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| BCYC TACO TUESDAYS |
It has been a long time since I took a tour of the bay looking for a story, so I did just that this week. My first stop was at the 15th Street public pier next to the American Legion where I met a friendly couple who were starting their daily errands.
I am going to refer to this couple as Jane and Mike who have been living aboard their vessel in the mooring fields just in front of the public dock, a little over five years. I first asked Mike how was the rotation of the dinghies on the public dock? In other words, has he seen more than one dinghy tied up to the dock for weeks or months without moving? “No, it has been really good lately. In fact, the 72-hour zone has kept empty for the most part; harbor services have been doing a good job enforcing the time limits on the dock,” Mike said.
He wasn’t in a rush, so the conversation moved toward how is living aboard on a mooring. He replied that things have gotten much better, then commented that it used to be rather “rough” in the J & H mooring fields with drugs, people stealing dingy fuel and other late-night antics. “It’s really cleaned up out there over the last year since harbor services have taken over the mooring management,” Mike said. Jane and Mike have their own mooring permit and are permitted liveaboards. I asked if they have been inspected, as each year liveaboards are inspected by the city making sure their vessels are in good order and meeting the permit requirements. Jane replied, “Yes, we have been inspected twice this year.” She went on to explain how Harbor Services has been fair to them as well as others; they don’t pounce when things seem to be a little out of place. Both Jane and Mike are very pleased with the change in city codes to allow them to transfer their mooring permit should that day ever come. They also felt that a few things can be made better, such as a dinghy rack on the beach, or even a floating dock on a nearby mooring were people could tie up their dinghies for longer periods of time and just kayak out to them. I thought Mike had a great idea for the liveaboards, and that was to be given a card so they could slide the card to show when they’re using the pump out systems around the harbor. Either that or show their invoices from the mobile pump-out services.
There has been more discussion with council members regarding charter operations in Newport Harbor. I took a simple count around the harbor and found 21 large charter boats. Most of the docks where these charter companies work from are in good to very good condition with proper lighting, electric outlets, and firefighting equipment. Although, if city code enforcement took a closer look, then they’d notice what I saw: improper lighting, electric cords running over the water and very suspicious docks in three locations. I would have to assume that the Charter Boats have to log when and how they empty their holding tanks.
My observations around the harbor: I still notice more than one dinghy tied up to moorings, there are many derelict boats tied up to shore moorings, the fishing charter boats are very aggressive to other boaters that are whale watching, and I keep noticing one of the electric boat rental companies coming very close to overcapacity on their rentals. If that’s all I can complain about for now...we’re doing pretty good to start the summer!
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The Balboa Angling Club (BAC) is sponsoring their 16th Annual YSH (Yellowtail, Seabass, Halibut) Tournament on Thursday, June 14 through Saturday, June 16. Anyone can enter, and no membership is required. Tournament hours are from 8 p.m. on Thursday through 5 p.m. on Saturday. Fish may be weighed in at any certified scale location, but weigh slips must be emailed, faxed or delivered to BAC before 5 p.m. Monday, June 18. Call to confirm that the club has received your weigh slip. One fish per angler, per species limit for the trophy awards.
Summer sailing has started with the American Legion’s Monday nights, BCYC Taco Tuesdays, SSYC Hibachi Wednesdays and the NHYC Twilight Series on Thursday...you can sail almost every night of the week!
Sea ya.
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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for StuNewsNewport
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