The Harbor Report: Fight for harbor access
I learned a couple of things while attending last week’s Harbor Commission Meeting. The first thing I noticed was that The Harborside Restaurant — that big restaurant within the Balboa Pavilion — has a very large guest slip. It’s located just west of the Balboa Pavilion and is specifically for the restaurant’s guests.
While I am on the subject of whatever the city decides to call this part of the Balboa Peninsula,
Newport Beach citizens and harbor users should review the minutes from Thursday night’s Planning Commission meeting regarding the Balboa Village Implementation Plan. This is a huge topic and I will only comment on harbor access.
It was noted at the commission’s last meeting that no guest slips are being planned for the new Village. For me, that’s a huge mistake. How many of my readers sailed over to the Balboa Fun Zone for an ice cream, pizza and arcade games with their parents? How many of you took your kids?
We should not just watch this harbor access disappear. It’s starting to feel like I am trying to inform the harbor users in a 50 knot gale and no one can hear me. It may not seem like a wise choice to attend the Harbor Commission or Tidelands meetings and stay down below where its safe, but how else can you arrive at your planned destination?
For example, The Tidelands Management committee has started to finalize its capital plan, and do you want to know where the money is going? In a special study session on Aug. 8, the Harbor Commission will review its goals for the following year. It’s your watch, and we need you on deck!
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On Saturday, the Balboa Yacht Club held the Harbor 20 Mid Summer Regatta with 13 boats in A fleet, 11 in B Fleet and four in C Fleet. Karl and Cole Pomeroy were tied with Gary and Karen Throne going into the last race, and appeared to have won the last race by a couple of boat lengths ahead of the persistent Team Throne.
It must have been close because I could see Karl leaning forward in his boat and persuading it to cross the line before the Thrones did. Only two points separated first from third place in class B. John and Mary Whitney sailed the most consistently to win class B, followed closely by Anne and Greg Hatton, who were new to the fleet.
Class C was no easy battle. Michael Volk and Ellen Reader did their best to keep Steve and Francine behind them and win the last race, taking C class.
We had overcast skies and an 8- to 11-knot southerly breeze for The Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club’s Gil Knudson regatta. The race course started in front of the Newport Beach Pier, went around the Newport R 4 buoy, reached the Huntington Beach Oil platform Eva and returned.
I was driving Roy Jones’ J 133 Tango, we missed the first shift to Amante and they rounded R 4 ahead of us. Fortunately, it was a close reach to Eva and Tango performs very well with the Code 0, and the rest of the day was ours.
In Class B, John Szalays’ Peterson 34 Pussycat also enjoys close reaching, and she easily won her class.
In the Newport High Point Series, Pussycat and Tango tied for the day. Tango has now increased its lead over by 10 points over Amante, in second place, and Pussycat moved all the way up to sixth place and has a good chance to grab third place for the series. The last race of the series is the NOSA Argosy race on Aug. 18 and 19.
This Saturday, the South Shores Yacht Club’s “Two Around Catalina” race, which is one of my favorite races of the year, will take place. I am teaming up with Dan Rossen again this year on his B 32, Problem Child. Like always, the competition this year is tough.
Sea Ya
LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.