Friday, September 28, 2018

On the Harbor: Vessel moorings and more



By Len Bose,

As we enter the first-week fall there is a lot more going on than just a Wild Wave of activity in the harbor.

Over the years there always seems to be that one problem boat, on a mooring, that’s more difficult and time-consuming to remove from the harbor than balancing the federal budget.
The task of revoking a mooring permit can drag on for years and normally ends up confrontational with the permit holder and the city of Newport Beach Harbor Department.

Which vessel or mooring am I referring to? I am not a betting man but I would bet that most of you know of the boat and mooring I am referring to. Just of the West Bay Ave beach on mooring F-14 lies a vessel that came from the movie Water World and continues to grow as time goes on. With more than sixteen code violations ranging from unsanitary conditions to unruly conduct by the vessel operator. To date, the vessel still remains on mooring F -14 as it has over the last five years.

September’s Harbor Commission meeting took the first steps in the revocation of mooring permit on F-14. One of my sources indicated that they had never seen the Police Department attend a Harbor Commission meeting to ensure the safety for the meeting. All said and done the Harbor Commission will continue the process to revoke the mooring permit. While the permit holder will appeal the findings of the Harbor Commission and will drag this out for as long as possible. Best case, the vessel will be headed out of the harbor sometime before the end of the year.

In other news around the harbor, the city has received over forty applications for the job as Harbor Master. A panel has been selected to review the applicants with requirements being a Harbor Master for seven years, a Bachelors degree and a strong understanding of our harbor, etc. It will be rather interesting on who will be selected and which of the requirements were overlooked to find the right person. The job pays quite well and I would have to assume prospects are applying from all around the country.

I had another of my silly ideas the other day while sailing on the harbor. We had just entered into our starting sequence in the Five Points area, I still call it the turning basin, when I noticed a mega yacht just off the pavilion heading west into the harbor. The captain clearly understood the situation they were entering and did an outstanding job maneuvering through the Five Point area and up the Lido Channel. I was giving the race committee my two cents on why they should postpone the start. The race officer indicated that they had transmitted a securite on VHF Channel 16, my thoughts were how does one securite call reach someone who is over three hours out of the harbor. So here is my silly idea, can the Harbor Department record a daily securite alert and broadcast them every two hours between 6:00 AM to whenever needed. The concept can include social media alerts in the form of an app. The idea is a copy of the Notice to Mariners just a little easier to access. The day before an event the organizing authority can call in and remind the Harbor Department of their event, be it a sailboat race, permitted raft-ups, large charter boat routes, dredging barges, crew events, etc. The Harbor Master can create the recording, take notice of the securite alert on CH 16 then switch over to another channel for the complete alert. I feel it would be a pro-active measure to safety in our increasingly busy harbor.

Dredging has continued in the Bayside Village Marina and will continue for the next month.
Bayside Village is located in the upper bay, I still call it the back bay, behind the trailer park. The process is time-consuming because there is mud under the docks and simply said mud has a lot of bad things in it and has to be removed out to sea. To get the barges out the harbor you have to work around the tides and the travel time. 

Dredging is always good, along with updating the infrastructure of our harbor. I am not one to tell a marina owner how they have to design their marina. With the Newport Beach Shipyard and the property down Pacific Coast Highway along with the planned redevelopment of the Bayside Village, I am quite concerned with the reduction of slips for the smaller boats. You Duffy and Harbor 20 owners, that are not fortunate enough own a waterfront home, could easily be paying $ 2,000 a month for a slip within the next five years. Will this lead to less accessibility to the harbor? 

I received good JuJu from you readers for the Harbor 20 races so far PLEASE wish me more good luck. The next two weeks are for the big pickle dishes. If you have a moment please check out Don Logans drone footage of BCYC Club Championships at my blog site lenboseyachts.blogspot.com



Sea ya 




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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for StuNewsNewport.


















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