Speaking of being out on the water

Ahoy.

“Dolphins everywhere,” exclaimed the owner of the Carver 406 motor

yacht I was skippering from Bayport Yachts in Newport to Cabrillo

Isle Marina in San Diego.

The couple just had their Carver 406 trucked from the Great Lakes

to Newport Beach, and they were very excited to see the ocean’s

marine life on their maiden Pacific voyage. I did not have the heart

to tell them that we were lucky to see this many mammals. Also, I was

surprised that we did not see any Navy vessels off Camp Pendleton.

A helpful hint to those of you traveling to San Diego: the kelp

off Point Loma is not too far out yet, so you can set course from

Newport to San Diego’s approach buoy 3.

This week I will be heading to Avalon a few times so maybe I will

have a good story for next week’s column.

Last Thursday, Mark Silvey and I co-chaired our Newport Marine

Committee’s mixer and speaker forum that turned out very successful.

Seventy guests attended, including Newport Harbormaster Capt. Marty

Kasules; Log Newspaper’s Bureau Chief Laurie Morrison; Harbor

Commissioners Duffy Duffield and John Corrough; Scott and Marie

Schock, Schock Boats; Tony Melum, city of Newport Beach Harbor

Resources Director; Newport Mooring Assn. representatives Wade White

& Clive Towndrow; and Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce membership

director Jim Villers, who is always taking pictures with his

film-less camera.

Of course, we can never give the chamber’s special event director,

Karin Graves, enough credit for handling the details and her

multi-roles to make it look like Mark and I were on a perfectly

charted course.

The evening’s first guest speaker was this year’s chamber chairman

Phil Bettencourt, who was followed by two representatives from the

Southern California Marine Assn. Dave Geoffroy, executive director,

and Stacy Freemen, marketing manager, took the time to attend our

event and prepare their presentations.

Then it was time for our main speaker, Tim Collins, who is Newport

Beach’s first chairman of the new Harbor Commission. Tim was well

prepared and an easy going speaker who outlined the commission’s

mission. This was an excellent forum for Tim to reach out to the

marine community and personally explain how everyone can be involved

in the decision making process.

Tim stressed that the commissioners need valuable input from the

marine community and businesses on the numerous topics affecting the

harbor. Melum assisted Tim, explaining how to access the commission’s

minutes and agendas on the city’s Web site

(www.city.newport-beach.ca.us) so everyone can keep informed. We

concluded the evening by giving out the door prizes with Bobbi Silvey

reaching into a glass bowl and fishing out the lucky people’s

business cards.

*

Tip of the week is for every boater to make safe passage through

the harbor with the hundreds of sailboats in the summer classes and

races.

First, the harbor is open to everyone and technically no one can

block any portion of navigable waters unless granted a special event

permit by the United States 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. However, in a few instances I have been blocked, not by the

racers, but by the committee or spectator boats drifting outside the

course into the passage lanes.

Boaters cruising through the harbor need to plan ahead and try to

avoid the sailing course by planning a course outside of the markers.

Please watch for the beginner sailor who may loose control and drift

in front of your vessel. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid the

fleet or if a vessel is in the middle of sailboats, then everyone

needs to be courteous, as prescribed by maritime law and right of way

dictates for all vessels.

The sailors do not need to be waving and yelling for the boat to

move and harsh words do not need to be exchanged. 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 there will always be another day, I hope.

Safe Voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist.

Send him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story

suggestions via e-mail to Mike@BoathouseTV.com or BoathouseTV.com.