Governor's Cup underway

The 44th annual Governor's Cup embarked Wednesday. If you feel like you missed the start of the first race, I'll help you catch up.

One of my favorite features of the Governor's Cup at the Balboa Yacht Club is the introduction of the crews by Andrew Rose at the welcome dinner. Now, to get a better feel on the type of intro and questions asked by Rose, think of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Phil blending together and coming up with some classic moments.

"The youth of the world has assembled for one of the most talented fleets ever brought together here at BYC," Rose said, adding that 13 teams received invitations: a record number of entries.

I then thought to myself, who is going to win? This year's favorites have to be last year's winners, The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, with skipper William Tiller and his crew Harry Thurston and Shaun Mason.

If I were going to put money down on this year's cup, I would have to go with the Newport Harbor team of Chris Segerblom, Connor Bathen and Kieran Chung.

I am going to get some nasty looks when my fellow BYC members read this, but I cannot get out of my head that final run in the Rose Cup when the Segerblom team came from behind to win the last race this year. Skipper Ryan Davidson is one of the most naturally gifted sailors I have ever seen around BYC, and he will do very well in this event. I am taking bets now that, by the time Davidson reaches age 20, he will have won this event more than once.

Results and videos of the races are available throughhttp://bit.ly/baeU0s.

I will be back Friday with more observations from the Governor's Cup and my regular harbor column.

Small boats, big futures

There is nothing more encouraging than noticing the true passion for the sport of sailing within our harbor's junior programs. This passion trickles down from Grandpa and Grandma watching their grandkids sail around the harbor, and leaving the yacht club with tears in their eyes knowing that they have passed the torch. Or the parents biting their tongues and not screaming at their kids to "sheet in" from across the bay. But truly my favorite part of sailing is noticing that spark turn into a flame.

The Newport Harbor 2010 Summer Junior Sailing Programs have come to the finish line. This year I noticed that flame in many different kids, but three kids really stood out from the others.

From the Balboa Yacht Club, I could not help but notice Kerri Luttrel. She spent the summer with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Now this might be her competitive spirit of beating her brother coming through, but one can easily see her passion for sailing.

Over at Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC), I met Jimmy Madigan at a Thursday night Lehman 12 twilight race and was greeted with a very positive and addictive "hello." While watching Jimmy compete against his father, Nick, one could easily see Jimmy's interest in sailing shine through.

Now at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (BCYC), there is one individual with so much passion for sailing that he could light up two cities. When I asked around the harbor "which junior shows the most passion for sailing," all five people answered "Derek Pickell" before I could finish asking the question.

One of my panel noted: "Not only does Derek want to get on the water, he cleans and polishes his boat after each day of sailing so he will sail faster the next day." Well done, Mr. and Mrs. Pickell! I also want to make a shout out to my good friend, Chris Killian. I just hung up the phone with Chris. He and his two sons, Porter and Christophe, were driving home from optimist dinghies Pacific Coast Championships at the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. This was followed up by the Sabot Nationals in San Diego. You da man, Chris!

OK, let's talk about who brought home the "pickle dishes" this year? The first name you have to notice is Conner Kelter and his second place finish at the Sabot Nationals this year followed by Carolyn Smith in eighth Greer Wattson in ninth. NHYC had three people in the top ten this year, more than any other yacht club in Southern California. I also need to recognize Jimmy Madigan again for winning The Balboa Bay Fleets and Low Point Perpetual. This is not that easy a task. Well done, Jimmy!

BCYC's Rory Gaudio had an outstanding season this year with a first place overall in the Dutch Shoe Regatta, and by improving his finish in the Junior Nationals by 87 places from his 2009 finish. Rory received the Harbor's most prestigious award, the Peggy Lenhart Perpetual Trophy, for the most improved junior sailor at Nationals. That's something to be very proud of, Rory. Good job.

Someone else that should be very proud of their achievements is Wells Drayton from NHYC, who received The Jessica Uniack Memorial for being the outstanding junior sportsman of the year. This will look awfully good on your resume, Mr. Drayton.

We also had a couple of standouts this year in Match racing and double-handed sailing. Chris Segerblom won the first annual Rose Cup and received a second place in this year's Governor's Cup with crewmembers Connor Bathen and Kieran Chung. Kieran also teamed up with Ryan Davidson to win the C420 National Championships this year.

Now, if you are like me, you are grabbing your kid and taking them to sailing practice so they will make my column next year? My panel reminded me how to "keep it fun" and help your kids improve. Make sure you attend all the family outings your yacht club provides by supporting the social part of sailing and make time for your kid to go swimming with everyone and play games after events. Get your kid to go sailing once a month, and just sail with a friend.

Where are the 'Guest Docks'?

Have you ever stepped onto a Laser or Lido 14 without having the daggerboard or centerboard down?

If you don't step in the right place and move fast, you're going to get all wet. Now blend that together with when you used to play sponge tag in your sabot as a kid. That's how I feel about California Recreation/Irvine Co. and a promise to provide "Guest Docks" behind the restaurants 3-Thirty-3 and SOL Cocina on Coast Highway and Bayside Drive.

Now let me step into my Lido without getting all wet.

According to the Irvine Co., a guest can register with the California Recreation Marina Office and obtain a guest key or contact one of the restaurants managers to get in and out of the marina gates.

I would also like to remind everyone that back in January 2008, Irvine Co. donated "The Castaways" area in the northwest corner of the Coast Highway bridge to the city of Newport Beach, and in 1987 the company donated $10.5 million to the Newport Harbor Art Museum.

I am also sure there have been many times when the Irvine Co. has been more then generous to us little boat sailors.

Like any other sailor around town, I do enjoy a good game of sponge tag each summer.

For those of you not familiar with sponge tag, like the name implies, we get a wet sponge and throw it as hard as we can at each other while sailing our boats close together.

When the Irvine Co. put in its new docks behind 3-Thirty-3 and SOL Cocina, they promised the city of Newport Beach "Guest Docks." The idea was to give residents and visitors a place to dock their boats for a short time and cross over to West Marine, dine at the restaurants, walk down to the grocery store and obtain access to the northeast side of the harbor.

Dan Miller, a spokesman for Irvine Co., said Thursday that the docks were never intended as public docks.

It has now been well over a year since the completion of this project and there is still no way to get past the locked gates to access these slips.

If you arrive by water, you will need a harbor pilot to find these guest slips because the signs are located inside the slips and are very small.

My point being is that you folks at Irvine Co. made a promise. So keep your promise, and now that I threw the wet sponge at you, you're "it."

Did you see the final round of the 2010 Governor's Cup on Sunday? Oh my gosh! That was some of the best racing I have seen in years, and did you happen to notice that I picked the two finalists two days before the event started?

I really wanted the local Newport Harbor Yacht Club team of Segerblom, Bathen and Chung to pound sand into those flightless birds, the Kiwis. It was another fantastic event. A well done must be given to the winning Team of Tiller, Thurston and Mason from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. This event is a must-see next year!

The "Flight of the Lasers" also was sailed Sunday. Winds were light and 50 boats were on the starting line. Tufts All-American sailor Adam Deermount won the event, followed closely by a couple of people out of my class, Nick Madigan and Philip Thompson. I was racing "Two Around Catalina" on "Problem Child." Dan Rossen and I won our class and had an outstanding run down the backside of Catalina under a full moon and 18 knots of breeze.

This weekend I am getting back aboard Amante with the Richleys for the Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race.

New public docks offer more space, short-time use 6-24-11

Editor's note: Len Bose is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist. This is his first piece for the Daily Pilot.

While cruising the harbor recently, I noticed a change to the public docks on 19th and 15th streets, and at the end of Fernando Street.

All of these public docks seem to have expanded and look new. While talking to people on the docks, I heard some good questions.

The big news is these new docks will offer a lot more room for people trying to get out to their mooring or to the people who are harbor cruising and want a place to tie up for a short time.

It's starting to feel like summertime, so I am off to Catalina this weekend with my son Andrew and three of his closest friends. I also received word this week that the new No. 8 Channel marker is here to stay. Now I assume that everyone in town knows how to recognize the markings of our public docks? No, well the markers are in the shape of a pawn off a chessboard with blue trim; don't ask me why they are this shape.

On my way to Newport Shipyard for a survey recently I noticed that the public dock at 19th Street looked much larger. The dock has grown some 60 feet in the shape of an "L" and has all the appearance of a new dock. Gone are the old wooden docks with all the fishing pole burrows dug into them. Gone are the large wooden splinters and old cleats barely holding on.

After my survey I went over to the 19th Street dock, which appears large enough to hold a 60-foot boat on it, and I am just not sure of the draft there, I introduced myself to boater Patrick. When I asked Patrick what he thought of the new docks, he replied: "Well, they are OK. I like that they are all clean again. I just wish that the harbor department would enforce the time limits."

Patrick has been living aboard his boat, on a mooring, for more than 10 years.

"Those boats over there have been on the dock for over a week and have not moved," he said. "I just feel the whole place will fill up this summer unless the harbor department does something about it."

I asked Patrick about fishermen on the dock and if he has had any problems bringing his boat to the dock while people are fishing.

"No," he replied. "Fishermen are just fishermen. I have no problem with them. Well, maybe only a couple of times over 10 years I have had a problem."

Boater Patrick also had a concern on condition the public leaves the docks in and commented that there is no longer any fishing allowed on the 19th Street dock.

"Although there were two people fishing here this morning," he noted.

I then went down to the 15th Street dock and, again, all the added space was being used. It appears this area is perfect for the people getting to and from their mooring. This area allows for the general public or visiting yachtsmen in any type of dingy or electric boat a place to dock and then wonder into town.

My last stop was at the end of Fernando Street. I found the docks here to be very tight with only enough room for inflatable dinghies, although the advanced electric boat operator looking for a parking place to walk down to the Fun Zone area has a new place to legally park a boat.

In all, this addition to our public docks is one big step forward to improving our harbor.

***

My son Andrew turned 11 recently and last week we were looking for ideas for his birthday party.

My wife, Jennifer, reminded me we have done too many pool parties and I needed a new idea. My first idea was to get the kids to bring their air soft guns and I will take them to Sheep Hills and they could blast each other.

With this idea thrown on the table, Andrew let out a loud "yeah!", but Mom quickly vetoed this motion. OK, how about if we get a couple of friends and load the boat and go to Catalina? Another loud affirmation came from Andrew. This time Mom answered: "OK, but I do not want to go with all you boys. Why don't you ask one of the fathers to join you?"

One thing my son has learned from me is to never oversell; we had the answer we wanted and the two of us quickly retired to the game room to plot our adventure. So if you tune in next week, not only will I tell how we got into trouble, but also how we got out of trouble!

One last note this week: The Coast Guard has agreed to keep the new small No. 8 channel marker. Again, this is good news, I thought we might end up with another large metal obstacle in its location. Now when you run into it, you will not take a chunk out of your boat. Rather, a nice new red pin stripe will be your only indication of your blunder.

I really want to keep this dock space for my column so please take a second and send me an e-mail atboseyachts@mac.com with any of your yachting questions or go my blog site atlenboseyachts.blogspot.com to look up some of my past stories. I look forward to telling you all about the trouble I got into this weekend in Catalina.

Possible zoning changes could hurt Newport

NEWPORT BEACH — I attended the Harbor Commission meeting July 14, where commissioners spoke the words "Proposed Zoning Changes" and "Planning Commission."

Now for some reason my mind shuts down like a fourth-grader reading his first word problem when I hear the words zoning and planning at city meetings. Early that next morning at about 4:30, my eyes opened wide and I thought to myself: "There is a layer of doubt hovering over the zoning laws in Newport Beach."

So let me back up a little, because my father always told me, "you cannot fix the problem unless you know what's wrong."

From what I understand, the City Council will sometime soon allow a zoning change from the commercial waterfront zones to allow a mix of new residential and commercial development along Mariner's Mile and Lido Marina Village.

Please do not take me wrong. I have a very hard time with government telling property owners what they can and cannot build on their property. And today the highest and best use is residential development.

The strange thing is: Why am I starting to fell like a Savannah sparrow on the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach? If the City Council approves this zoning change, where am I going to go to maintain my boat because the shipyards will be gone?

How will the people of Newport Beach dredge out their slips if Mark Sites of Intracoastal Dredging Service is forced to leave the area?

Sites said it best at the meeting: "My business cannot leave the waterfront and move inland, and if I lose my space and cannot find anything else to rent, I am out of business."

Where will we go to eat on the water, watch the holiday boat parades, go to boat shows, attend museums or take sailing and boating lessons? The list goes on and on.

The other aspect to consider: Do we really want our harbor to look like Marina del Rey or Huntington Harbour?

Nay, I say! I like our harbor just the way it is. In my mind, the harbor is just like a boat — you have to use it and it requires lots of maintenance.

Please send me your thoughts on this subject by e-mail, and in an election year we just might start feeling larger than a Savannah sparrow.

Fun times sailing in Newport Harbor

The high pressure system brought in warm weather, a light zephyr and 25 high school sailing teams from California and Washington state. Each school brings four teams split into A and B varsity squads and A and B junior varsity squads, which break down to more than 100 participants. All gathered at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club to attend the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Assn. 2010 Anteater Regatta.

I received an e-mail from Michael Madigan, the junior commodore of the yacht club, telling me what a great sailor I "was" and explaining why my readers would enjoy this event. I was flattered that someone from that age group reads my column.

So I jumped in my dinghy and headed up to the yacht club. As soon as I came around the corner and noticed all the boats and everyone on the dock, I started rocking my boat in an effort to make it go faster. The atmosphere felt like a football game with all the team members wearing their school pinnies - school sailing jerseys - their parents in the background, and all the different teams' tents in the boat yard. The only things that were missing were the marching bands and wind.

The principal race officer was Robert Kenny, who was able to get off 20 short-course races just off the southeast corner of Lido Isle. I always feel like a sports commentator when watching these events because the first thing I start doing is commenting on the competitors' tactics. I was not talking to myself this time, and I was fortunate to pick up from the dock one of my friends, harbor photographer Susan Kenney.

As soon as the race starts I find myself making comments like: "Looks like his bow was a little over the line," and, "She should tack on his bow and lead him back toward Lido."

Coming out and watching these regattas has to improve my own sailing, and it's just fun to mix it up again even if I am in a powerboat.

Another thing I try to take with me from watching these events is the fun these competitors are having in the back of the fleet. There are smiles everywhere. I noticed one kid, who had just started a race, calling out to a friend who was waiting for his fleet to start, "Hey, Tom! Hi! I got a bad start."

I am thinking, what are you doing, kid? Focus. Look upwind.

Then I realized he was just having fun sailing in Newport Harbor on a warm winter day.

If you would like the results, go to the yacht club's website. Although the truly smart thing to do is go to susankenney.smugmug.com and look at all the smiles.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Sailing into the sunset always good

While traveling around the harbor this week I came upon a place that gave me relief from my troubling situations. No, I am not referring to the Balboa Yacht Club's bar, but rather one particular Hunter 326 sailing in the harbor most every day of the week. I then came to lean about the Oasis Sailing Club (OSC).

The OSC has been around for some 34 years and is a part of "Friends of the Oasis," which is a senior center owned and operated by the city of Newport Beach. If you do not know about the Newport Beach's Senior Center, Google "Friends of the Oasis."

Now here is the best part: The OSC has two sailboats at the city's Basin Marina. Members can sign up for day and evening sails and the occasional overnight sail aboard a 2003 Hunter 326 or the 2007 Catalina 34. The cost of an evening sail is $10, a day sail, $15. An overnight sail — split between the crew and the cost of the boat — runs $90.

So you might ask me what is the "ketch?" No, there are no ketches (a commonly used sailing term, for those who didn't, um, catch the play on words). The cost of joining the "Friends of the Oasis" is $10 a year. To join the OCS, add another $25. So for $35 a year you can sail off into the sunset. Ask your accountant if it's tax-deductible. My understanding is that the only prerequisite is that you must be 55 years or older to join the Friends of the Oasis.

While talking to the vice commodore of the OSC, Malcolm Read, I asked if members need to find a skipper and then form a party to go sailing. He replied, "They don't need to form a party ... we do it for them!"

Generally speaking, our boats need a certified (by OSC) skipper and a mate (or two skippers) to sail. The sailing schedule for the following month is posted at the OSC monthly meeting. Skippers sign up first, because without a skipper the boat won't sail. Then the calendar is made available to all OSC members who, on a take-a-number basis, sign up for dates they want to sail.

The skipper has the right to limit the number of crewmembers to six, some take eight or more. So, when people sign up they can see who the skipper will be and who else has signed up to sail. Some choose their sailing by date, others by friends or skippers with whom they prefer to sail.

I then asked Malcolm about some of the other social events the club schedules each year. He referred to the following social events: summer picnic, Oktoberfest, Christmas party, St. Patrick's Day Party, Opening Day.

I then wondered if the OSC offered any seamanship lessons.

"We're not a sailing school and often refer members who have no sailing experience to OCC for initial training," Malcolm said. "For those who have some sailing experience, we have a mate candidates training program, where they can enhance their sailing and seamanship skills to eventually become an OSC mate, and in some cases, a skipper.

"We also offer seamanship training sessions on anchoring, boat systems, docking/undocking, man overboard and maneuvers, such as heaving to and figure 8s."

Another challenge I noticed, while reading the OSC website, was the "Eva Challenge Series" for the OSC member to take one of the club boats out and around the oil platform "Eva," then back to the harbor entrance. The record stands at three hours and 34 minutes, but I would have to think with the 2007 Catalina 34 added to the fleet this record will fall soon.

I asked if the OSC would fill up and limit its membership. At this point that has not been a concern. I also should point out that any member of Friends of the Oasis and the OSC can sign up for a sail. You do not have to know how to sail, although I would recommend starting with a sunset sail.

This deal ranks up there with Newport Aquatic Center as being one of our harbor's best kept secrets. I cannot think of a better way than spending an afternoon sailing around our harbor with your friends, and it would be safe to assume the club will be more than willing to have volunteers come down and help with the maintenance on the boats.

Another thing for our local yacht clubs to consider is giving reciprocal privileges to the OSC members and for some of our local marine industry members to show this group some love. Next week, I will be reporting on this weekend's Long Point race and with this week's big south swell. Mooring and beach landing will be exciting.

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

A tribute to two harbor heroes

I spent a good part of Tuesday afternoon cruising from the Balboa Peninsula into the North Balboa Island Channel then around Linda Island and into the Back Bay.

My mind wandered to racing this weekend in the Lido Isle Yacht Club's "Roy Woolsey" regatta that was sailed in Lido 14s and Lasers.

Then while thinking of sailing on this warm fall day, I could not help but think of my old friend Nick Scandone.

From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum is introducing an "Extraordinary People" exhibit featuring Scandone. It will be paying tribute to his efforts in reaching his Paralympics gold medal in sailing.

I keep a photo of Scandone and I on my desk, and sometimes give the photo a little head node for good luck when I sail.

I also went back and read an old story I wrote about having the privilege of attending this event with Scandone. My last observation still rings true to heart with me:

"Nick Scandone is a class act. He is the perfect ambassador for yachting. You can only wish for a public servant with the same passion, respect, and the support to others. Newport Beach, California, United States of America, the World needs Nick Scandone as their representative…"

Nick and I first met back in the day sailing Lido 14s for the Orange Coast College Sailing Team. While Nick went on to win the Lido 14 Championships a couple of times, I am just hoping for a strong finish to this year's sailing season.

This must be another strange coincidence, bringing up Nick's name with Roy Woolsey in the same story. They're two very extraordinary people.

This regatta is held in honor of longtime Lido 14 and Laser sailor Roy Woolsey, who lived to a grand age of 90, sailing right up to the end. Woolsey lived and sailed in a manner that was held in the highest regard of sportsmanship in our harbor. Like Scandone, Woolsey was a good person to be around, and I am very honored having been able to sail against both of these fine competitors.

A big smile appears on my face as I tell myself how lucky I have been to be able to use this fantastic harbor for as long as I have. I look into the warm sun reflecting off the water, then rub my face in concern and hope for the best in the near future.

I wonder if my son will be as fortunate as me and I ask myself if the harbor will be as easily obtainable with the proposed zoning changes. Will my son be able to afford a boat and take his family to Catalina with the proposed tideland increases in our moorings and slip fees?

Will my son be able to meet our local harbor heroes like Scandone and Roy? Don't get caught in five years wishing you should have helped! Please contact the Newport City Council members and let them understand just how important this harbor is to you and your family.

I hope to "sea ya" on the water.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Don't be another brick in the wall

The Newport Beach City Council's ad hoc committee, which will make recommendations regarding tideland permit cost increases, has delayed its recommendation by two weeks.

That's right, the council will be voting on this issue as early as Oct. 26.

On hearing this news, my mind flashed back a few decades to a Pink Floyd concert in Southern California. I think to myself that I have become “Comfortably Numb.”

Please go to YouTube and play one of the “Comfortably Numb” videos to understand my joke. Because I am afraid what the Newport City's Council's ad hoc committee is going to recommend is just that: “a joke.”

OK, so now you have a short smile on your face and you are noticing the song “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” and play that. You suddenly realize this is no joke, and “if you don't eat your meat you can't have any pudding, how can you have your pudding if you don't eat your meat?”

Please call your Newport City Council members and tell them of your concerns before you become just “Another brick in the wall.”


Now let's talk about what's going on around the harbor this weekend: the 2010 Harbor 20 Championships out of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. At the time of my writing, 25 boats have entered, with equal entries in both A and B classes.

Most any of the entries in A Fleet can win the Championships when you notice names like Bill Menninger, Bob Yachts, Tom Corkett, Tom Schock and Jim Kerrigan.

I am friends with all of these guys and to pick one name out of all 13-plus people is a difficult bet to place.

So, if I was going to bet a cookie on who was going to win A fleet, I would have to go with Diane and Bill Menninger. Team Menninger was fast last weekend, winning both BCYC and NHYC warm-up events.

Like always, consistent finishes is what wins regattas, but blend in the amount of current and large charter boats we had last weekend and anyone can win.

So, no pressure, Bill, now that I placed your name in print and have bet a cookie on you.

Are you interested in who I would like to see win A Fleet this year? That would have to be Carter Ford and Judy Weightman. Because with Carter Ford taking home the Pickal Dish that's like giving Gen. Patton a headline in the paper, things will improve in the harbor.

In B Fleet it appears there are 12-plus contenders, and I am not going to bet on this fleet because I will be racing with Mary Bacon onboard the Rascal II.

We raced in last week's BCYC event and sailed very well up until when Mary asked me if I wanted to drive one race. We did not realize it was a Harbor 20 High Point regatta.

By allowing me to helm we disqualified ourselves from that race. Anyway, we were just out to have fun, right? Right.

Speaking of fun, this Saturday is the 14 Mile Bank/BYC 66 Series. Looking at the results of the 66 Series there is still a race for first place in A Fleet between Tango, Dare and Radical Departure.

This will be a good race to watch because it appears that in the class B Amante and class C Whistler boats have the series wrapped up. No pressure, Buddy and Pete!


The weather is great, and there is a lot of good racing going in and around our harbor. Take a look at the “padddle4Life” website. Jack might be coming in this weekend and it would be great if everyone would go out and greet him.

I also need to give another shoutout to Bronny Joy of Joysailing for the photo again.


Please call your council members.


LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Is the charter fleet taking too much space?

I am sure everyone noticed all that rain and lighting we had this week. So let me start with the good news.

As you read earlier this week, the city of Newport Beach received confirmation that the Port of Long Beach would accept 150,000 cubic yards of toxic sediment dredged from the Rhine Channel. All the work our City Council and city staff have put into this seems to have paid off and they deserve a " well done." At Wednesday night's Harbor Commission meeting, I could hear a sigh of relief in the voice of Chris Miller, our Harbor Resources manager, while reporting on this topic.

"We are shovel ready," Miller said of the monumental project of dredging the Lower Newport Bay.

Miller now has to obtain permits from the California Coastal Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers to start dredging the Rhine Channel. The window to deposit our contaminated sediment is from May to August 2011 and the Port of Long Beach will only take the Rhine Channel sediment at this time. We all understand that there is a lot more toxic sediment in the Lower Harbor to remove at another date, but it's a start.

The second half of the good news is that the city and the Irvine Co., along with the residents of Linda Isle, appear to be moving forward in providing guest slips in the Balboa Marina. I went down and looked at what is being proposed. It looks like one 40-foot boat and three 25-foot boats should have room.

This should all work if the Irvine Co. adds a type of electric timing system to the main gate. The proposed availability of the guest slips would be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The owners of the John Dominis building at 2901 W. Coast Hwy. are proposing to reconfigure their marina for three very large slips in order to support the harbor charter boats they now have and to be able to support an even larger ship.

I went down to take a look around and the owner should able to reconfigure his marina. The place is a dump with some really ugly boats scattered around. The city should have stepped up and changed its overhang rules years ago to keep these ships from overhanging 30 feet into the channel.

If I recall, some rather huge ships have been in this part of the harbor over time and I don't have a problem with this. But then I started to wonder if the charter fleet is getting too big for our harbor.

Over the last couple of weeks I raced my Lido 14 and Harbor 20. When a line of 150-foot harbor charter boats, which are four stories high, all line up and start to make their way down Lido, it felt to me like the charter fleet is taking more than its fair share of the harbor. I was also surprised to hear that the city only brings in about $200,000 a year from the fleet.

Please don't take me wrong; I understand the amount of jobs that the fleet generates and the business it brings in. The fleet has the right to share the harbor. But I cannot help but wonder if the city is getting its one dollar per passenger.

Are we monitoring the disposal of waste and safe dock conditions, along with noise in the late hours of the night? Does anyone know who to call to report a problem?

Well, I can hear the thunder coming down the harbor now.

Or is that the charter boat horns?

I had better sign off. You can also e-mail me if you would like to know where I think you should forward your harbor concerns.

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater and yacht broker.

How many megayachts are in town?

While making my daily rounds Wednesday, I left my office with the idea of finding a story for my column. My route first took me to a stop at the Newport shipyard. Then I looked across the bay at Balboa and South Coast shipyards, walked through Lido Village and down Mariner's Mile, drove around Dover Shores, then down to Basin Marine.

I wrapped my day up by attending Wednesday night's Harbor Commission meeting.

Just after the holidays, activity at the shipyards is at cruising speed and at Newport Shipyard the yard was at about one-third capacity. Two boats I had not seen before caught my eye.

One was a red 45-foot Cabo Open Express and the other was a 65-foot Viking Sport Fisher. The word in the shipyard was this was the last Cabo from the Adelanto plant.

Ever since Brunswick purchased Cabo yachts back in 2006, I always wondered how long it would take Brunswick to move the manufacturing of the boats to New Bern, N.C., and their Hatteras plant. Looking down onto the boat from the shipyard always made me feel like a friend was moving out of town. Raising my head and looking across the bay at the Balboa and South Coast Shipyards, activity seemed slower than usual, although you have to remember that the two yards are restricted by the tides on when they can haul and launch.

As I left the yard, I stayed on Lido Park Drive and took the loop around to see which megayachts were in town. In my book, a megayacht is longer than 90 feet.

As I pulled off the Lido Peninsula, I stopped at the Lido Bridge and counted 17 large charter boats in the harbor. While looking at the docks behind the Chart House restaurant, I started to realize that no one is flooring new boats in town. No one. Yes, there are six boats from last season, but that's it!

It was good to see that Larson's Shipyard appeared to be busy and there seemed to be fewer vessels in the repo yard from my last cruise. I began to wonder: Are new boat dealers leaving Newport Beach or have they left already? I am just slow to notice?

I continued my cruise and headed for Dover Shores and the Back Bay. Chuck South was working hard on the log boom off North Star Beach, where they have gathered more than 35 tons of debris from the recent rains.

I had received the normal reports about people damaging their boats after the storms and could only imagine how many more there would be without these log booms. In Dover Shores, boats were being moved around while the homeowner's association completed its dredging. My understanding is the project is half complete. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dave New from Basin Marine was chairing this project for the homeowners.

At Basin Marine, I found the shipyard to be very busy and, in the corner, I noticed one of the prettiest boats my eyes have ever seen.

When I inquired about the boat, Derek New replied "Oh, Len, that there is a Friendship 40 Daysailor, and she is a gem."

Odds are really good that "Manaaki" will make the 10 most interesting sailing boats list next year. I had missed her because she lives under a full cover on Lido Isle. I also counted 15 megayachts in the harbor.

I have been granted a big interview next week, from someone new in town, so come back next week!

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Sailing in paradise

Newport Harbor's 2010 summer sailing season is starting to set into a red sky. When waking up Saturday morning, the sunrise looked red through my eyes as I stumbled, moaned and groaned. While looking for my Excedrin migraine pain reliever, 7UP and sunglasses — in that order — I realized that I had survived one of the most vicious rum squalls since around this time last year. That's correct, it was Long Point Race Week 2010, and "I am on a boat, hawwwa." Next, I had to step down, with only one eye open, into a very skinny shore boat and make my way to breakfast at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club's (NHYC) outstation at Moonstone on Catalina Island.

Now everyone and their brother in the Southern California sailing world was doing their best impression of a zombie while waiting in line for breakfast and coffee. About the only response I got from anyone was a very low-pitched "hey." I sat down with my crew, and took a couple bites of my breakfast and downed about half of my coffee when both of my eyes opened, and, with two deep breaths of air, I thanked God that I was alive and in one of this world's most beautiful places.

One of my crew members started to laugh as we recalled the antics of the previous night and life started returning to our bodies.

• About this time my mind went back into race mode and I started to wonder about the mistakes I had made on the racecourse the day before. I then noticed I was sitting next to the crew of the Bolt. I asked the owner's son, Carson Reynolds, if he had tacked over to starboard when the westerly breezed finally filled in, or did he sail into it for a little while?

"We tacked as soon as the new breeze reached us," he replied. "We noticed that the larger boats were tacking over to starboard and felt like we might have gone over to starboard a little early, but then, 10 minutes later, we were lifted and going straight to the finish line. What did you do, Len?"

I sailed into the new breeze and then decided to wait for a sister ship to tack so we could cover their breeze.

"Did it work?" Carson asked.

"No, we lost further ground on the whole fleet," I replied. "How did it work for you, Carson?"

"Oh, we won," he said.

It was time to change gears and get ready for my favorite race of the year, from Long Point to Bird Rock (at the Isthmus) and back to Long Point. I truly enjoy the racing tactics of sailing alongside Catalina Island and taking in the stunning scenery of the island's steep cliffs, marine life and the changes of the water's color.

Another entertaining moment came before the start of this race when a crew member of a grey-colored boat let out his own impression of a "Rebel Yell." Seems he sailed into that rum squall a little farther than some of us did the night before.

The day's breeze started out a little light and turned into what the brochure for this race had promised — "epic sailing." I just wish I had noticed more of the right-handed wind shifts sailing up to Bird Rock. I kept sailing back into the island, hoping to gain some of the ground I had lost, but it just never paid off for us. Of course, the run from Bird Rock is a dream. Within this dream, I could not find any wind shifts large enough to make up any ground on our competition. That had to have been the most consistent breeze direction I had seen, down the island, in years.

On Sunday we had enough of a breeze to make it home. We sailed to a second place overall onboard John Schultz's yacht, the Linstar. The wind was light and it took some effort to figure out if heading high off course back to Newport Beach would pay off. Looking at the results, it appears that it did.

And, speaking of results, congratulations must be given to Tom Corkett of the NHYC onboard the yacht Mirage for winning this year's event overall and ORR class A. Other big winners were Craig Reynolds from Balboa Yacht Club aboard Bolt, winning ORR class B and the Boys from Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, Geissman, Plant and Shampain, winning the PHRF Division.

The Bell Trophy is awarded to the winning team from Balboa Yacht Club or Newport Harbor Yacht Club racing in the Long Point Race Week regatta. NHYC had lowest cumulative points of the two yacht clubs and is this year's Bell Trophy recipient. Congratulations, NHYC. I also need to give a shoutout to Bronny Joy Daniels and Joysailing for all the photos she takes every year. Thanks, Bronny. It makes the event that much more fun.

We will back next week with a story about the proposed mooring fee increases.

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.