By LEN BOSE
I found another reason to laugh at myself last week when my sales manager asked me how did the soiree go? I started off responding to the question by reviewing the weekend I had previously experienced. I had attended the Arizona Cardinals football game at State Farm Stadium and was describing the feeling while entering the stadium as, “One of the most powerful feelings that had ever overcome me with intensity, purpose and drive to fulfill a goal.” About half way through my description, I realized my sales manager was asking me about the Newport Harbor Foundation kick-off party at the Balboa Bay Resort that I had been invited to. I quickly shifted gears to explain that I had the same feelings entering the stadium as I did entering the Grand Ballroom at the Bay Club.
The real difference was at the party, I personally knew almost all the players with most of them being my age rather than a bunch of kids running around at full speed while smashing their heads together. Which can be used as a metaphor to describe County/City politics. The Newport Harbor Foundation will be creating a Harbor Public Safety Department and is using the phrase. “Take our Harbor Back.” Now, I was not seated on the 50-yard line at this event; I was pretty much seated in the nosebleed seats with Uncle Fester. From my view, I didn’t really care for the “Take our Harbor Back” phrase because I feel a better phrase would be: “It’s time to take our harbor to the next level” in a way that the County Sheriff’s Department has not been able to achieve. Please don’t take this in the wrong way, as the county has supplied us with some outstanding harbormasters over time, yet it often appears they receive orders from people that are not completely in tune with our harbor.
The City of Newport Beach has already started to “take our harbor to the next level,” by hiring Harbormaster Paul Blank. Code enforcement is cleaning the harbor up in ways we have never seen before. Mooring permit holders have all the required paperwork in order, with the addition of the Newport Harbor Foundation fundraising for a fireboat and four patrol boats, optimizing our harbor to run more efficiently. With the Upper Bay dredging starting soon and the city moving into the No.1 position of managing the harbor, we will be moving toward the next level. Are you asking yourself, “If it’s working, don’t fix it?” I see it more as repairing our harbor’s infrastructure to meet today’s traffic levels. This Foundation has even greater plans to extend into the future with maintenance, maintenance, maintenance – which always produces the best results.
I’m not only excited about the concept of creating a Harbor Public Safety Department and that this group has not only thought of the concept, but they are stepping up and championing it. Should you wish to donate to this worthy cause, go to https://secure.anedot.com/newport-harbor-foundation/donate.
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I’m going to assume that all of you know about the Oil Spill Claims Process. Should you have gone through the spilled oil in our local waters and have had the bad luck of this sludge attaching to your boat, then you are eligible to have it removed from your boat at no cost to you. You must call 866.985.8366 to schedule the time and location of the oil removal, and arrive at the scheduled date, time and location. Note: Don’t bring your boat to the center without an appointment. In Newport Beach, the location is on the long dock at Marina Park. In Huntington Harbour, the location is at Sunset Aquatic and in Alamitos Bay, it’s located at the Denison Yachting display dock next to the Marina Shipyard.
While observing these clean-up efforts I have to say, “What are ya going to do?” Has too much of a good thing become a waste of time and money? I’ve watched these clean-up crews with as many as 20 people standing around watching two people do the work, along with two people from the state’s Fish and Game Department on station at Alamitos Bay. Like I said, “What are ya going to do?
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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