Old hand steps off deck

Andrew Edwards

After three decades of pumping fuel, fixing boats and making friends

with a number of Newport Beach sailors, Balboa Island fixture Kenny

Addis is about to retire.

“Kenny’s like an institution, an icon,” Newport Beach resident

Neil Beatty said.

Beatty, 61, was one of about 30 who gathered Thursday for Addis’

retirement cruise around Newport Harbor on the ferry “Admiral.” Addis

worked at the Island Marine Fuel dock, right next to the ferries,

since 1974, and is days away from leaving the harbor for Oklahoma,

where his wife’s family lives. His last day of work will be Nov. 8.

Addis’ co-workers and a handful of dock customers who became his

friends joined up to share stories and say goodbye in the ocean

breeze.

Addis first started working at a different fuel dock in 1963 and

left the harbor to take an office job in the city in 1968, he said.

It was not long before he was back in Newport.

“I went to Los Angeles,” Addis said. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t

work in an office.”

Addis returned to Newport in 1974 and especially enjoyed working

with the customers he met in the harbor. Meeting new people was one

of his biggest motivations for staying on the dock for three decades.

“It was the people you meet, the real neat people from all walks

of life,” Addis said.

Another boat owner who befriended Addis was Anaheim resident Don

Vary. Vary has owned two boats and always came to Addis to keep his

vessels shipshape.

“Kenny’s maintained my boats, done all the oil changes, all the

fuel filter changes,” Vary said. “It’s good service. I never had to

worry about my boats.

“He could probably ride around here, look at all these boats and

tell you who owns them.”

Addis was well-known around the harbor for his easy-going

attitude, and during his farewell trip around the harbor, an Orange

County Sheriff’s deputy with the Harbor Patrol pulled his boat

alongside the ferry to say goodbye and take a snapshot of Addis with

his friends.

The guests at Addis’ bon voyage party did not seem surprised by

the deputy’s visit. People aboard the ferry said just about anyone

who knows their way around the harbor knows Addis.

“You say fuel dock, Newport Harbor, you think Kenny Addis,” said

David Beek, whose family owns the fuel dock.