up, I still plan on producing this year's list of Newport Beach's 20 most interesting boats and should have it complete by the end of this year.

It's been a good year, and I wish the same for all of you. Happy holidays!

Sea ya.

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

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The Harbor Report: Farewell to my father, my captain

The Bose Family

By Len Bose

December 5, 2014 | 1:53 p.m.

Like I wrote in my February 2013 column, "The importance of sailing stories," this week's column is more for me than for all of you.

In that story, I talked about my mother calling for assistance with my father, who needed to be taken to the hospital.

I wrote: "As we traveled south on Coast Highway, I glanced out to sea. The look of the approaching storm shook me from the inside out this time. I took a deep breath as my emotion started to rise in me like the ocean's tide.

"Over the last 16 years, my mother and I have made this trip many times, but this time felt different. The parking lot was full, and we ended up on the top level, where you can see out over the harbor. The dark clouds were coming in from Catalina, and it was only a matter of time before the forecasted downpour would be upon us."

This week's story is in the same setting, although this time, as we drove down Superior hill while overlooking the ocean and Catalina Island, the storm had just broken and the beams of sunlight shone through the clouds upon the water and glistened like diamonds off the white-capped ocean. Mom was calling to ask me to hurry home, her voice unable to complete the request. My father had passed away after his 18th year of fighting cancer.

The support from my friends and readers has been overwhelming, with many people stopping by my mother's place or calling to pay their respects. Each person would reflect on the different sea stories, from sailing Hobie Cats in the harbor to watching his grandson progress though the junior sailing programs or sailing with me in the Lido 14s and Harbor 20s.

Boating and our harbor have been a huge part of our lives and are always the easiest to talk about when feeling choked up. Dad would always tell my son, Andrew, and me to sail our own boat and "keep our heads out of the boat." He would shake his head each time I would rush through the house making my last-minute fixes to the boat on the day of the race, and quite often I had found that he had already taken care of the problem.

Nothing made him happier than knowing Andrew and I were sailing together in the upcoming race or that we were headed over to Catalina for a long weekend. Of course, I would always hear a sigh of relief in his voice each time I told him I was in contract to sell a boat.

As he approached the end of his journey through life, he told me how he wanted to update my safety and foul-weather gear for this year's holiday gift. He reminded me to stay patient with my son and to go boating with him every chance I had, even if it meant grabbing Andrew by the ear and making him go.

"I should have done that to you during the Hobie Cat years," he said with a tear running down his face.

My father introduced me to the sea when I was 5 and we lived in Hawaii. He would always encourage me to go to sea and never take it for granted.

One other thing that my dad passed on to me, and I think it came from his father: "If you are working for someone and you have completed your task for the day, pick up a broom and sweep until your day is over."

My family has to give a big shout-out to the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for helping us with the arrangements and providing us with a room for his celebration of life on Dec. 11 between noon and 3 p.m.

As always, thank you for letting me tell my story, and I hope to see you back here next week.

Sea ya.

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

Biography of Leonard Allen Bose

The two Len Bose's. Photo

Leonard Allen Bose

“Bose”

Bose came into this world on June 12, 1936 to his parents Priscilla & Fritz Bose.  

During the middle of the Great Depression, Priscilla and Fritz decided to pack up the car and move to California with only a few dollars in their pockets.  They made Arcadia home in 1952 and Bose attended Arcadia High School being part of the school's first graduating class of 1955.  He became Captain of the football team, and a member of the Sultans car club.  He met and dated classmate Vivian Bucich during those school years.  They married on Sept. 6,1958 at St. Lukes Catholic Church in Temple City, and he continued his education at USC.

In Sept. 1959 he was drafted into the army and was stationed in Anchorage Alaska.  While in Alaska he became of member of the Way Below Zero Club in Willow Freeze detail.  

In April of 1960 his son Leonard Steven Bose was born. For his son's first birthday he arranged a surprise visit by being on the TV show Truth or Consequences and surprised everyone stepping out from behind the curtain.

Start of the 83 Trans Pac

After his return from the service the couple resided in Arcadia, where they lived for six years then moving to Kailua, Hawaii on the island of Oahu.  During this time he started his long career in the insurance business specializing in transportation trucking.  Life could not have treated the family better being able to spend many days on the tropical beaches of Hawaii.   "Good Times" were had with visiting family and friends, that many of you will reflect upon today.

The family moved back to California settling in Huntington Beach in 1967, where his son’s family lives today.  While working his day started at 6 a.m., out the door by 7.  For close to thirty years he commuted into Los Angeles, with a four hour round trip, arriving home at 6 p.m.  The family would always met together for dinner where most of life's ups and downs were discussed.  He helped start Sea View Little League and became President of that league, and became leader of his sons Cub Scout Pack.   It was commented that if his son had been an alter boy he would have become the pope.

Most of his later years were spent traveling with Vivian, enjoying time with his grandson,

Andrew Dieter Bose, who came into his life in 1999.  He was blessed with many warm

memories of a loving wife, family and close friends.  A life well lived.

Four generations of the Bose family