By LEN BOSE
Nine days before the start of this year’s Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Cabo San Lucas Race…and my phone is blowing up. Of course, I just went into contract on my premier listing which is how it always works out when one has scheduled an offshore race.
My skipper on the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon has severe ADD and he is best known for winning most, if not all, of the Mexico races for the last 30 years. By 7 a.m., all the boat’s electronics had crashed, the running lights needed replacing and he was looking for a person with a hookah that could replace our zincs and wet sand our new bottom paint. At 7:30 a.m., we had to have all the sails off the boat and have them inspected and he was asking if he should take the online safety at sea course. At 7:45 a.m., I received a text with a recommendation to use Voltaren for my arthritis in my back. At 8 a.m., I was informed we needed to purchase a PPL test to look at the salinity of the water from our water maker, otherwise I could be slowly killing everyone. At 8:07 a.m., our emergency Man Overboard Module needs to be serviced; my skipper picked it up for me from service six weeks ago. At 8:10 a.m., I blocked his incoming messages and calls.
It’s 8:15 a.m. and the buyer of the big boat wants to move as quickly as possible and would like to close the deal before the end of next week. This is a good problem. I immediately contacted Reliable Documentation, and ordered the abstract of title, and arranged the trial run with the buyer and seller. Both agree that this Saturday works. At 8:30 a.m., the seller calls back and was reminded of a prior commitment and can we change the trial run to Sunday. All good, so I placed this on my desk until Sunday
By 8:45 a.m., I have a deal closing and I am trying to arrange a meeting time with the seller’s brother, as the seller is skiing in Tahoe. Now I am waiting for a time to exchange proceeds for the title. My 21-year-old son calls who lent his friend his car and now it has been towed. He wants to sell the car to his friend and needs the pink slip. Do I know where the pink slip is? He will be over within the hour. My wife was leaving to start her workday and asked what I needed from my car because she needs the truck today. Also, is there anything I needed from the grocery store and what sounded good for dinner tonight? My response was two bourbon snow cones and watching the America’s Cup, which was not the answer she was looking for. Not sure what she was mumbling when she walked out the door.
It’s 9 a.m. and I am still trying to put a story together for my Stu News column and just received my second friendly reminder that my column is due. Deep breath and I ask myself: What’s new around the harbor? There is the Cabo race, but I have already written about that. Last night’s Harbor Commission meeting was uneventful, yet I assume you all picked up that our Harbormaster Kurt Borsting has decided to retire after three years and the city is looking for a replacement. Towards the end of the meeting, after the Harbormaster’s report, I raised my hand at the Zoom meeting and was quickly recognized. My observation was about the amount of discarded fishing line that was showing up wrapped around props of all the boats I have been hauling out for inspection. For some reason, this has grabbed my attention and there is much more than usual in the harbor. If you think about it, fishing is an activity you can do by yourself during these COVID times. The state of California does have a recycling program and there are a couple of stations around the harbor. Most are on the Balboa Pier that probably does not help the problem with our harbor water. I have given myself the task to hunt out these recycling stations and report back to you. I did go to the state website and noticed that the fishing lines recycling stations only number three within our harbor. One is at the Balboa Bay Club docks and the other at Bayshores Marina. My gut would tell me that these are not the fishermen we should target.
During the Harbor Commission meeting, the question was brought up on the progress of our harbor having its own Marine Recycling Center. A Marine Recycling Center is for items that are difficult to dispose of such as expired marine flares, spilled transmission fluid, engine coolant, engine oil and old batteries. These items typically end up in the blue dumpster because you have to drive to your nearest dump and pay to dispose of them. It appears this task has been tabled again and our harbor continues not to have a Marine Recycling Center.
My kid just broke down the front door and needs his pink slip now. It’s interesting how I am much more tolerant with him now that he has moved from the house and I feel lucky to see him.
Please wish me luck on my boat deal and the Cabo race. Just unblocked my skipper: My phone tells me he is stuck at the top of the mast.
Sea ya.
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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.
