By LEN BOSE
“WHOW!” A lot is happening on the harbor over the next several weeks. For me, it is the 23rd Harbor 20 Fleet 1 Championships this Saturday and Sunday. On October 1-4, it is the War Heroes on the Water veterans reunion event – “WHOW” – and in between all this I was able to get 20 minutes with the city’s Harbormaster Kurt Borsting regarding the Day-Use Mooring Sub-Permit Trial.
I left off a couple of weeks ago that I would touch base with Newport Beach Harbormaster regarding the proposed “Day-Use Mooring Sub-Permit Trial.” Let’s say it is a perfect day to take your boat out and you would like to spend some time peaceably on the harbor. Rather than heading over to our only anchorage area, that you already know is full of extraordinarily loud sound systems, you can now call the city harbor department and request a mooring in the field of your choosing anywhere it is available.
Borsting referred to the day moorings as “a pressure relief valve.” A boat owner only needs to register with the city beforehand by providing boat documentation or a DMV registration along with proof of insurance and credit card information. For six hours at roughly .30 a foot, you will be assigned a mooring for six hours, and the availability will range from 8:30 a.m. to sunset. This is a fantastic idea that will promote boating activity while keeping proper social distancing. The size of your vessel will not matter as long as there is a mooring available that fits your boat. You will need your own mooring gear, therefore if you are over 25’ the odds are good you will need at least two lines. I would recommend going over to West Marine and asking the rigging department to splice carabiners to your mooring lines and the next time you are out on the harbor start looking for mooring fields that would work best for you. Borsting has targeted mid-October as a starting date. To learn more about availability and reservations, contact the harbor department at 949.270.8159, or email dockmaster@newportbeachca.gov. By the way, if you have not made your Marina Park slip reservations for the Christmas Boat Parade by now you could be too late. I just got off the phone with David Beek and he said: “It is 100 percent on!”
Next up is the Harbor 20 Fleet 1 Championships this weekend. After 100 races this season, we are down to our last eight to 10 races for the season title. Over the last 10 years, I have yet to reach my goal of finishing in the upper half of the fleet. Confidence is high this year with my wife Jennifer crewing that we will obtain our goal. As always, Newport Harbor Yacht Club is hosting the event on the water and is providing us with their best race management team. At this point, it appears we will have close to 30 entries and we will be in the Five Points area of the harbor between 1-4 p.m. both days. In C fleet the favorite appears to be Team Hurlimann/Fischbacher aboard Whatever. They have been the most active in this division all summer. In B Fleet, there are 12 entries at this time with more than half of these entries having a chance to win. Based on the entries at this time, the top five could end up being Team MacDonald, who was on fire early this season, Team Haynes because they always sail well in the championships, and Team Kimball can easily show up with blistering speed along with Team Gordon. Team Novak has been putting in the extra effort and will also be in the hunt. B fleet has been extraordinarily competitive this season and I have to wonder if there will still be five more top competitors signing up still. At this time, I have to go with Team MacDonald; knowing Peter, he will bring some extra effort and lovin’ to the boat this week. In A fleet, you always have to look at Team Menninger to take away the big pickle dish, yet it will not be that easy for them this season. Odds are good that Teams Thompson, Campbell and Wiese will be nipping at his heels throughout the weekend. I’m going to go out on a flyer here and place my bet on Team Campbell. They have been the bridesmaid the last couple of years and Argyle has not smiled in the last two events, so he appears to have his game face on. Jennifer and I plan on being at one with the harbor, which means I promised not to stomp my feet should I blunder this weekend. Wish us luck!
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Let’s get back to the “WHOW” War Heroes on the Water starting at 1630 (4:30 p.m.) on Thursday, Oct. 1 with a patriotic boat parade. The inaugural parade will be traveling the same route as the Christmas Boat Parade. Go here for the parade route: https://prn.to/2GjPoei.
This is their 3rd annual sportfishing event, and I cannot think of a better time or way to show your Newport lovin’ to our veterans and share our collective appreciation for their dedication, sacrifice and service. The tournament takes place through October 4. All the information regarding this reunion event can be found at https://warheroesonwater.com/about/. I picture coming on the water dipping the ensign and yelling out, “I love ya man” as a sign of victory over the virus, similar to raising the flag on Mount Suribachi (Iwo Jima).
Sea ya.
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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.
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