Easy boating in winterless Newport Harbor

Ahoy.

Here’s an only-inSouthern California experience: I spent last weekend at our cabin in Lake Arrowhead, where it was snowing and my kids were sledding. Now, a couple of days later, I am typing this column while lounging poolside at the Wyndham in Palm Springs, where I am attending a convention.

I have experienced similar extremes while delivering yachts this time of year. I have flown to Seattle to bring boats south in the winter. When the temperatures are below freezing, there are challenges that we never experience in beautiful Newport Harbor.

When was the last time you were concerned about your vessel’s stability because the sea spray was freezing and building up on your hull, decks and handrails? How about when your dock lines were frozen solid to the cleats and you had to chop off the lines to disembark? Or you had to hand-carry jugs of fresh water to fill your boat’s 100-gallon freshwater tanks because the dock’s water lines were turned off and drained so they didn’t burst from water freezing in the pipes?

I know that Lee Scheele, salesman with Newport’s Bayport Yachts, remembers a delivery when we made a fuel stop in Morro Bay and had to manually fill a couple-hundred-gallon gas tank because the only fuel dock there went out of business just before we arrived.

In Newport Harbor, we have the luxury of cruising year-round, with only a few wintertime storms to worry about. The seas have been remarkably calm and the sailing has been good over the past month.

If you are cruising up the coast close to shore near Bolsa Chica, be careful of the dredging barge anchored just outside the surf line. An ocean inlet is being cut under the new Pacific Coast Highway bridge to Bolsa Chica’s wetlands. The new inlet will create Bolsa Bay, which will be inaccessible to boats.

But I digress.

Back in Newport Harbor: I have noticed that the Harbor Patrol is doing a good job of not only patrolling the waterways but also helping to educate boaters. According to a friend, the Harbor Patrol politely explained to him a new law under which no one is allowed on the swim step (seawards of the transom) while underway. That has to be a tough law to interrupt, especially on the larger vessels where the swim step is an integral part of the hull.

More important, I wish we could stop the boaters who insist on cruising on the wrong side of the channel directly into incoming vessels. I had a vessel miss me by just inches ? it was trying to pass starboard to starboard around a bend without trying to signal me.

The tip of the week is to go whale watching with Davey’s Locker. When you make your reservation, tell Norris Tapp that I said to give you VIP treatment and that a whale sighting is guaranteed.

OK, so maybe a whale sighting is not guaranteed, but what a wonderful family outing. You can go whale watching on the Western Pride Fridays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 9 a.m., noon and 2:30. Call (949) 673-1434 for more information. This is not just for tourists, as many locals take their families and friends.

Finally, my radio show is testing its new remote broadcasting equipment. We are planning to broadcast live from a different nautical location or event every Saturday. If you have an upcoming event, especially a nonprofit event that would benefit the boating community, let us know the details.

Remember to tune in every Saturday at noon. “Capt. Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show” is on KCBQ-AM (1170) and can be heard online at www.boathouseradio.com.

Safe voyages.