Ahoy!

The story du jour in the boating media world is the purchase of a $7 million dollar yacht christened “Isabel” by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who has slapped American boat builders in the face and dodged the taxes in his home state. 

As American boat builders are trying to recover from the recession, Kerry decides to support the New Zealand economy with the $7 million dollar purchase that could have created jobs for U.S. workers. And Kerry does what most other megayacht owners’ accountants advise their clients to do: keep the boat in a state with low or no taxes. 

So, Kerry will be tie his new yacht’s docklines in Rhode Island and not in Boston Harbor close to his house nor in Nantucket where he has a vacation home. This simple move will save him just under a half-million dollars in taxes in addition to avoiding the $70,000 annual excise tax.

Rhode Island will reap the benefits of Kerry’s yacht as it has other yachts since 1993 when its tax laws were repealed. 

As I have mentioned numerous times on my radio show and in my columns, boating - and especially megayachts - are a huge cash cow for local businesses and for local governments that reap taxes from the ancillary purchases and services.  Just take for example the May 14, 2010, headline in the Vancouver Sun: “Victoria chamber warns that city rezoning to thwart mega-yacht marina could cost $23 million.”

Just look around Newport Harbor, where bayfront homes are selling for multimillions, yet how many megayachts hail Newport Harbor as their homeport?  On another note, how many megayachts sales are finalized in California, versus Florida or the British Virgin Islands due to taxes?  The wealthy will always have the option to purchase yachts where it makes financial sense, and California should be looking to attract megayacht sales and the berthing of these yachts locally.

The bad part is that the California yacht industry loses.  Locally, we will not have the sales – nor the shipyard time, upgrades to the vessel, rigging, slip rent, electronics sales, dinghy with davit sale, lifejacket sale, bottom cleaning, topsides cleaning, canvas work, and the list goes on. 

Ensenada can see the cash cow, as there are plans to build a new megayacht marina next to Hotel Coral’s Marina where the big boats can be stored and then brought up to California as needed for the owners.

This ties in nicely with the discussion of increasing some of the harbor fees in Newport Harbor, and yes, a fee increase is probably warranted.  However, there are a few items that should be explored, such as referring to the results from a formal fee study.  It is impractical to simply look at the fees of other harbors because one has to include the different services offered in Newport.

As such, there should be a formal cost recovery policy along with an annual fee review policy that the city and county can use to ensure that fees accurately reflect growth in the associated costs.  Common industry economic factors such as the CPI are used to increase the fees on an annual basis.

Tip of the week is to continue trying to educate every boater to help cruise safely through the harbor, especially with the hundreds of sailboats in the summer classes and races.  I want to remind everyone that the harbor is open to everyone, so technically no person or group can block any portion of navigable waters unless granted a special event permit by the U.S. Coast Guard.

With that said, I have noticed that sailing programs are making an effort to leave room between their buoys and the shore for “sea room” passage and most boaters try to avoid a flotilla of sailboats.  However, there continues to be a few instances there has been conflicts between skippers and racers, and the blame is not just on the racers.

Boaters cruising through the harbor can try to avoid the sailing courses by trying to stay outside of the markers and clear of the start/finish lines.  Additionally, accept the help and guidance from the race committee boats to guide you around or through a race

Charter vessels are in no hurry in the harbor, especially on a 3- to 4-hour voyage.  Captains, if you are harbor cruising, then simply turn around and go in another direction to avoid a conflict. And everyone needs to be courteous, as prescribed by the inland right-of-way rules.  Trust me as I have been skippering big boats in this harbor for decades - on local charters we are just maintaining proper seamanship and killing time.

No one needs to wave and yell for the other boat to move. Importantly, watch your language, as there are kids on the water.  Everybody should stay calm and try to get the vessel through the fleet without tempers flaring.

Seamanship and good sportsmanship are what we need to be instilling as boaters, and we need to set the example for the youth.

And don’t forget: Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, Capt. Mike Whitehead's Boathouse Radio Show, broadcasting coast-to-coast on the CRN Digital Talk Radio syndicated network every Saturday at noon, Pacific Time.  Join me with my motley crew, Chandler Bell and Matt Prichard, as we talk about “all things boating.”  You can find the station listings, cable TV channels, live streaming on the Internet, and an iphone app at www.BoathouseTV.com or www.BoathouseRadio.com.

Until next week, Safe Voyages!

Ahoy!

As the Gulf States are trying to recoup from the massive oil leak that is dwarfing the Exxon Valdez spill, it brings back memories of when the oil tanker American Trader made huge headlines. 

The tanker’s hull was ruptured while anchoring offshore Huntington Beach and thousands of gallons of oil leaked out that caused Newport Harbor’s entrance to be closed with an oil boom.  Our local catastrophe does not compare in size or damage to nature or businesses to what is happening in the Gulf, but many locals do not know that under Newport Beach are oil reserves.

The Peninsula had a few oil rigs actively pumping the black gold until the ’80s if my memory serves me well, and throughout the harbor are methane and ethane gases bubbling up to the surface.  I remember back in the early ’80s when I was the Aquatic Coordinator for the City of Newport Beach that we tried to create an internal flame from the gases bubbling up at the Orange Coast College Sail Base where we taught sailing classes.

Annually, nearly 85% of the 29 million gallons of petroleum that enter North American ocean waters is the result of human activities, reports the National Research Council of the National Academies. In early 2000, a study was co-sponsored by several government agencies, the American Petroleum Institute and the National Ocean Industries Assn. that showed less than 8 percent is from tankers and pipelines (excluding the recent Gulf spill, of course).

The report concludes that it is the consumers of oil who are responsible for oil in waters through land-based runoff, polluted rivers, airplanes and small boats and jet skis.  So, it is easy to place all the ocean's petroleum pollution problems on the tankers and offshore drilling, but we need to first look very closely at ourselves and urban run-off pollution.

The marine industry is aggressively addressing any concern that boaters may be slightly contributing to the pollution by promoting their environmentally-friendly marine four-stroke engines, replacing the older technology of the two-stroke engines that were used in jet skis and outboards.

The nightly news clips of seabirds covered in spilled crude usually get the most attention, but the study points the finger directly at the landlubbers who are harming our waterways day in and day out with oil runoff from their cars and trucks and the development of more roads and paved areas. It is easy to look the other way and think, "Oh, this one time will not matter," but there are more than 3 million people living in Orange County, and 3 million times x equals a very significant y.

When the topic of harbor or ocean pollution comes to the forefront, usually the first accusations are incorrectly directed toward the boaters.  First, boaters are an easy target as an identifiable source since they can be seen actually on the water, for recreational pursuits.  Secondly, the general public doesn’t know the existing laws governing boaters that are much more stringent than the laws shoreside. Remember, all the inland waters and up to three miles off any coastline are classified as a no-discharge area. That basically means nothing goes overboard into the water from a vessel. Yet in contrast, storm drains discharge into the harbors and ocean thousands of gallons a day of “stuff,” and then we have the recurring sewer line breaks that discharge tens of thousands of gallons into the water.

I am very supportive of the existing boater regulations, yet I think we need to impose a fair playing field on the water and on the land.  Spill a little gasoline on the ground while fueling your car, and oh well, it will evaporate or soak in.  Yet, spill a little gasoline into the harbor while fueling your boat and you are subject to a minimum fine of $50 and up to $25,000.

Under federal law, you are required to report a fuel or oil spill, no matter how small, if it is enough to cause a sheen upon the surface of the water.  It doesn't matter that your boat is not the Exxon Valdez, which actually led to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA '90).  Enforcement of federal law, as currently written, requires all spills to be reported which is unpractical and overreaching in the original intent of the legislation.

OK, I have been in the sun too long today, but listen to the studies and don't be quick to point your finger at the boaters.  Sure, boaters may spill a little from time to time but the vast, overwhelming majority – did I mention the vast, overwhelming majority? – of pollution and petroleum in Newport Harbor is from urban run-off produced by landlubbers, so everyone needs to do their share in keeping our waterways shipshape. 

Lastly, did you know that there are areas such as those off Santa Barbara that have natural seepage of oil into the ocean that account for a small piece of the equation?

And don’t forget: Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, Capt. Mike Whitehead's Boathouse Radio Show, broadcasting coast-to-coast on the CRN Digital Talk Radio syndicated network every Saturday at noon, Pacific Time.  Join me with my motley crew, Chandler Bell and Matt Prichard, as we talk about “all things boating.”  You can find the station listings, cable TV channels, live streaming on the Internet, and an iPhone app at www.BoathouseTV.com or www.BoathouseRadio.com.

Until next week, Safe Voyages!

Ahoy!

There are a few boating events that are traditional in Newport Harbor like the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, the Old Glory Boat Parade, and the race this Sunday when Seymour Beek gives the command to fire the starting gun for the 75th annual Flight of the Lasers. 

The race was originally known as the Flight of the Snowbirds, starting in 1936, then in the early 1970s as the Flight of the Kites. I know what you are thinking, but Seymour has not been the chairman since the inception of the race. However, for as long as I can remember he has presided over this annual event.

In recent years, the Flight of the Lasers has been organized by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodore’s Club, of which I am a proud member, and the Newport Harbor Yacht Club that provides the Jim Webster committee boat plus the venue for the awards ceremony. Local businesses continue their support by providing sponsorship to offset the costs of the commemorative t-shirts (still waiting for my commemorative t-shirt), trophies, and the usual associated costs.

Seymour, who is the owner of the Balboa Island Ferry Service and Island Marine Fuel, usually anticipates nearly 100 entries for the five-mile race throughout Newport Harbor.  He emailed me, “great competition expected, as usual, with top sailors both young and old.  I have many experienced volunteers from the Commodore's Club on the race committee to help start the race and patrol the course.” 

Seymour continued, “The awards ceremony at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, at about 4 pm., is an experience in itself.  The old trophies will be there, all polished up, with ‘who's who in Newport Beach sailing’ names engraved on them.  Amazing how many well known sailors of today won awards in this event.”

I found out that the youngest skipper ever to sail in the race was only 7 years old, but that was back in the Snowbird days. 

Racers vie for trophies in eight categories, ranging from Best Decorated Boat to First Parent/Child Team to First Married Couple.  The last category I wonder about because how many times have you seen the husband turn into Captain Bligh yelling at his wife to “grab this” or “do that” while he is bouncing the boat into the slip, or you been onboard a boat where the wife is a nagging back seat driver?  Sometimes, I wish I was moonlighting as a divorce attorney (hmm, good topic for a future column …).

I digress. The warning signals for the start will begin at exactly 1300 hours (1 pm) on Sunday, when the sailors will begin their timing for crossing the start line precisely when the starting gun is fired.  The experienced and diehard sailors know the speed of sound at sea level is 340.29 meters per second, so one watches for the smoke of the starting gun, which you will see first before hearing the blast.  However, the start boat is very close to the sailors and a few milliseconds of advance warning probably won’t affect who crosses the finish line first.

The start and finish line is located about halfway between channel markers 8 and 10 in the Balboa Reach channel.  In other words for those who do not know the channel markers or the names of the channels in the harbor, the line will be located about halfway between the Balboa Pavilion and the Harbor Master’s office.

The racers will begin heading up the channel to the large turning basin to round course marker 1 by the guest anchorage.  Passing to port the racers will turn heading for marker U off the Lido Isle Yacht Club and then to begin the long sail to marker Z in the small turning basin by Lido Village.  I wonder how many sailors have cheated by sailing under the Lido Isle Bridge versus going around Lido’s east tip to get to the Z mark?  If the normal prevailing winds are blowing then the racers will begin a 2.4 nautical mile reach to marker 4, east of the finish line, where once rounded they will complete the final leg to the finish line where it all started. 

Good luck to all, and my tip of the week for the boaters on Sunday.  While you are harbor cruising, how about giving the racers a break especially the kids, and enjoy the happy faces on the sailboats if you happen to be caught in a sea of Lasers on one of the legs.

I would like to thank Bill von Kleinsmid, Lake Arrowhead Yacht Club (LAYC) Staff Commodore and member Newport Harbor Yacht Club, and Jeff Diercksmeier, LAYC Officer as this year’s Secretary, for a wonderful tour and lunch at the club with my wife.  We enjoyed meeting their wives as well as many members of the club, and I find it interesting that there is a lot of members from the Newport Harbor area.

Additionally, Bill came over the Lake Arrowhead’s Boathouse remote studios to talk to my listeners about the lake and club during the show last Saturday, and he has many years of experience on the lake and the Pacific Ocean. 

Jeff, who is on the water sailing and in the air as pilot for US Airways, invited us for lunch at the club, and he was busy working plus getting ready for the 1330 race as the breeze was picking up.  It is exciting to see the club expand and include boats from my past such as the Hobie 16s, but the docks were cradling C Scows and the new Hobie Wave that I would like to try.  I was excited to visit a yacht club in the mountains that is family friendly and makes me feel at home as if in Newport.

And don’t forget: Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, Capt. Mike Whitehead's Boathouse Radio Show, broadcasting coast-to-coast on the CRN Digital Talk Radio syndicated network every Saturday at noon, Pacific Time.  Join me with my motley crew, Chandler Bell and Matt Prichard, as we talk about “all things boating.”  You can find the station listings, cable TV channels, live streaming on the Internet, and an iPhone app at www.BoathouseTV.com or www.BoathouseRadio.com.

Until next week, Safe Voyages!

Ahoy!

Lately, there has been a flood of boat accidents in the news, including the unfortunate Duck boat collision with a barge in the Delaware River, a charterboat hitting one of the Coronado Islands south of San Diego, and a fatal motorboat crash into the pilings of the Long Bridge on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho. 

I want everyone boating in our area to have a great time and not make the headlines.

Statistically, boating is a very safe recreational activity, attracting about 70 million people a year with fewer than 900 fatalities annually (a number that includes people who drown while swimming from a boat).  Recreational boating activity is expected to increase this summer from the previous year due to the economic indicators looking better and the fact that people are tired of waiting to get back on the water.

I received a worthy response from my last week’s column where I answered two email questions and I want to keep the learning curve moving upwards this week, as well help prevent recreational boating accidents in Newport Harbor.  Among the recently received emails were questions ranging from  the age children must wear a life jacket to harbor cruising etiquette to what navigation lights to turn on at night.  I will briefly touch on cruising etiquette, which could be a whole column in itself, and I have answered the questions below with some of my tips gained from decades on the waterfront.

Tip of the week is to keep sailing in the harbor enjoyable and safe, and let’s start with having the life jackets easily accessible, with children and non-swimmers always wearing a life jacket.  The 2010 Safe Boating Campaign, theme is "Wear It, Always Wear Your Life Jacket."  Remember, every vessel must be equipped with a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device (PFD known as a life jacket) for every person aboard, and the PFD must be the correct size for the person.

This year, California changed the age requirement for children to wear a life jacket from under 12 to under 13, on a vessel 26 feet or less.  There are two exceptions: first is that the child is on a sailboat and tethered to the boat with by a harness; and secondly, the child is in an enclosed cabin.  Otherwise, no excuses for a child not wearing a life jacket while on a boat - and that includes on the docks, too.

There are additional life jacket requirements for boats under 16 feet, kayaks, canoes, personal watercraft (commonly called jet skis or PWCs), or when your are in a boat being towed. I will cover those in a future column.

One of the biggest blunders on the water is skippers changing course (i.e. turning) without looking behind for other boats – duh.  Most high-speed boat crashes are caused by a skipper turning the boat directly into the path of an oncoming boat.  The navigation rules of the road dictate that while boating you must look around before you change course so that you do not turn directly and without notice in front of another boater.  Just for a test, cruise behind another recreational boater and see how long it takes for the skipper to notice you are there, and then try that with a licensed commercial Captain.

On to nighttime cruising. A lot of boaters I see at night are displaying their required navigation lights incorrectly and a majority of those boats are in the 20- to 30-foot range.  I theorize this might be due to the fact that many sailors in this range are in the weekend self-taught skipper classification.  Rags Laragione, President of the Maritime Institute, says it simply; “Education is the key, so let’s get educated.”

Well, I hope to clear up any misconceptions or lack of knowledge about the basics for displaying navigational lights for recreational boaters.  From sunset to sunrise and during other periods of reduced visibility you must display the proper navigational (nav or running) lights for all vessels.  However, a vessel under sail by the wind must display only the port red and starboard green forward lights plus a white stern light.  When the sailboat is under engine power regardless if the sails are up then you must display the nav lights of a vessel under power (powerboat) by adding the forward white masthead (steaming) light.  The addition of the white mast head light shows the boat is under engine power and must abide by that set of rules.  I notice that many sailboat skippers forget to turn on the masthead light, or they just turn on all their nav light switches including the anchor light.

On a very dark night, if you are sailing and you suspect that a nearby boater does not see you then shine a flashlight up against the sails. This is very easy for other boaters to see from a distance.  I find this technique very effective, and on motor yachts I will turn on the cabin lights and open the window coverings in all areas that will not affect the skipper’s night vision. 

Also on a bright night with a full moon and a sky full of stars reflecting off the water, I will flash the overhead cockpit lights to alert other boaters.  Why?  My navigational lights might become lost in the background of stars.  In other words, I like to light-up my boats on the water like a cruise ship.

Lastly some ask what channel to call the Newport Harbor Patrol (Newport KDG).  If you need help in the harbor call on VHF marine channel 16, and if non-emergency, you will be switched to channel 12 which is the working channel.

And don’t forget: Tune in to the No. 1 boating radio talk show in the nation, Capt. Mike Whitehead's Boathouse Radio Show, broadcasting coast-to-coast on the CRN Digital Talk Radio syndicated network every Saturday at noon, Pacific Time.  Join me with my motley crew, Chandler Bell and Matt Prichard, as we talk about “all things boating.”  You can find the station listings, cable TV channels, live streaming on the Internet, and an iPhone app at www.BoathouseTV.com or www.BoathouseRadio.com.

Until next week, Safe Voyages!

Ahoy!

The cool June gloom has blanketed the Southland for over a month, and finally the marine layer burned off midweek. However, partly sunny skies will return this weekend along with patchy morning fog.  The air temperatures on the water will be in the mid-70s, and landlubbers on the shore can expect the daytime highs to be in the upper 70s to low 80s around Newport Beach.

I am reading ocean water temperatures ranging from 59 to 66 degrees off our coast and out to the islands, which is thankfully warmer then the Bering Sea at a bone chilling 43 degrees reported by a weather buoy floating 310 nautical miles north of Adak, AK. 

The winds will calm down a little through the weekend, gusting almost to 20 knots on Friday with 2- to 3-foot wind waves from the west. On Saturday and Sunday, the afternoon westerly winds will blow at 10 to 14 knots (1 knot equals 1.15 mph, so winds blowing 11.5 to 16.1 mph).

As I stare deeper into my crystal ball, I can see that the ocean will remain essentially flat with a west swell at 2 to 3 feet and double-digit intervals between the sine waves.  With an eye always to the north, Point Conception is nasty with only a 5-foot swell but winds gusting 25 to 30 knots creating 4-foot wind waves and steep faces between single-digit intervals. Oh, I have been there and done that many times wondering why am I here and not at a desk job?

As of my deadline for the weather report, I have no active hurricanes to report in the Atlantic or the eastern Pacific.  There is a slight chance of a tropical cyclone forming off the southwest coast of Mexico to keep on your radar, especially surfers for a south swell, but do not hold your breath on this one.

I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weekend with our pleasant weather and good boating conditions in Newport Harbor and the ocean.

Safe Voyages,

Mike Whitehead, Capt.