On the Harbor: Ben Benjamin will be missed

By LEN BOSE

I started this past Monday taking a huge punch in the gut, realizing that a very good friend of mine and our harbor had passed away in his sleep Saturday night. The punch lingers because Ben Benjamin was only 48 years old with a wife Carolyn and three very young kids – Liam, Ella, and Abby.

I first met Benjamin when I was the Fleet Captain at the Balboa Yacht Club while he was the sailing administrator. We worked together daily becoming good friends on and off the water. For about a year, we would meet up on Monday mornings and ride our bikes around the Back Bay. He was always competitive on the water and while we were riding, “You do pretty good for an old guy,” said Benjamin, as we ground up the Castaways hill off of PCH and Dover.

More than once, Benjamin would say to me: “I don’t think that idea is going to fly Len.” We had a strong working relationship and quickly became good friends. After Benjamin left the club and started his family, he started to show up at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Thursday Summer Series sailing a Lehman 12 with his two kids at that time, Liam and Ella. I would receive a heartfelt greeting that was engaged with a whistle followed up with a hearty “Len Bose!” I admired that Benjamin sailed with his kids and I always felt it was more to him about being on the water with them rather than winning the series.

 My time with Benjamin was short and I placed a couple of calls to people that had spent more time with him than I had. My first call was to Becky Lenhart. It was interesting that Becky started our conversation exactly how I felt, “Biggest punch in the gut; the world is just different without him,” Lenhart said. They had known each other before Lenhart started working alongside Benjamin. “Larger than life personality, he could be the boss, disciplinarian, he can also be so goofy, I remember the funny Ben times more than anything else,” Lenhart said. I asked Becky how he affected her life while they worked together. “He trusted me to be in charge, he gave me the confidence to complete the job,” Lenhart said. Becky and I both recalled when Benjamin’s mother had passed away how many of his friends attended his mother’s services. We recalled the church was huge with all of the back rows being filled with sailors showing Benjamin our support for his loss. Toward the end of our conversion, Lenhart said, “Your life was just better if he was in it. This has been a huge wake-up call for me, something tells me as the wind whistles around my office windows I am going to look up and see him helping me.”

My next call was to Jacob Ullman. He and Benjamin had been close friends since the high school sailing team at Newport Harbor High. “There was word coming in from the sailing coaches that this sailor was returning to the area and he would be sailing on the team next year. His name is Ben Benjamin. I did not know who Ben Benjamin was and what type of silly name was that having the same name twice,” Ullman said. “He moved in a block away from us and we slowly became close friends realizing that we both loved this harbor, and the Grateful Dead, constantly interacting with each other from then on.”

Ullman went on to say they taught sailing together for many summers at NHYC – he was a really good sailor, Snipes, FJ, and the 505. Benjamin was a very accomplished 505 crew sailing in many world events and finishing at the top of many regattas. According to Ullman, “A couple of weeks ago, Benjamin called and asked if my daughter Skylar would like to join them for a junior sabot sailing regatta in San Diego. Up until that time, Skylar preferred not to race, yet after returning from a weekend with the Benjamins, Skylar had the biggest smile on her face. She had the best weekend and commented that she wants to go on every traveling regatta she can with them. Ben made this all happen, picking up the boat, and providing rooms and meals just as if she was one of the family. When I asked what I owed him he replied, ‘You’re Good!’ That was just the way he was. He liked kids, had patience, he was able to present himself as understanding and not intimidating. He really had that ability to relate to kids. The kids loved to be with him. I admired his generosity and commitment to his kids; I need to do more to make that happen,” Ullman said.

Benjamin will be missed. I am sure we will all be at peace with the understanding that “You’re Good,” Ben Benjamin!

Friends of the family have set up a GoFundMe page at Ben Benjamin and Family.

Sea ya! 

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

On the Harbor: Welcome aboard a super yacht charter

By LEN BOSE

One of my clients had just returned from a super yacht charter in Greece and after talking to them my mind started wondering what, who, and where would be my choice of a superyacht charter. Kind of like when you purchase a Lotto ticket with dreaming about what you would do if you won. After interviewing Charter broker Rose Jolis, I felt that the odds of participating in a yacht charter are much better odds than winning the Lotto. 

Over the last year, I have gotten to know Jolis from our weekly sales meetings and have found she is extremely easy to talk to and an even better listener. She grew up in New York and found a passion for preparing fine meals and then studied culinary arts in New York City. This led to the desire to see the different foods of the world while finding her way to Australia to work aboard a mothership for charter clients fishing 1,000 lb. black marlin on the Great Barrier Reef.

Her next opportunity came as a chef aboard three luxury yachts while continuing to climb up the job opportunity ladder to a purser. Jolis had to explain what the term purser meant: “A Purser oversees all of the crew’s logistics, provisioning, accounting, and each vessel is managed differently, so ultimately you manage the interior of the yacht.” After 20 years at sea, Jolis moved onto land becoming a yacht charter specialist. “After two decades at sea, my firsthand experience provides my clients with customized, off-the-beaten path adventures,” Jolis said. 

Start by envisioning an experience of a lifetime aboard one of the vessels by scouring the internet and nurturing the desire to do this. Your next step forward is to contact Rose Jolis, six to eight months beforehand, with the dates you would like to go, who you would like to go with, along with the types of activities that would interest your group. This can be in the sun with many water activities, and with historical or nature expeditions. Jolis personally experienced these vessels by attending the many different charter boat shows around the world, and meeting the captains and crews while personally viewing the vessels.

Rose Jolis

“I am a people person, so I like to talk to my clients over the phone ensuring I make the perfect fit into the proper yacht. I personally am an off-the-beaten path type of person. I have a lot of adventurous clients where I take them to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea; my favorite destination is Tahiti.”

Your next question, while hesitating to ask, is how much does this cost? What are the standard terms of a charter contract? This is where Jolis stands apart from other charter brokers. She will take you through the charter agreement item by item so that you are completely comfortable with the terms. As a charter agent through Denison Yachting, Denison is the escrow agent. Two payments are made when chartering with a 50% deposit of the charter fee with taxes added which are variable around the world. With the second payment, an advanced provisioning allowance (APA) is paid which varies from 30-40% of the charter fee. This goes to the yacht covering provisions, fuel, dockage, alcohol, day tours, transportation to and from the airport and diving expeditions. All of the APA is accounted for and presented to the lead charter client. Traditionally, the remaining funds usually go in full or part toward the crew’s gratuity or returning the charter. If a client has spent in excess, the balance is due on receipt and paid by wire.“Every trip is exclusive to that client and every client moves at a different pace. Because we know the individual requirements of each guest, this allows us to provide the best bespoke service,” Jolis said.

(L-R) Captain Charlie Johnson, Rose Jolis and Nese Aiumu 

My happy place is Catalina, but my wife Jennifer feels it’s not a vacation unless we get on an airplane. Therefore, after my interview with Jolis, I would want to book the Yachtfisher she described berthed in Cabo San Lucas and then cruise the Gulf of California. Jolis described the Luxury Yacht Fisher as a “finely finished yacht, yes, she is a fishing machine, with an American captain and Mexican crew. The chef is world renowned. It’s a really fabulous yacht!” 

Here is my image with two other couples cruising the different islands of the Gulf of California. Start the day with different water activities, slides, jet skis and competitive sailing with guests, then lunch on the beach. Make it back to the boat for happy hour, making sure that the captain understands I want to lay into the ship’s horns at 1700 (5 p.m.) each afternoon. Freshen up, then head to dinner with a nightcap in the Jacuzzi. That pretty much wraps it up for me.

You can reach Rose Jolis at www.rosejolis.com.

I’d better get back to work!

Sea ya! 

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