Marine meeting the place to be

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

What a great meeting of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce

marine committee this week. Committee chairman Mark Silvey peered out

at a packed room at the Newport Sea Base.

Almost every representative from the boating community was

present, from recreational boaters to commercial boaters, yacht

brokers, charter boat operators, yacht clubs, the Harbor Patrol, City

of Newport Beach representatives -- including Mayor Steve Bromberg --

and me, the solo media. Among the absent were state and federal

officials, but the director of California’s Boating & Waterways will

attend a future meeting.

There are major issues affecting not only the marine community,

but the community as a whole. Topping the list is the transition of

our harbor’s characteristics from water-dependent uses (such as

shipyards) to condos along the waterfront. Just look at the two

current fights over water access -- Marinapark and El Morro Village.

Harbor Commissioner John Corrough made an eloquent finish to his

report at the meeting. He touched on Marinapark, the public’s last

remaining, open, bayfront property, when he concluded by saying,

“Just look at the name of the property -- Marina and park.”

Well said. I propose a name change to Marina Launch Ramp Park.

The other ongoing battle is the beachfront, state-owned land of

the El Morro Village mobile-home park. This is such a heated debate

that Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore is becoming involved with

legislation to let the tenants stay on the land for another 30 years.

Well, let me rename that property to El Morro Village Marina Park.

OK, so maybe it’s not a good idea unless a jetty is built to protect

the cove from the swells, but I wanted to make a point of the high

demand for access to the water, especially by you, the public.

If you sit back and do nothing, then you may not like what you

will see in a decade or two along our harbor and coastline.

However, there are many ways to have input -- writing letters to

the editor, writing your representatives in government, attending

meetings, calling my radio show and, as happened with Marinapark,

speaking with your votes.

QUESTION OF WEEK

I answered a few questions last week, and many of you e-mailed

with more questions. So I will try to include a question or two from

time to time in my column. There is one question that needs

answering, since many of you now own loud muscle boats.

Some readers were curious if there were any new boating laws for

2005 in California.

Luckily, this was a new year with only a few new regulations.

However, keep your attention focused on the Feds, who want to impose

mandatory wearing of lifejackets of everyone aboard a vessel.

I mentioned the teak surfing ban and the new, ugly

carbon-monoxide- warning sticker you must affix to your beautiful

vessel’s transom in a previous column.

So I asked June Iljana, who is the new public information officer

for the Department of Boating and Waterways, about other new

regulations.

“You may want to mention the motorboat noise laws that took effect

Jan. 1,” she said. “They extend the noise limits to include coastal

waters within one mile of shore, they require motorboats to be

manufactured with a muffler unless they are solely racing boats, and

they establish safer and more efficient protocols for measuring

motorboat noise.”

Tune in to the No. 1 boating talk radio show in the nation, “Capt.

Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show.” It airs every Saturday from

noon to 1 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join me, Chandler Bell and

Eric Hovland by calling the listener line at (888) 344-1170.

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

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boat housetv.com.