On the Harbor: Catching up this March

Photo courtesy of Joysailing.com

By LEN BOSE

To say I have sailed into a kelp bed is an understatement. As I back down to get the kelp free from my keel, I trim my sails back in and keep moving towards my next mark.

What I am referring to, is the start of the sailing season, commitments of support to the sailing community and to make sure I can support the family. Am I complaining? No, I am very fortunate to be able to make a living within the sport I love so dearly. This all just means that I have my plate full this month and have not found time to find some real harbor news or that interview of someone of interest within the harbor. Hence, the referral of being in the weeds and now my story on my recent thoughts, and what I have going on through mid-March.

On February 15, I woke up before the sun at the San Diego Yacht Club to one of the coldest mornings I have ever experienced in Southern California. My objective was to return the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon back to her slip in Cabrillo Beach. As I unplugged the electrical cord from the dock and moved across the foredeck of the boat, I barely kept my balance as I slipped on the ice that froze on the deck of the boat overnight. As I stepped back on to the dock to untie the dock lines, I let out a deep breath which resembled a vape cloud around my head. I looked up after untying the bowline, and glanced up to notice the super moon setting over Sunset Cliffs of San Diego. With little time to take in this surreal moment, I stepped aboard and started my journey home with four other boats that had competed in the Islands Race the previous weekend.

As I round the last navigational marker leaving San Diego Harbor, I plotted my course to Cabrillo Beach. This time, the cloud that formed around my head was more in the form of blasphemy, as I noticed the distance to my mark was 80 miles. Over the next 12 hours, I had plenty of time to take in the snow-capped mountains that stretched 180 degrees across the horizon. In an odd way, the beauty of the landscape gave a type of internal warmth, while the calm sea reflected the mountain range which added to the presentation of just how lucky we are living in this little piece of the world.

By the time the 12th reflective red mylar valentine balloon passed my range of sight, I got rather upset with myself by not being able to retrieve them out of the water. I was doing something rather stupid anyway, by doing this delivery myself and the thought of reaching over the side of the boat with a boat hook seemed unwise.

Catch and dispose

So, I did the next best thing and came up with one of my “silly ideas,” let’s call this silly idea the “Southern California Group Hug.” It would be a rally similar to the Baja Ha Ha format that would start in Newport Beach and finish in San Diego with a raft up in La Playa Anchorage. The participants would be assigned a starting point somewhere between Newport Beach and halfway to Catalina. The MC of the event would broadcast the start over the VHF and the boats would start their cruise to San Diego looking for every bit of plastic flotsam, mylar balloons, etc. along the route. The plan is to catch and dispose of all the plastic flotsam along the way then, of course, take a crew photo of your catch. We could then enjoy our favorite beverages together and talk about the ones that got away. The ideas are endless for this type of event, but it would be very weather restricted; best served at the end of February with all the valentine balloons in the ocean. If any of you like the idea and would like to get in on the ground floor of something that really might achieve something good, send me an email at boseyachts@mac.com.

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Next up this weekend is the Harbor 20 Championships. The entry list is 30 plus participants and any one of these teams can sail into the top five on their best day. The favorites are Teams Perry & Brian Bissel, Argyle Campbell, Diane and Bill Menninger, Philip Thompson, and Anne and Kurt Wiese. There will also be six teams from out of the area that we have never lined up with before. Teams from Santa Barbara to Annapolis will be attending, and the weather does not look all that great with light winds and rain due in during Saturday’s racing. The regatta starts on today (Friday) and runs through Sunday. My goal is to qualify for Gold fleet on Friday, then just let it flow through the weekend and hope for the best.

Cabo 1985 aboard AMANTE

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The Cabo race starts on March 15 and as always, it’s a push to have the boat ready with all the logistics, which keeps me up between 4 and 5 a.m. on most nights. We have high hopes aboard Horizon this season and we will be ready.

Sea ya!

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