On the Harbor: from Harbormaster Paul Blank to fishing tournament winners

           

  Harbormaster Paul Blank enjoying some time on the water in his Herreshoff 12.5, named “Nate

                                                                        By LEN BOSE

Everything appears to be going as planned this spring season with twilight sailing starting – Balboa Angling Club’s Lily Call harbor fishing tournament. Yes, everything is going as planned until you look over City Harbormaster Paul Blank’s first year at the helm.

I am going to start off by again telling everyone just how fortunate we are to have Blank as the harbormaster. In a sailboat race when the wind changes direction, we refer to it as a wind shift, if the wind has changed direction many times during a race we will identify that race as being shifty. Harbormaster Blank’s first year has been shifty from a seat of the pants sailor as I am. This wind reference would not fit right if Blank was a politician; he is a very good sailor so it should be fitting.

Harbormaster Blank took the helm back on May 3, 2021, and during his first year, he worked through an oil spill. I am sure you all recall the oil spill that occurred during one of our harbor’s busiest days of the year – the Huntington Beach Air Show. That Friday, the fleet headed out and many of the vessels returned with oil clinging to their hull. The next morning, the Coast Guard called requesting the harbor be shut down. Blank sent out his crew of harbor service workers to inform boaters about what was happening on why they could not leave the harbor. The Coast Guard was also looking for a staging area to clean boats within the harbor. The harbor’s next wind shift was in the form of an earthquake off Tonga with the Coast Guard throwing up the red flag again and closing the Harbor because of a Tsunami warning. During this last year, there were three severe weather warnings producing heavy rainfall in a short period of time. This is one way for a harbormaster to learn which boats in the harbor did not have working bilge pumps, then sending his crew out again to help pump out people’s boats.

Speaking of “pumping out,” the next wind shift came in the form of a sewage spill with 4,000-5,000 gallons of unsuitable water from an upland restaurant into the harbor closing down relational swimming, diving, and other water activities. Let’s not forget the unfortunate downing of the Huntington Beach police helicopter into the harbor.

The next big wind shift was a mentally unstable person borrowing a rather large yacht and then ramming it into the docks damaging four or five boats in the marina, then heading toward the Lido bridge smashing the boat bow first into the Lido bridge. Can you imagine Blank receiving these phone calls early in the morning: “What an Oil Spill, a Tsunami, a down helicopter, a sewage spill, and a crazy guy crashing into a bunch of boats!”

Now I would call that a shifty race for the first year at the helm as harbormaster. I have to assume this next year will be more of the same with illegal immigrants storming the beaches and event promoters planning raft-ups called Floatchella on Memorial Day weekend. Like I said, we are fortunate to have a sailor at the helm of the harbor that knows to tack on the headers and gybe on the lifts. For those of you who don’t understand the meaning of the last sentence, it means “stay on course.”

• • •

In my last column, I mentioned the Balboa Angling Club’s 59th Annual Lily Call Bay Tournament. I thought I would let everyone know who brought home the pickle dishes. This is a harbor fishing tournament with 4# test lines that ran on April 29 and May 1.

–Croaker: 3rd place was Rob Meinhardt at 1.03 lbs.; 2nd, Wayne Kircher at 1.12 lbs. and 1st place, Bob Middleton at 1.79 lbs.

–Corbina: 3rd place Wayne Kircher at 3.25 lbs.; 2nd place, Greg Taite at 3.52 lbs. and 1st place, Tommy Tupman at 4.52 lbs.

–Bass: In 3rd place, Jeff Macdonald at 2.01 lbs.; 2nd place, Tracy Decker at 2.12 lbs. and 1st place, Tomas Becerine at 3.53 lbs.

–Halibut: 1st place went to Joshua Kast at 6.74 lbs.

Remember, the Balboa Angling Club junior programs are among the best values in town.

• • •

Most of you have already seen it’s been rather sporty on the harbor this first week of twilight sailing. Yes, it has been “nuking,” “breeze on,” “Victory at Sea” and “Blowing dogs off chains” the first week of twilight sailing with the breeze in the 15-20 knots range. This kept most of the fleet, me included, on the sidelines earning their first kitty pins of the season. Week two has been much more civilized with the breeze staying between eight-nine knots. The Balboa Yacht Club’s Wednesday twilights have been the most active with 34 boats attending.

Sea ya.

~~~~~~~~

Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.

Harbor Report on Poorman Morning Rush Radio Show May 12th with show notes

 

To listen on your smart phone you can download for free either the "Simple Radio" app or the "Tune In Radio" app. Once there type in KOCI.  Find out which app works best for your phone.

I have been invited to do a 10-minute harbor report on “Poorman’s Morning Rush” radio show. The spot should run sometime between 8:10-8:30 a.m., and, of course, I will be talking about the harbor and doing my best to stay on the rum line. The easiest way to listen to the show is to stream it with the information all on the KOCI web page at https://www.kociradio.com/. If all goes well, I will be fishing for a weekly spot on the show.

Hoping that you tune in, then email poorman at pooorman@aol.com  with your song request, along with encouraging him to make time for a weekly "Harbor Report"

This weeks Shownotes:

Recognize City Harbor Master & BYC Commodore Paul Blank. We will be reviewing Blanks first year at the helm of our Harbor, a review of Opening Day at our Yacht Clubs along with our Summer Sailing Schedule.

PLEASE TUNE IN, the best way to hear the show is to stream it from your phone!

SEA YA

Radio Show

“Hello Poorman thanks for inviting to your show” I listened to “The Mayors introduction to me yesterday and I had to laugh when he referred me a the Harbors Historian, guess that means I must be 39 years old like you, I have been the harbor report for 12 years now 500 stories. Hey Poorman, do you think that the mayor can get us a City parking permits?                      Mayor Will O'Neill

1. Harbor Master Paul Blank: I would like to recognize 

Started Last May 3rd 2021:

Prior Blank had worked on the Harbor Commission for 8 years. (During this time I quickly recognized that Blank is a person that stays on task and completes objectives, Its difficult for me to express how fortune we are to have him as our Harbor master)

First year on Watch

• Elly Oil Spill. (Involved closing the harbor during one of the busiest days, events the HB Airshow, working with the Coast Guard clean up of our local boats)  send out his crew of Harbor Services Workers
• If that did not stir things up
• Tsunami warning (Tonga earthquake)
• Downed helicopter providing traffic control and security.
• Three sever weather warnings all of which involved multiple dewatering activities. Helping boaters remove water from their boats) Harbor Services Workers
• Sewage spill (4000-5000 gallons) into the harbor from an upland restaurant closing recreational swimming, diving and contact with the water activities
• ( A person that is mentally unstable…Out of control stolen boat doing significant damage in the harbor.  

Can you imagine receiving these phone calls Oil Spill, Next Call Tsunami, Downed Helicopter, Sewage spill, and a crazy guy crashing into a bunch of boats?

Another phone call Blank receives often is Kids jumping off the different brides 

• Bridge Jumping, want happened to attract the attention of the city: “The kid that jumped into the Duffy  a couple years back” Now there is a Life Guard on the beach of the Lido Bridge during the summer. The Harbor Departments Code enforcement responds to any phone call, along with a code enforcement officer riding his beach cruiser by the bridge. “he first fine is $100, the second, is $200; and the third is $500. the Harbor Code. 38th street Bridge

Blank is also the Commodore of The Balboa Yacht

Opening Day at the Yacht Clubs:  Preside

BYC with over 100 boats 

NHYC

BCYC  “Getting back to Normal”

Summer sailing. Can any of you picture the peanut charter Snoppy doing his “Happy Dance” That’s me at the start of each years Summer Sailing season,  

Tonight is the first beer cans, Which is where summer sailing all started

Most of you have already seen it's been rather sporty on the harbor this week. Yes, it has been "nuking, "breeze on", "Victory at Sea", and "Blowing dogs off chains" this week with the breeze at 15K to 20K range to start the week. Keeping most of the fleet, myself included, on the sidelines earning their first kitty pins of the season.

American Legion Sundowner Series Results and attendance (Weather, Race,) Your old time sailing club. American Legion Yacht Club Sundowner Series. Races were canceled when the Race committee boat raped up its mooring lines around the prop while leaving it’s mooring, That had to be a bunched-up moment with the breeze at 20 knots!

BCYC Taco Tuesdays BCYC Taco Tuesdays Rhonda Tolar Raffle. With 30 boats entered 19 showed up to the starting line with the winds gusting to 20 + knots.

Harbor 20 A’s   Had two boats with Phil Thompson winning both races, Steve Schupak and Tucker Cheadle sailing with a reefed main were second.

Harbor 20 B’s   Scott Barnes faced off against Matthew Hurliman with both of them winning one race. The two boats sailed with reefed mains.

In PHRF:

A Fleet was very competitive with 5 boats on the line with Bruce Cooper sailings the J 105 Legacy ahead of Amante and Destroyer

B Fleet had four boats on the starting line with Rodger Gooding and his boat Rhythm winning by over 4 Minutes.

C Fleet also had 5 boats with BCYC J 22 correcting out over John Fullers Ericson 35 Horsefeathers. On a side note: There has been a resurgence in the Ericson 35 MK II Fleet, with 4 boats in our harbor now this fleet will be fun to watch over the summer.

BYC: Wednesday Twilight, 4 Lazers challenged the weather yesterday with Siena Nichols keeping the boat upright winning in the Laser fleet, along with John Papadopouls keeping together his Lido 14. Dust off your Laser’s and Lido 14’s for next week.

SIGN OFF: Remember to hit the LIKE Botton, subscribe, & Hit the like button below and rig the bell. You can find my show notes at  

http://lenboseyachts.blogspot.com     POORMAN………? SEA YA!

I first met Blank:

UCLA Sailing while I was a coach at OCC in the late 80’s.

City sailing lessons in the summer of 1975, at the age of 10.

Blank first joined and sailed out of South Shore Yacht Club. His first coach was Mark Gaudio. “Mark really honed his skills of how to sail efficiently while introducing me to racing,

Pauls Sail boat  Herreshoff 12.5 “Nate”

Blank perfect day on the water:

Here is my perfect day on the water, while I never have achieved it, I am pretty darn close. I would go paddle boarding on the harbor in the morning. I would go racing in the afternoon on a keelboat or small boat, then wind down the day with a really nice dinner aboard Promotion, my powerboat anchored somewhere in the harbor.”

Harbor Update! 5-11-22

 Have you ever sailed the wrong course in a sailboat race, it’s quite frustrating? This only happens when you are winning the race, yesterday I posted the incorrect web address for KOCI the correct one is

 https://www.kociradio.com/   this has to be a good omen because if you listened to the Poorman show today he introduced one song and then played another.

Most of you have already seen it's been rather sporty on the harbor this week. Yes, it has been "nuking, "breeze on", "Victory at Sea", and "Blowing dogs off chains" this week with the breeze at 15K to 20K range to start the week. Keeping most of the fleet, myself included, on the sidelines earning their first kitty pins of the season.

American Legion Yacht Club Sundowner Series. Races were canceled when the Race committee boat raped up in its mooring lines, That had to be a bunched-up moment with the breeze at 20 knots!

BCYC Taco Tuesdays with 30 boats entered 19 showed up to the starting line with the winds gusting to 20 + knots.

Harbor 20 A’s   Had two boats with Phil Thompson winning both races, Steve Schupak and Tucker Cheadle sailing with a reefed main were second.

Harbor 20 B’s   Scott Barnes faced off against Matthew Hurliman with both of them winning one race. The two boats sailed with reefed mains.

In PHRF:

A Fleet was very competitive with 5 boats on the line with Bruce Cooper sailings the J 105 Legacy ahead of Amante and Destroyer

B Fleet had four boats on the starting line with Rodger Gooding and his boat Rhythm winning by over 4 Minutes.

C Fleet also had 5 boats with BCYC J 22 courting out over John Fullers Ericson 35 Horsefeathers. There has been a resurgence in the Ericson 35 MK II Fleet, with 4 boats in our harbor now this fleet will be fun to watch over the summer.

Wednesday night at BYC Twilights, I am going to guess only the Lasers and Thistles will be going out and I am sure it’s going to be wild.

Tonight is The May Harbor Commission meeting. Hot Topic "Raft Ups”

NBMC Title 17 does not effectively define or regulate “raft-ups,” which have proliferated and become challenging to manage in recent years. Adding the requirement to obtain a permit for and more clearly define raft-ups specifically in NBMC Title 17 will allow the City to regulate and better manage them and thereby improve safety and the enjoyment of the Harbor for users and adjacent residents. 

SEA YA!

On the Harbor: Not only a harbor columnist, but now exploring a radio future

By LEN BOSE

The harbor is opening up like a spring flower this month with yacht clubs’ opening days, twilight sailing, Balboa Angling Club’s Lily Call fishing tournament, a Harbor Summer Summit, and me taking part in the “Poorman’s Morning Rush” radio show, May 12, on KOCI 101.5.

Like always, I have the cart three lengths in front of the horse when telling you this. I have been invited to do a 10-minute harbor report on “Poorman’s Morning Rush” radio show. The spot should run sometime between 8:10-8:30 a.m., and, of course, I will be talking about the harbor and doing my best to stay on the rum line. The easiest way to listen to the show is to stream it with the information all on the KOCI web page at www.koci.com. If all goes well, I will be fishing for a weekly spot on the show.

Speaking of fishing, this last weekend was the Balboa Angling Club’s 59th Annual Lily Call Tournament. I reached out to join top local fisherman Jimmy Decker. We fished Saturday from 9 a.m.to 4:30 p.m., which is a long day for me in the harbor. I was running the boat and Tracy, Decker’s wife, was doing most of the fishing. 

“We fished for bass between the Coast Guard Station and the harbor entrance,” said Decker. “It was pretty good for us at the harbor mouth trolling deep water crankbaits.” Saturday fishing was good with plenty of sun, along with a good swing of the tides, while Sunday was a little cooler with a little breeze going across the harbor. 

I tell you this every year, the Balboa Angling Club is the best value in town. For more information, go to their website at https://balboaanglingclub.org. And, should you have kids that have a passion for fishing, make sure you sign up for the junior summer program.

Summer Twilights have started. For you old folks, do you remember the Peanuts character Snoopy doing his happy dance? Well, that’s me this time of year. 

Jennifer, my wife, just rolls her eyes and tells me “You’re so weird!” 

But, that’s how I feel this time of year with the American Legion first across the starting line last Monday night beginning their Sundowners Race Series that goes from May 2-August 29. This event is perfect for club PHRF racers looking to mix it up a little with a relaxed atmosphere along with one of our harbor’s best after race gatherings and awards. 

Newport Harbor Yacht Club is next across the starting line with their Twilights Summer Series which began on May 5 and runs into the end of September. This event attracts most of our harbor’s best one-design sailors in Lehman 12s, Finns, and Harbor 20s.

Next up is BCYC Taco Tuesdays from May 10-August 23 which brings in a large PHRF and Harbor 20 fleets. This is my favorite night of the summer that features the best after racing party in our harbor. For more than a decade Ronda Tolar and her team go to great lengths to keep sailing fun with a weekly raffle, awards, and, of course, good times. 

Next to start is BYC with Wednesday night Twilights which run May 11-August 31 and features a large adult Sabot fleet and very competitive Laser and Harbor 20 fleets. 

The mother of all summer series is “The Beercans” which runs on Thursday night from May 12-September 8 for PHRF boats. 

Summer sailing has always been a big part of my life, one can sail every night of the week with the Lido Isle Yacht Club’s Friday night series.

Last Sunday was the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Opening Day ceremonies which were preceded by Saturday’s Opening Day Race. 

The race starts up in Long Beach, out the Long Beach Gate, then down to the Newport Pier. The racers were greeted to a thin cloud cover which provided a solid 10-knot breeze. The smaller or slower boats of the 32-boat fleet start first, which are then pursued by the faster boats. Your finish is scored by the number you finished in. 

Looking through www.joysailing.com photos, this is more of a sail than a race. I know as soon as that starting horn sounds that most of the sailors ask for someone to hold their beer. 

On Sunday Opening Day ceremonies, most if not all of the club’s members felt the importance of everyone getting back on the water, and Opening Day returns to normalcy. 

This weekend is the BCYC and BYC opening days, which are always events to look forward to.

I am now headed to a re-start of the Harbor Summer Summit. This will be an hours-long meeting to review how each harbor steward can contribute ideas on how to keep our harbor clean, safe, and well-enjoyed. Which is a kind way of saying, let’s open a line of communication so that we all can continue to get along. I’ll be sure to report on who attended and more importantly on who did not?

Hope to sea ya on the airwaves!

~~~~~~~~

Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport

On the Harbor: Opening day racing joy First Published in May of 2018

BY Len Bose:

Opening day in Newport Harbor starts off the first Saturday of May with a bang each year with the starting signals of Newport Harbor’s Opening Day Race from Long Beach to Newport Beach Pier.

This year, 26 boats showed up on the starting line and were greeted with a fresh, cool westerly breeze that picked up to 20 knots as we sailed down the coast. This event is truly about the sail with your friends, and it makes it that much better when you have a big swell and breeze on your back. Everyone from all the participating yachts had huge smiles on their faces when they reached the docks.

This event brings out more than the racing boats from our harbor – boats of interest included Richard Straman’s 88-foot schooner “Astor.” Aboard Astor, I noticed many of our harbor’s best sailors, who I can only imagine are still trying to figure out terms used aboard these fine ships such as “Bone in her Teeth,” which I am sure got the attention of most of them, meaning “sailing well underway such that spray is thrown out at the stem of the boat.” They might have heard the boatswain say “Stay away from the Bar,” meaning be aware of the shallow water ahead.

Other boats that caught my eye were John Sabourin Hinkley’s Bermuda 40 “Black Irish” which has a long history on the bay. Sage Marie had a strong crew aboard the Calkins 50 “Zapata II” and the Morris 42 “Lyoness” skippered by Curt Lyon is always a double take.

Opening Day is a celebration and tradition to welcome members to the yacht clubs’ facilities for the upcoming season.

• • •

This Saturday, I plan to attend Opening Day at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club’s start of their 2018 yachting season. The tradition of the opening day started many years ago, where yacht clubs would close down for the winter and, of course, re-open before each summer season. Tradition plays a big part in every opening day, starting with the inspection of the fleet.

I am a big supporter of the inspection process because it leads to boat owners’ preparation and maintenance for the upcoming season. Fleet inspection normally starts early in the morning, with the inspection chairmen and their committee assigned to the different boats for judging.

The judges will then head out to the fleet and meet with the boat owners who have entered into the inspection. Judges are looking at overall appearance inside and out. They will then head into the bilges of the boats and take a look around with a boat surveyor’s eye toward the integrity of the vessel.

Some judges might even know Coast Guard, National Fire Protection Assn. and American Boat and Yacht Council standards. This would cover everything from batteries being boxed and properly secured, looking for fuel leaks, making sure a set of tapered softwood plugs are leashed through the hull in the boat, and even ensuring there is a corkscrew for happy hour in the galley.

I have known more than one boat owner who could tell me how many door hinges they have on their boats because they have polished each and every one of them. For the boat owner who has taken the last week off work and has gone through the inspection checklist themselves, I salute you for a job well done.

The odds of them having an equipment malfunction this season has been greatly diminished because of their hard work. If you happen to know this type of yachtsman, send me a note; I would like to interview this sailor.

• • •

Let’s talk about flag etiquette – this is when I start my yearly rant. Now, the bottom line is you are enjoying your boat, and are having fun doing so, and I should stop here. But I have a hard time with people flying pirate flags and thinking that the more flags you fly the better. I noticed one boat last weekend flying a set of plastic flags from the sign shop. The guy could not have been any happier and said, “Look at all the colors I have flying.” I replied, “Looks like you are going to have a fun opening day.”

As I turned away, I suffered from acid reflux, but, hey, people on the boat were having a great time, and that’s all that really matters. So, yes, I am a type of snob when it comes to flag etiquette. I wrote a story nine years ago on this topic. You can find it on my website, lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Here is the Chapman, book of seamanship, recommended list for dressing ship:

“On the Fourth of July and other special occasions, yachts may dress ship when at anchor. The international Code Flags are displayed from the waterline forward to the waterline aft, using weights at the end in the following order arranged to the effect color patterns throughout: Starting forward: AB2, UJ1, KE3, GH6, LV5, FL4, DM7, PO 3rd repeater, RN 1st repeater, ST0, CX9, WQ8, ZY 2nd repeater.”

NO Pirate Flags!

Now, if you don’t have your signal flags in this order, and you get marked down, you can argue that this is only a recommendation for a color pattern, and there is no official pattern. I have to take tums every time I see boaters dress ship a week before and still have their signal flags up a week after opening day.

One last bit advice for the upcoming season: Make sure your first mate understands how to read your GPS and how to work the VHF radio and call for help. Let this person engage and disengage the autopilot and let them hand steer to or from Catalina once this season.

It’s summer and the sun is out!

Sea ya.

~~~~~~~~

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