Allen is widely accomplished as both a writer, and a food expert, and he brings his incredible knowledge base to his new book “In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks.”

Ted is perhaps best known as a member of the “Fab Five” on Bravo’s “Queer Eye” television series.  He served as the resident food and wine expert on the show, which aimed to makeover men by teaching them more about fashion, food, and culture.

He was also a judge for both “Top Chef” and “Iron Chef America” before landing his own hosting gig on “Chopped.”  In this go-round, contestant chefs are given a basket containing mystery ingredients moments before the competition starts.  They then must fashion a three-course meal, which needs to impress the judges, as one chef is “chopped” after each course.

After being around such innovative cooking for so much of his career, Allen is uniquely qualified to hold court on what makes a successful sophisticated meal.  His qualifications when it comes to writing a cookbook however, don’t end there.

Holding an M.A. in Journalism from New York University, Allen has been honing his writing craft for some time as well.

He has been a contributing editor and writer for “Esquire” magazine since 1997, and prior to joining the staff there, he was a senior editor and food critic at “Chicago” magazine.  He currently also writes for publications such as “Bon Appetite,” and “Food Network Magazine.”

In addition to his impressive journalistic endeavors, Allen also co-authored “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five’s Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better,” and has one previous cookbook, “The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes” under his belt to boot.

All this expertise however, doesn’t mean anything if his recipes aren’t delicious.  After scanning just a few of the new book’s offerings, I can vouch for the fact that he’s hit another one out of the park.

“In My Kitchen” isn’t meant to cater to folks who are looking for simple, quick meals, but rather to the cook who wants to savor the process, and explore new flavor profiles.

Allen has said, “For me, the kitchen is the most special room in the house, and it’s a place for adventure…Every recipe in this book, from the simplest baked rice to a tongue-sizzling Thai curry, contains a tip, a trick, or an epiphany, something that has enriched my understanding of and love for the kitchen—and that will enrich yours, too.”

With offerings such as “Wiggly Rice Noodle and Herb Salad with Sweet Shrimp,” “Pork and Black Bean Tinga with Chipotle,” and “Showstopping Triple-Layer Meyer Lemon Cake,” he’s definitely enriching my appetite!

The fact that I couldn’t have told you prior to checking out this book what a “tinga” in fact is, proves that Allen is doing exactly what he set out to do:  exposing home cooks to new ideas and providing them with a few sure-fire ways to ditch the chicken breast and broaden their horizons.

As with other Williams-Sonoma events, Allen will only be signing copies of his book purchased from the store, so be sure to have a receipt handy.  For more information on the event, please visit www.williams-sonoma.com, or call 714-751-1166.

The city boardwalk ends near E Street on the Peninsula. From there to the Wedge, many beachfront homeowners have encroached on the public strand. Photos by Eric Longabardi

One of Newport Beach’s most famous landmarks is The Wedge – a place where, when the conditions are right, monster surf pounds the shore and bodysurfers and surfers alike take on everything Mother Nature can throw at them.

Close by is another Newport landmark, the Newport Beach boardwalk.  The 2.9-mile concrete bike- and walkway along the ocean side of the Peninsula comes to an abrupt end just past ‘E’ Street, well short of  The Wedge and the harbor jetty, where the oceanfront path would meet its logical end.

According to local historians, the Newport boardwalk was first built of wood in 1918 and then redone with concrete in the late 1930s.

The beach beyond the boardwalk’s end has seen changes, too.  The size of the beach grew in the years after the Newport Harbor jetty was built in the early1900s. The other change over the years has been the addition of multimillion-dollar beachfront houses and estates that make up this exclusive and iconic part Newport Beach’s  coastline.

Now, at the southern end of the Newport boardwalk, you walk onto beachfront sand and into the heart of a renewed 20-year battle. The battle is about who has the right to use and control the beach that lies directly in front of the beachside homes, the homeowners or the public, in the form of the city and state?

The city of Newport Beach and the state of California say the answer to that question is simple – the public owns the sand and has to right to use and control it.

Homeowners along this stretch of beach don’t exactly see it that way.

Encroachments include landscaping, lawn furniture and play equipment.

Over the years they have seeded lawns, installed landscaping and even put in playground equipment and other amenities to extend their little piece of beachfront paradise out onto the sand.

The state Coastal Commission this month told them that’s all illegal and it needs to go – soon – or else. The edict stirred a storm of controversy.

One reason the homeowners feel strongly is city of Newport Beach has seemingly turned a blind eye to the encroachments for more than two decades.

Although the city owns the boardwalk right-of-way and the beach out to the high-tide line, it has done little over the years to stem the tide of homeowners staking their claim to what is clearly and legally city property and the public’s beach.

Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff, has said the city has tried to inform the public the beach was public.  A few years ago signs were posted in the area informing the public that what seemed to be private property was in fact public beach. Those signs are gone, but the encroachments, if anything, have grown.

It seems the city has done little more than that over the years.

Why that is, is not exactly clear.

(The Independent sought comment from Kiff and city spokesperson Tara Finnegan about this issue, but they did not respond to several requests.)

Back in October of 1990, the city adopted a policy that was supposed to control what happened on its beach, and especially the beach between the boardwalk’s end and the Wedge.  The policy clearly says what homeowners in that area could and could not do to “encroach” on the public beach. It has had little effect.
The policy is called L-12.

The Independent reviewed a copy of the L-12 policy and it says:

“Prohibited Encroachments. ….

“Encroachments, including irrigation systems, and improvements are prohibited oceanward of any ocean front parcel from a point 250 feet southeast of E Street to Channel Road, provided existing trees which have been planted and maintained in conformance with City Council policy, and ground cover such as ice plant or indigenous plants are not considered to be an encroachment, and will not require a permit pursuant to this policy, but the City reserves the right to remove, trim or otherwise, control the type and extent of any such landscaping.”

The policy goes on to say:

“Any existing encroachment or improvement for which no application has been filed on or before May 31, 1992, and any new encroachment or improvement for which no application is filed prior to installation is prohibited.

“Any new or existing encroachment or improvement which, on or after July 1, 1992, is not in conformance with this policy is prohibited.”

It seems the policy is very clear.  The reality, however, is a lot different.

Back in 1990, it was proposed to extend the boardwalk to its logical end at the jetty, but the homeowners from E Street to the Wedge were adamantly opposed. At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported extensively on the issue. Homeowners were so opposed to the idea of extending the boardwalk they gave up any claim to encroach on the beachfront in return for dropping the plan.

But the encroachments have continued unabated since.

Richard Spurzem, who owns a home on the beach in the area now at the center of the controversy, has not installed any special additions to his beachfront area.

Nonetheless, he says, the city sent him a letter in 2006 demanding he remove a rock that sat in front of his house on the beach.

“I don’t know how the rock got there,” Spurzem told the Independent on Thursday, adding, “It’s still there today. … I never got anything else from the city since.”

Whether or not the homeowners will heed the latest Coastal Commission directive and what the city’s role in this new version of “whose beach is it, anyway?” still remains to be seen.

But if history is any guide to this two-decade-old controversy, homeowners in the area are probably thinking the city will take a hands-off approach

Allan Mansoor, a Republican, is the declared incumbent – although the 74^th is a newly redrawn district and technically has no incumbent. In 2010, Mansoor was elected to the old 68^th Assembly District, 20 percent of which falls into the new 74th. Got that straight?

Allan Mansoor.

Mansoor, who earned an associate degree from Coastline Community College in 1998, is a former Orange County Deputy Sheriff. He served on the Costa Mesa City Council from 2002-2010. (He was mayor from 2005 to 2010.) On a recent morning we met at the Metropointe Starbucks to discuss the three issues I had previously raised with his opponents, Republican Leslie Daigle and Democrat Bob Rush.

Mansoor began by explaining that he went into local politics because, “like many of my neighbors, I was concerned about quality-of-life issues. We wanted a safe community with streets and infrastructure that were properly maintained. We were concerned about traffic. When I started to pay attention to the issues before the City Council, I began to see areas where I felt like I could have a positive impact.”

The environment: Mansoor said he grew up going to the beaches in Newport and Huntington. “We all want a clean environment in our state, and oftentimes there’s a right and a wrong way to do it. At the same time, we want business to be vibrant in our state. So I do have some concerns with some of the drastic measures that have been taken. … There has to be a sense of reasonable balance.” Mansoor admits to the need for “some regulation” but believes that is “best done by elected bodies, not appointed commissions [like the California Air Resources Board]. That way there’s some accountability to the steps we take.”

Mansoor also wants more local management of the environment. “I think there’s a lot more accountability when things are handled at the local level. … ‘Back to the people,’ as I am on many issues. … Trying to move state government is like trying to move the Titanic – and oftentimes it’s too little too late. … We all want clean water and beaches, and urban runoff is certainly an issue. Obviously we don’t want dangerous chemicals in our waters and some of that can be and is regulated at the state and federal level. … I love the beach as much as anybody else, and I want to see it clean for generations to come.”

Education:  In his time in the Assembly, Mansoor said that he has “toured schools, met with teachers, administrators, and school board members … student groups from colleges and universities. I’ve always had an open-door policy and meet with anyone, but I’ve also been proactive in soliciting meetings on education issues. … In just about all cases, I want the same things for education everyone else wants. It was wrong to cut education funding in last year’s budget. This is why I joined with many of my colleagues in proposing a no-tax-increase, no-education-cut budget. We can balance the budget without cutting education or raising taxes if the majority party was willing to implement reforms and spend more responsibly.”

Public Pension Fund Reform:  During Mansoor’s years with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, he saw what he calls “the enormous cost to the taxpayers, the unsustainable amounts being paid out, and the huge difference between public and private sector pensions. … The public sector has guaranteed [pension] benefits that’s often 100 percent for life at taxpayer expense.” Mansoor left the Sheriff’s Department before he was fully vested; consequently he says that his pension — he is eligible at age 50 in 2014 — will be at “a greatly reduced rate.”

In 2011, Mansoor introduced AB 961, which would have prohibited recognized local and state employee organizations (unions, for example) from negotiating pension benefits with public employers. The bill died, though he still thinks it is a necessary reform. What about the less draconian measure of public employers negotiating more effectively regarding such benefits? Mansoor agreed that could be possible “when the government leaders participating in the negotiations are independent from the labor groups they are negotiating with. There are several members in the Legislature who are former labor organizers, and just about every Democrat is so beholden to labor that they’ve said publicly and privately that they won’t do anything to offend union leaders. Someone who will not do anything to offend union leaders is not someone who can effectively negotiate public employee contacts.”
Finally, I asked Mansoor to define that highly popular buzz word, “fiscal conservative,” to which he responded: “Fiscal conservatives base spending decisions on a perspective that taxpayer funds are held in trust for the benefit of the taxpayer, not special interests.”

Charlie Robinson stars as Becker in South Coast Repertory's 2012 production of "Jitney" by August Wilson. Photo by Henry DiRocco.

Tonight marks the opening of “Jitney,” South Coast Repertory’s final production before going dark for the summer.  If you haven’t yet gotten your theater fix this season, don’t fret – they are going out on top with this one.

“Jitney” is one of late playwright August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays – a series of 10 plays he wrote depicting the African-American experience in each of the decades of the 20^th century.  It takes place in 1977 Pittsburgh, in the Hill, a predominantly black neighborhood where Wilson himself grew up.

Wilson’s work has widely been regarded as an epic literary saga.  Among his many awards, and even more nominations, are two Pulitzer Prizes for drama, and a Tony award for Best Play.

The remarkable thing about his writing is that he was able to take a microcosm of society, and tell a universal story by following their day-to-day existence.  He has been quoted as saying that he wanted his work to echo “the poetry in the everyday language of black America.”  He also wanted his plays to “offer (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans.”

Having grown up in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and having many different jobs, he was able to meet a wide variety of individuals, and many of his characters are based on actual people he knew and talked with about the realities of their lives.

In “Jitney,” we meet Becker, whose jitney (unlicensed taxi) station is set to meet its demise, as it is scheduled to be shuttered in order to allow for an urban renewal project.

Adding to Becker’s worries is the imminent reentry into his life of his son, who has been serving a prison sentence for the last 20 years.

In his employ are four drivers: Turnbo, a neighborhood gossip who always has his nose in everyone’s business; Fielding, an alcoholic wrestling his demons; Youngblood, a hot-headed Vietnam vet who is fiercely trying to do right by his young family; and Doub, a Korean War veteran and Becker’s long-time friend.

Also frequenting the station, are Shealy; a bookie who uses the station as his base of operations; Rena, Youngblood’s girlfriend; Philmore, a local doorman and frequent jitney passenger; and Booster, Becker’s ex-con son.

Between fares, the men come and go, answering customer’s calls on the pay phone, playing checkers, and sharing stories about life and what’s going on in the neighborhood.   Before long, we feel like we are right there in the station with life-long friends.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette says that “Jitney” is a “vivid mix of comedy and passion backed by a solid sociology of men struggling to survive. … Wilson excels in the casual, expressive revelation of emotion under the drone of day-to-day.”

Director Ron OJ Parson, is a seasoned veteran, and brings his experienced vision to the stage, in this his 19^th August Wilson production.

Along with the cast, he conveys the notion that we are all linked by our desire to connect and rise above our situation.  By walking in these men’s shoes, we are able to not only appreciate their reality, but examine our own as well.

Tickets $20 – $68. For showtimes, other information and tickets, visit www.scr.org or call the box office at 714-708-5555.

Knots of Love, a local non-profit organization that distributes free, handmade caps to chemotherapy centers throughout North America, has partnered with author T.B. Smith, in an effort to sell books and support a good cause.

For the month of May, Smith will contribute 10 percent of sales from his website of his Amazon Best Seller, “The Sticking Place,” to Knots of Love.

“I am constantly amazed about how the word is spreading about our charity,” said Knots of Love founder Christine Fabiani. “I began humbly making a cap or two to donate, and we are now sending more than 3,000 a month, across the United States. We could send more caps if we had them, and  Mr. Smith’s kind donation has the potential to make that a reality.”

The book can be bought or downloaded from Smith’s website, www.lukejonesnovels.com.

The semi-autobiographical novel features Luke Jones, a Shakespeare-spouting police rookie, and is set in San Diego’s Historic Gaslamp Quarter of the late 1970s.

The new cop quickly discovers that dealing with crooks is the easiest part of his job, according to the book’s website description.

“For here, in a world populated by people ruled by their obsessions, Luke’s strong will and quick tongue alienate many of his senior officers and he must fight to be accepted. Although eventually labeled a hero, his success comes at great cost,” as Smith described the book online.

Smith, of Ashland, Ore., served as a police officer for 27 years in San Diego before retiring in 2003 after being injured in an on-duty traffic accident.

He, like the main character in his book, studied English literature in college, as well as creative writing. He’s also a fan of Shakespeare, just like his fictional counterpart.

The book will not only provide hours of entertainment for a reader, but countless possibilities to those in need, Fabiani wrote on the charity’s website.

Fabiani said the book appeals to a wide audience and her Knots of Love volunteers come from all age ranges, backgrounds and experiences.

“Our group is a broad collection of generous new and veteran hand-workers using their skills to add to the self-respect and dignity of another. No greater gift can be given than to give such a personal creation,” Fabiani said. “Tim Smith is sharing his creativity with us and for that, we can’t thank him enough.”

The non-profit helps warm the heads and the hearts of chemo patients and others facing life-threatening illnesses, Fabiani said. The organization has donated more than 118,000 caps.

“People of all ages are in need of love, kindness and support as they wage the fight of their lives,” she said.

For more information, visit www.knotsoflove.org. To purchase “The Sticking Place,” visit www.lukejonesnovels.com.

Bridget Hood, 42, participated in filming “Voices,” a short video for the Lupus Out Loud movement by Lupus Connect, sponsored by the Human Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline.

The group started the campaign and made the video in honor of Lupus Awareness Month in May. The movement encourages lupus patients across America to raise their voices and “put lupus front and center,” according to their website, www.lupusconnect.com/lupus-out-loud, and that “the collective voice is more powerful than one.”

Bridget Hood.

“My hope is they [other lupus patients] realize that they are not alone in this,” Hood said.

Through LOL, “thousands of people across America [are] speaking out about the true impact of living with lupus,” the website states.

The campaign urges others to reach out to their friends and family, as well as their doctors, and talk openly and honestly about their symptoms and to speak frankly about the true impact of lupus on their daily lives.

The movement is also in response to a recent Roper survey that found that more than half of patients with lupus reported that they minimized their symptoms when speaking with their doctor, according to LOL.

“I always did talk openly and honestly with my doctor… But I felt like a broken record,” always mentioning feeling fatigued or sick, she said. “So at times I didn’t mention it (at all) because I thought it was a given. So I minimized (those symptoms).”

It’s important to discuss all symptoms, no matter how insignificant they may seem, she said, or if they‘ve been said a million times before. She also suggests keeping a journal and sharing it with the doctor.

Hood also urges patients to trust their guts about their doctors and the medical care they are receiving. It’s important to find the right doctor and/or specialist that understands the disease and that the patient feels comfortable with.

“Be your own advocate,” said Hood, who is grateful that her parents took matters into their own hands when they realized she needed better medical care. Changing doctors helped save her life, she said.

“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t changed doctors,” she said

The Riverside native was diagnosed with lupus as a junior in high school in 1987. She had gone to the tanning booth to prep for a family vacation to Hawaii. She immediately developed a butterfly rash on her face and had flu-like symptoms.

“I just didn’t feel like myself,” she said, but, “I ignored all my symptoms… I tried to enjoy the vacation in the Hawaiian sun.”

Within a few days after returning home her symptoms were worse and she went to see a doctor. Within a month she was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Nephritis.

“It came on right away and started attacking my kidneys,” Hood said.

By the time she started college, Hood felt horrible every single day, she said. On the last day of her freshman year she was rushed to the ER with a dangerous tissue infection. During her month-long stay in the hospital, she decided she wasn’t going to be a victim and she was going to fight to stay alive and live a healthy, normal life.  She slowly but surely began to get better.

By 1997, she had graduated and was feeling pretty good, she said. Between 1999 and 2005, she led a relatively normal life. She began working hard on her career, ignoring her pain and fatigue.

In 2005 her kidneys started to fail.

“I took a turn for the worse,” she said.

Both parents and  all her siblings offered to donate a kidney, but ultimately it was her younger (and only) brother, Nick, a 1998 Corona del Mar High School graduate, who saved her life. In 2006, he gave her one of his kidneys.

“My whole world changed,” Hood said. “I didn’t realize how sick I was until after the surgery… I forgot what it was like to have a good, (high) quality life.”

She is now feeling and looking better than ever, she said, and works to be a role model for others.

Hood also runs a local support group that meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of every month at University United Methodist Church in Irvine.

“I am so fortunate to be alive,“ Hood said. “I don’t want to see other people struggle with lupus… I want them to know they’re not alone.”

For more information, visit www.lupusconnect.com.

Zander and Jesse Kirkland will represent their home country of Bermuda in London this summer.

By finishing eighth overall at last week’s 49er World Championships, local Newport sailor Alexander “Zander” Kirkland, along his brother Jesse, qualified to represent their home country, Bermuda, in the 49er class at the 2012 Olympics.

The 49er Worlds were held May 5-13 in Zadar, Croatia, and this was the final Olympic qualifier for the two-person 49er Class.

Zander is the former NHYC Junior Sailing Director, and was the sailing coach for Newport Harbor High School when they last won the high school sailing championships in 2009.

Zander and Jesse have been campaigning full-time for the last two-plus years in the 49er class.  Both Kirklands grew up sailing in Bermuda.  Zander went on to be a top collegiate sailor at Tufts University in Boston, while Jesse was a top sailor at St. Mary’s College in Maryland.

At the moment, it looks like the Kirklands will join at least one equestrian jumper, two swimmers and two track athletes, and possibly a tri-athlete as the only members of Bermuda’s 2012 Olympic team.

Only five countries qualified for this summer’s Olympics at the 49er Worlds, the final qualifier for this summer’s Olympics.  The Kirkland’s team finished as the top qualifying country this last week.  The other countries that earned Olympic berths last week were Japan, Canada, Italy and Greece. The USA 49er team of Trevor Moore and Walter Cooper had qualified previously for the 2012 Olympics.

NHHS Sailors Fifth at Nationals

May 12-13 – Mallory Trophy (High School Fleet Racing Championships) – Lake Union, Seattle, WA

Newport Harbor High School’s sailing team finished fifth overall at last weekend’s Mallory Trophy for the top overall high school team this year.  Forty races were sailed over this two-day event.

San Diego’s Point Loma High School took home top overall honors with a comfortable 50 point win over runner-up Cathedral Catholic (also from San Diego).

The NHHS sailing team was lead in A Division by Ryan Davidson (9^th in A fleet) with crews Greer Wattson and Keenan. Chung.  In B Division, Daniel Segerblom with crews Franchie Cappellini, Chase Wells and Erik Higbie finished an impressive third place overall in their fleet.

Both fleets enjoyed pleasant sailing conditions all weekend with temperatures in the mid-70s and winds blowing at 5-12 knots.  For more information and full regatta reports go to mallorytrophy2012.com.

Upcoming Events:

May 19-20 – Leukemia Cup – BCYC (One Design) -

May 19 – 20 – 66 Series 2, 3, 4 -BYC (PHRF)

May 20 – Lorin Weiss #3 – BCYC – (H20)

May 25-27 – Baker Championships – MIT, Boston (HS Team Racing Nationals)

May 26 – CBYC/DPYC – Around Catalina (Offshore/PHRF)

Roger’s Gardens rosarian Laurie Chaffin (left) tells Serena Chow that she won first place in Class 1 and second place in Class 3 at the rose show. Photos by Sara Hall

Hundreds of people stopped to smell the roses at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar over the weekend, at their 18th Annual Amateur Rose Show on Saturday.

There were 168 rose entries from 42 different exhibitors, including Newport Beach resident Nancy Rodman and her twin daughters, Sophia and Kate, both 9. The girls entered several roses from their garden, including Sophia’s choice,  a grand dame rose that won second place in Class 1 at the show.

The girls simply went out and picked their favorites out the family’s 26 rose bushes, Nancy Rodman said, which they have been growing for about one year. It’s the first time ever entering, she added.

The girls agreed that it was a lot of fun to participate in the show, which the family only found out about the week before.

Sophia Rodman was excited to have won and she and her sister were thinking of buying a bonsai tree with their prize money.

Sophia Rodman, 9, checks out some of the roses at the show.

Other winners include the Best in Show and Class 2 Queen first place entrant, Connie Gionet, for her cherry parfait rose. Gionet also won Class 2 King second place with a cinnamon twist rose. Other first place winners include Serena Chow for a Janice Kellogg rose, Kimi Nguyen for her Fourth of July rose, and Barbara Sexton with a ric-rac rose.

Anybody can enter and anybody can win, said Roger’s Gardens rosarian Laurie Chaffin, who helped judge the competition.

“It’s a chance for amateurs to shine,” she said. “And it’s a lot of fun.”

The two other judges included Rex Yarwood, nursery manager for the gardens, and horticulturist Steve Hampson.

“We’ve had a good turnout,” this year, Hampson said, including several mother and daughter participants, he added, in celebration of Mother’s Day.

A lot of regular customers entered, he said, some just starting out growing and others who have had roses for years. A lot come in the week prior to the event to get advice or with questions.

This year they even saw a few rare roses, he said, some old garden varieties that are hard to find and aren’t sold commercially, he explained.

A few of the roses featured in the show, included a cinnamon twist, an unknown Austin variety, rhapsody in blue, St. Patrick, angel face, fairy, marriotta, several Eden varieties, and many more.

There are several points the judges looked for, Chaffin said, including full and open petals, perfect spiral, no damage to the petals or stem, with clean and healthy foliage.

Winners received gift cards for Roger’s Gardens. All of the roses were on display until closing on Sunday.

For more information, visit www.rogersgardens.com.

Editor Roger Bloom: Look for this guy when you get there.

If you’d like to meet Roger, ask him about the Indy, or, most importantly, let him know what you’d like to see in your paper, drop by:

• Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Coast Highway at Iris in CdM, Tuesday, May 22, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Starbucks in Via Lido Plaza, Wednesday, May 23, 10 a.m.-noon.

Locations and times for more Editor’s Office Hours will be posted at newportindy.com and published in next Friday’s Newport Indy.

Come on out, get to know Roger, and let him know what’s on your mind.

Remember, it’s your paper.

]]> http://www.newportbeachindy.com/2012/05/18/drop-%e2%80%98editor%e2%80%99s-office-hours%e2%80%99/feed/ 1 http://www.newportbeachindy.com/2012/05/17/boaters-weather-14/ http://www.newportbeachindy.com/2012/05/17/boaters-weather-14/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 06:57:22 +0000 Capt. Mike Whitehead http://www.newportbeachindy.com/?p=8970 Ahoy!

April showers bring May flowers, but we need May showers. Nevertheless, flowers are blooming and hillsides are green, creating a picturesque coastal view while cruising offshore.

This weekend we can expect mild daytime temperatures with the highs only in the mid-60s and nighttime lows in the high 50s along the coast. We will have a small temperature change between the lows and highs, and we will hit dew point in the mid- to upper 50s in the evenings.

The big question is whether the clouds will linger all day or burn off before noon. We will see increasing cloud coverage and some patchy fog along the coast, but I am hoping for increased clearing in the afternoon. I have to work on my suntan so I can wear my mankini when summer arrives next month.

The ocean swells will remain at a 4-foot westerly with a 2-foot south on Friday that will make washing-machine conditions for small craft, with single-digit swell intervals. However, the westerly swell will start to drop a foot by Saturday, and it is predicted to be 2 feet by Sunday with a still-2-foot south for a mixed set. Let’s hope that the south continues to push up warmer waters for those who want to go fishing.

The afternoon winds will be decent for sailing, blowing up to 10 knots from the west, but light and variable in the mornings. We will have 1- to 2-foot wind waves on the open ocean and slightly shifting winds blowing across the harbor. Sailing in the harbor will be good this weekend, but please stay clear of the dredging equipment, a barge being towed, and any related hazards.

So, as always, with an eye to the north, we look to the waters off Point Conception to see what is coming down the coast. The Point is under small-craft advisories and a gale warning until probably Sunday. The northwesterly winds are gusting up to 35 knots on Friday dropping to 30 knots on Saturday with gusts in the low 20s by Sunday. The wind waves will be 3 to 6 feet on top of a mixed set of 8-foot swells from the northwest and a 2-foot south. The northwesterly swell will hopefully drop to 5 feet by Sunday.

You can expect morning fog, partly sunny afternoon skies and cloudy nights, so Sunday might be a weather window to round the point, especially anyone traveling downhill (in a southerly direction).

Remember to boat safely, and that all boat operators need to be alert, look around when underway, and be courteous to other boaters. Non-swimmers and poor swimmers should wear lifejackets. Boat safely, and be courteous when cruising in the harbor or on the high seas.

Safe Voyages,

Mike Whitehead, Capt.