Newport Harbor loses a piece of its history

Deepa Bharath

If the harbor and bay could articulate their feelings, they would

speak endlessly about how much they would miss their longtime buddy

-- John Blaich.

Blaich, a longtime Corona del Mar resident, sailing instructor and

boating historian, died Sunday of cancer. He was 84.

Blaich got his first boat when he was only 8 years old -- a time

when other kids his age probably couldn’t think beyond the paper and

toy boats they played with. The JAB, as he called it, was actually a

rowboat, but the resourceful boy converted her to sail by using

bamboo poles for a mast, boom and gaft and an old paint drip cloth

for a sail.

Boating was no game for Blaich, his friends say. It was a passion,

an obsession and a subject worthy of serious study and research.

Blaich grew up in Whittier, but spent most summers on the Balboa

Peninsula, where his father owned a cottage.

“He was intense in things that he wanted to do,” said friend

Willard Courtney. “He had a great love for Newport Beach, for the

ocean and sailing.”

Courtney said a turning point in Blaich’s life was in 1935, when

16-year-old Blaich was one of the local Sea Scouts selected to go

aboard Capt. Fred E. Lewis’ 230-foot motor ship, the Stranger, as a

member of the professional crew. It was a six-month voyage that

traversed several countries and islands, including Panama, Ecuador,

the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Cocos Island, Guatemala, Nicaragua

and Mexico. The crew collected wild animals for the San Diego Zoo.

Among the animals they brought back were several sea turtles and

alligators.

Courtney said Blaich was a different man after the voyage. He

became proficient in operating small boats.

A sailor was born.

Once he returned from the trip, he started Newport Harbor’s first

sailing school. Using his snowbird, he offered 10 one-hour lessons

for $12. In 1941, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club hired him as its

first full-time sailing instructor.

Blaich was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in

1943, based partly on his sailing and boating experience. During

World War II, he served aboard the USS Baltimore in the Western

Pacific for more than three years. Blaich earned nine battle stars

and became a qualified underway watch and division officer for both

deck and engineering. He retired from the Naval Reserve with full

benefits as a commander in 1969.

Blaich was famous locally for his extensive knowledge about boats

and their history. In 2000, he published a coffee table book titled

“The Large Yachts of Newport Harbor before World War II.” Stan

Cochran, who worked with him on the book, said Blaich “was an

authority on Newport Beach boating history.”

“He has spent a lot of time in the harbor and knew the boats

coming and going,” he said.

Blaich also wrote stories monthly in the Daily Pilot about the

area’s shipwrecks over the years.

Marty Kasules, the former harbormaster, said he often sought

Blaich’s expertise on the area’s history.

“John’s been great at being the historian of Newport Harbor. He is

our historian,” Kasules said. “Who will step in to fill that void?

It’s a great loss to Newport Harbor to lose him.”

Cochran said he not only sailed, but raced in his 29-foot sloop,

the Ice Breaker. He had been a member of the Balboa Yacht Club for 16

years. He served on various committees and had been the club’s

protocol chairman for four years, establishing flag etiquette and

various yachting procedures including a burial-at-sea procedure that

is now widely used by the boating community in Newport Beach.

The flags that adorn the bar at the Balboa Yacht Club are also

Blaich’s legacy, Courtney said.

“He collected them from yacht clubs from all over the world,” he

said. “It was remarkable.”

Family members recall Blaich as a warm and caring man who had a

way with people.

“He was the-life-of-a-party kind of guy,” said Blaich’s nephew

Jonathan Lane. “He was a devoted lifelong sailor.”

Blaich competed in races and won as recent as a year ago, his wife

Betty said.

“We have a few trophies in our home,” she said with a laugh.

Betty spent close to 50 years enjoying several sailing trips with

her husband.

“Every year on Labor Day, we’d sail to Cherry Cove and stay there

for 10 days,” she said. “He just loved the ocean. I don’t know why.

He just loved being out there.”

Blaich is survived by his wife; nephews Christopher and Jonathan

Lane; niece Marjorie Francis; and cousins Robert Smith and Jean

Duberg. A private funeral will be held. A memorial service will be

held at the Balboa Yacht Club next week.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.