Boat added to Newport fleet

Now that he’s got a new boat to tinker with, city mechanic Andy Martinez won’t have to worry about a sore back after he services Newport Beach’s lifeguard rescue boats.

After 30 years of service and thousands of rescues along the waters of Newport Beach, lifeguard rescue boat Sea Watch II will be replaced by a newer model bearing the same name and a slew of new amenities. The new vessel, with a hull constructed entirely of fiberglass, weighs five tons, unlike it’s older counterpart that had a wood deck and fiberglass hull. The covers over the boat’s controls aren’t nearly as heavy as the old boat’s, sparing Martinez’s back.

The 30-foot boat, built by Costa Mesa-based Crystaliner Corp., the same company that built the old boat in 1977, was christened Wednesday morning at the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol Station near the mouth of Newport Harbor. Several city leaders attended the ceremony, including Mayor Steve Rosansky, City Council members Keith Curry and Nancy Gardener, and Police Chief John Klein.

“The city of Newport Beach really relies on its beaches, and keeping them safe is one of the most important responsibilities of the city,” Curry said.

Crystaliner not only scrapped the vintage look with the new craft but geared it up with some high-tech gadgetry. The new boat, equipped with two 8.1-liter motors, each with the power to produce 385 horsepower, accelerates like a sports car, said Lifeguard Brent Jacobsen who skippered the old vessel for 20 years.

The new boat’s computerized engine also leads to a different ride than the old vessel’s carburetor-powered engine. “It’s scary fast [and] rides like a Porsche,” Jacobsen said.

He wasn’t exaggerating as the driver moments later pushed the boat into near full-throttle and had all the passengers onboard — including Fire Chief Steve Lewis, City Manager Homer Bludau, and a TV news cameraman — fiercely gripping the sidebars.

The vessel is equipped to perform various ocean rescues in many treacherous conditions, Lewis said. The horsepower helps the boat maneuver in and out of the surf.

All of the boat’s passengers Wednesday had plenty of room to catch their footing as the deck can easily hold up to 20 passengers and will almost always be filled as it picks up stray swimmers in the summer months, lifeguards said.

The boat also features an 800 megahertz radio that has the ability to communicate county-wide with other lifeguard agencies, fire and police, and the sheriff’s harbor patrol. A storage area below deck holds emergency rescue equipment such as oxygen resuscitators, a defibrillator, backboards, and diving and towing equipment for stranded boats, Jacobsen said.

One of the most anticipated features aboard the new Sea Watch II is a split-screen navigation system that tracks radar, depth and temperature all on one screen, saving “the lifeguards from having to reach over and press a button to change the view,” as it was on the old system, Martinez said. It also has a global positioning system.