ON BOARD WITH THE COMMODORE ENSENADA 2002

ON BOARD WITH THE COMMODORE

ENSENADA 2002

Forecast for the day was 15 to 20 Kt SW with locally stronger gusts in the afternoon. Showers or thunderstorms likely. The Newport to Ensenada 2002 was our first race with our new boat a 1999 J 125 named LUCKY DOG.    

At 10:45 LUCKY DOG call sign was changed to BYC-1 as Commodore Walker stepped aboard from the club’s race dock. Right off the dock, a rain squall came through which sent everyone diving for their foul weather gear. But we can’t complain, nor can we wipe the smile off our faces. The next thirteen hours was some of the best sailing I have ever experience in the Newport to Ensenada race 

Fortunately for us, Commodore Walker attended S/C Anderson weather report that morning, which brought together our strategy. We had a great start, set the spinnaker and were off to the races.  In hindsight we probably set the spinnaker to early, we were laying the mark at the start and the weather was building, as predicted by S/C Anderson. The fun meter was beginning to read all grins until the wind headed us by 20 degrees at Oceanside and we had to go back to our jib. This lasted for about an hour until the wind backed again and the chute went back up.

As the LUCKY DOGS knot log recorded a 15.8, the GPS told us we were really doing 16.7, I looked over for Commodore Walker’s reaction to this sudden surge in boat speed as we headed down this rather large swell just off Oceanside. I thought I might catch the commodore’s eyes wide open and hands gripping the boat tight. The opposite was the case,  “I’ve never gone this fast before” smiling ear to ear as he ground in the spinnaker for the next wave. Along with his game face, Commodore Walker brought some of the best quote’s “ Bring it on, we’re boiling, we’re going to be finished before 1:00AM” were only some of the comments made by this exceptional competitor.

We finished at 1:58 and the celebrating began. LUCKY DOG finished third in class and we experienced some of the best yachting in history. Fleet Captain Craig Reynolds organized one of the best Balboa Yacht Club events in history with twenty-eight boats participating in the race, only three shies of the yacht club with most entries award. The clubs hospitality suite was full of members telling their sea stories, which was almost better than the race. The IT’S OK crew also invited all participants to a huge spread at their suite at the Coral. If you missed that one you missed a huge shift! Thank you, Lou and Andy!   If you’re not a sailboater any longer or never have been, but want to join in on the fun next year, be sure to contact next years Ensenada Race chairman or the Fleet Captain. Join the fun and bring home the smiles! Let’s go yachting!

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Commodore Walker passed away this last week, this one hurt like a punch below the belt. I will always remember his warm greetings  " Lenny Bose"  December 30, 2018.

On the Harbor: King tides and my favorite columns this year

By LEN BOSE

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” so let’s kick off our sandals, put some socks on and wrap up the year on the harbor. Although, you might want to find your sea boots before you sit down in your favorite chair with your beverage of choice.

Starting on December 20 through the 25th, king tides will be pushing a lot of water through the harbor. Our highest tide will be on Sunday, Dec. 23 at 8:38 a.m. at 6.7 feet to a low tide of -1.4 at 6:02 p.m. According to my simple math, that’s more than eight feet for water rushing in an out of the harbor in about eight and a half hours. The good news is that the boat parade will not be affected all that much. If you do launch a boat for the parade, you’ll need to pay close attention to the tides, because the water will not cover the launch ramp in the Dunes at the peak low tides. With the high surf advisory for the weekend, Public Works might have to be on their toes this weekend.

The king tides will be returning on January 20 and 21. Just wondering, do any of you feel the harbor should have its own sea level indicator? Last time I asked, the city knew of one in L.A. Harbor. I’m not looking for anything fancy – maybe a stick with some notches in it from Home Depot. One last item: If any of the City Council or Harbor Commissioners are wondering what I want for Christmas while at Home Depot, will you pick up a few solar red and green lights for the channel markers in the Upper Bay? I still call it the Back Bay and have a hard time picking up those channel markers on dark nights.

Back to wrapping up the year. Thought I would refer back to my favorite stories this year, just in case you felt the year passed by too fast or you missed one of my columns. Click on the link to find the full story.

“Sailing down the coast during the Baja Ha Ha rally...magical”

www.stunewsnewport.com/index.php/archives/front-page-archive/4801-on-the-harbor-112018

My favorite story of the year...cruising down Baja. Spindler sells boating better than anyone I have ever met, and if you’ve never cruised Mexico, sign up for the Baja Ha Ha next year. Power and sailboats are welcome, and then you can say you did it. It’s a memory you will keep for as long as you live. Have fun, enjoy your boat and check out of the rat race. I strongly recommend it! Also, should this story make it to someone from the National Sailing Hall of Fame, I nominate Richard Spindler for the class of 2019. In my opinion, he has earned the recognition.

“We need more sailors like Emily Wolken”

www.stunewsnewport.com/index.php/archives/front-page-archive/4174-on-the-harbor-081718 

This is one of my favorite stories from this year that still brings a smile to my face. By the third mark in the race, Wolken had worked her way back up to second place when she was side by side with the first place boat, when he tacked away and started sailing to the wrong mark. She kindly informed her competitor that he was sailing to the wrong mark, where he changed his course and stayed in first place to win the race. Wolken held on to her second position which was her best finish of the series. She finished 12th out of a fleet of 27 in the series. After hearing about this story, I called Wolken’s stepmom, Amy, the day after the championships and asked if it was okay to interview Emily. Emily is 10 years old and sails a Phoenix sabot; she explained the story and I should have asked why she just did not let her competitor sail in the wrong direction. After hearing the innocence in her voice, my gut tells me she would have answered: “Because it was the right thing to do

“Catching up with sailor Tom Corkett aka TC”

www.stunewsnewport.com/index.php/archives/front-page-archive/3818-on-the-harbor-062218 

TC is the man, my mentor. Over the years, TC has taken home some of the most prestigious awards that can be given out on our harbor by winning the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Burgee of Merit and the Don Vaughn Memorial Trophy. However, my favorite and maybe even TC’s, is the War Canoe he won for winning the Transpac overall in 1963. Today, you can find TC at the start of this year’s Pacific Cup aboard Runaway or racing a Harbor 20 with one of his 10 grandchildren. When I ended my interview, I thanked TC and he said, “I’ll sea ya on the water.”

“Catching up with my good friend Mark Gaudio” 

www.stunewsnewport.com/index.php/archives/front-page-archive/3173-on-the-harbor-032318   

Gaudio is a good friend and spends a lot of time giving back to the sport of sailing. My favorite quote from this story was when Gaudio recalled fond memories on the harbor now lost in time. “We used to sail our boat over to Shark Island, now Linda Isle, and play Army. From there we would walk over the Pacific Coast Highway bridge to Will Wright’s for ice cream. Summer days seemed to have the wind blowing 10 knots out of the west. We could pull our boats up onto a beach at the Fun Zone and goof around there, or we would sail up to the 19th Street beach and go to Tasty Freeze. Sometimes Phil Ramming and I would just fill our boats with water balloons and throw them at people on Balboa Island. You cannot do that now, but it sure was a lot of fun then.”

That’s a wrap!

Sea ya next year.

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

Len Bose Yacht Sales Antipasto for Duffy Crew

2108 Holiday Antipasto for Duffy Crew

This is the second year that LBYS has maka' the antipasto for the Duffy crew. It's all about keeping our customers happy and the Duffy Crew makes it easy.  Special thanks to the  Service Manager Gerardo Martinez, Janet Brisky, Toni Olague and the WHOLE Duffy team for making us look smart in front of our customers.  Thank you from the Bose Family.

On the Harbor: Special Harbor Commission meeting aboard the Balboa ferry

Harbor Commissioner Don Yann reviews his objectives for the upcoming year aboard the Balboa ferry

By LEN BOSE

Just in case you were wondering, I did attend the November 17 special meeting of the Harbor Commission aboard one of the Balboa car ferries. About 50 people were greeted to a cool crisp Saturday morning harbor tour, where six harbor commissioners reviewed their objectives for the coming year.

Public attendance was encouraging, yet questions were slim to none, and the whole tour felt a little rushed to me, missing some of the topics, that in my opinion, are important. But hey, let’s stay positive because being negative really slows down an already slow process. 

Personally, I feel the city has a strong group of volunteers that form the Harbor Commission, and as a seat-of-the-pants sailor, I feel they all have a positive passion for the well-being of our harbor.

Among the items of importance in the coming year are the changes in Title 17 of the municipal code that covers our harbor. Most everything that governs our harbor is in Title 17, so whenever you notice public outreach meetings on this topic, be sure to attend and express your opinions. I will do my best to keep you updated along the way.

One very positive sign I noticed was that Harbor Commissioner Scott Cunningham has taken the helm regarding harbor dredging. This is an overwhelming task that deals with more than seven different government agencies, with an estimated cost of $22 million to complete. The money and the permits are the lower hurdles; where to place more than 200,000 cubic yards of unsuitable material is, comparatively, the high jump. Last time the city dredged less than 10 years ago, the Port of Long Beach was accepting these materials to fill in a new commercial port. I clearly recall staff expressing how difficult it would be if the city was unable to bring these materials into Long Beach for disposal.

On another positive note is the increased effort in code enforcement in the harbor, which has been overlooked for too long. If I heard Assistant City Manager Carol Jacobs correctly, there will be added code enforcement in the harbor very soon. Like I have said before, my concerns are the continuity of the enforcement.

After the harbor tour, I went around to the different yacht clubs to gain an understanding of each club being required to complete a permit for events that exceed the harbor’s speed limit. Permits can be obtained up to six months in advance. I was unclear if this is for all regattas or just the events where vessels exceed the speed limit. Sailing events and yacht clubs will not be the only harbor users that require a permit.

I want to shout out to all the people who came up to me after the meeting and thanked me for writing my column. I do appreciate your comments and thank you all for your heartfelt remarks.

So, let’s wrap up the year by making sure you attend the Harbor Commission meeting at Marina Park on Wednesday, Dec.12 at 6:30 p.m., and if you can, arrive earlier for the study session that begins at 5 p.m., which will be focused on the Harbor Vision committee. As one of those under 30-foot boat owners, this topic is a big concern to me with the loss of so many smaller slips being eaten up by marina operators who would like to increase their marinas with large slips.

I also have some breaking news...the city has hired Kurt Borsting as our new Harbormaster. From a quick Google search, Borsting is coming from the City of Long Beach, where he has been the superintendent for Marine Operations. My sources indicate that Borsting will likely be attending the Harbor Commission meeting and be introduced there.

One last thing before I leave you, how many of you read The Log article by Parimal Rohit on November 11: “Duffy Boats founder narrowly loses re-election campaign?” Well, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, on Sunday morning, December 2, they certified that all ballots had been counted. In District 3, Marshall “Duffy” Duffield with 18,458 votes and 50.05 percent defeated Tim Stoaks, who garnered 18,422 votes and 49.95 percent, with Duffield winning by only 36 votes.

I had a chance to talk to Duffield that Sunday morning while walking the docks to congratulate him on his victory. He just said, “Yea, wasn’t that something,” and shook his head. I was not about to go on the record with him at that time, so we talked about Harbor 20 sailing and boat building. As far as I am concerned, this is fantastic news and wraps up a very constructive year for our harbor. More breaking news! It appears at the time of writing this there may be a recount. Very similar to being protested on the race course looks like we might be headed to the protest room.

Sea ya

~~~~~~~~

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

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