MIKE WHITEHEAD -- The Harbor Column
Ahoy.
The Army Corps of Engineers surveyed specific areas of the harbor in
June to tabulate the channel depths for seven channels (entrance, Corona
Del Mar bend, Balboa Reach, Harbor Island Reach, Lido Isle Reach, Turning
Basin and Balboa Island’s North Channel).
The new table was printed in the Oct. 9 Local Notice to Mariner’s
issue 41/01 to update your charts. The controlling depths are from
seaward in feet, calculated at mean lower low water (MLLW).
There also is a caveat stating: “Consult the Corps of Engineers for
changes subsequent to the above information” (referring to the table).
Looks like 4.9 feet is the lowest spot listed, which is the right
outside quarter of Balboa Island’s North Channel that ranges from 4.9
feet to 7.8 feet, with project dimensions of 10 feet at MLLW. The other
surveyed channels range between 8.8 feet and 19.3 feet, with all areas
having project dimensions of 20 feet at MLLW.
It is very apparent in these figures that the harbor does need
dredging to maintain just the set dimensions from the corps.
Dredging serves a few purposes to help the overall well-being of our
great resource.
First off, dredging improves the safety of any harbor. Water depth is
required for boaters to safely navigate while underway, preventing the
vessel from grounding, which can cause bodily injury and spillage of fuel
and oils if the boat sinks.
Also, dredging helps the water quality by increasing the volume of
water in the harbor. The harbor water is exchanged with the open ocean
water by the two daily tides.
And the dredged sand can be used to replenish the numerous bay beaches
and in front of the sea walls that has been eroded throughout the harbor.
There are areas in the harbor that, due to their location, are subject to
sand being washed away and deposited elsewhere.
***
There’s good news for Chris Craft after being sold when OMC went
bankrupted. The reborn Chris Craft Co. now owns its own name for the
first-time ever. In the past, an annual licensing fee was paid to use the
name by OMC, the former boat manufacturer. Stellican Ltd., a
Julius-controlled company, looks like they are repositioning the line to
be very competitive in the 20- to 60-foot boat sizes. Keep an eye on
Chris Craft as my sources hint that there is funding and a renewed
excitement with active hiring at the Florida location.
***
Marty Kasules, who is the Newport Harbor Master and a very active
boater, sent me three boating tips for this week’s column.
Capt. Kasules wants to remind boaters to use visual observations to
check for the direction of the tides when entering the harbor. Look at
the direction of moored boats such as Deerfoot (at the southeast corner
of the Balboa Yacht Club mooring area) to determine whether the tide is
coming in or going out.
When tied to a single mooring can, Deerfoot and its predecessor,
Newsboy, are affected more by the current than the normal prevailing wind
due to their deep keels.
For general knowledge, the bow of a boat points toward the direction
the tide is coming from when the boat is secured to a single can mooring
or bow anchored. If you observe the boats pointing in all different
directions, then it is probably a slack tide. Keep in mind high profile
power boats are sometimes influenced more by the wind than the current.
In a May column, I discussed the laser light atop the Harbor
Department’s facility that directs boaters back into the jetty entrance.
Well, Capt. Kasules says the laser lights were removed when the Harbor
Patrol’s maintenance garages were re-roofed last month.
Since the system was never an official aid for navigation -- rather a
long-term experiment on loan from the company that developed the
technology -- there are no plans to replace the laser lights.
Kasule and I have a question for you that we’d like you to answer:
“Did you like or dislike the laser lights and should they be
reinstalled?”
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 Mike@BoathouseTV.comf7 or o7 https://www.BoathouseTV.comf7 .
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