The Harbor Column -- Mike Whitehead

Ahoy.

I think that being in a boat off the coast in the evening on the

Fourth of July would be one of the worst days in the year to try

signaling for help whether you are sinking or stranded. There will be

thousands of people boating and others enjoying the beaches, but every

time you shoot off a flare, the distant crowds will all cheer and clap at

your wonderful display of fireworks.

On busy holidays like the Fourth, I have seen a lot of interesting

things happen on the water from collisions to dock fights, and even more

of the most un-seamanship conduct to ever hit the water. So let’s be

courteous and careful boating this busy week.

Remember that speed kills. What’s your hurry while in the harbor,

anyway? You want to travel with the flow of traffic by keeping your

starboard side to shore and passing oncoming vessels port to port. Beware

that the maneuvers you make with your boat will affect all the boats

around you. Therefore, before you turn, look behind you to see if it is

clear and don’t stop in the middle of a traffic lane unless you have to

for safety reasons.

Most accidents are either caused by skippers not paying attention to

their responsibilities or some indulging too much in alcoholic beverages.

Do not let the experienced skipper become drunk and then have an

inexperienced person take the helm. A person cannot operate a boat with a

blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, and it would be wisest to keep it

at .00 for the safety of your guests and the guests on the other boat

that you may hit. Most important, before leaving the dock show all your

passengers the location of the life jackets, fire extinguishers, ring

buoy, and other safety equipment.

The Newport Mooring Assn., which represents the interests of Newport

Harbor’s mooring holders, recently joined the Newport Harbor Area Chamber

of Commerce’s Marine Committee. The Marine Committee, on which I am the

Chair, welcomes associations like the mooring association to join in

helping to tackle the marine-related issues that face Newport Harbor. The

association has a few issues they are addressing such as the fees,

services, and dinghy storage.

In my last column, I mentioned the lack of guest day docks in the

harbor and I received an overwhelming response from readers who share my

viewpoint. Think about the dilemma if you have your boat on a mooring can

-- what do you do with your dinghy that is the only transportation to and

from shore? There are no shore side docks or beach storage for the

dinghies, so what do you do when you want to go ashore for a while? For

discussion, let’s look at 15th Street dock by the American Legion and

visualize reconfiguring that dock so that those with boats on the

moorings in that area can tie up their boats on the inside portion of the

dock toward the beach for storage.

Another concept would be to allow beach storage either on the sand at

15th Street or in front of 16th Street, which is the rarely used end of

the beach with public sidewalk access bayside to the Marina Trailer Park.

I think that at one time there was dinghy storage on the beach where you

would lock your boat to a stretched out chain. Do you have any solutions?

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 o7 [email protected] or o7 https://www.BoathouseTV.comf7 .