Island’s 76 ball is 86ed

Andrew Edwards

For 15 years, the bright orange Union 76 ball above the Island Marine

Fuel dock was part of Newport Harbor’s skyline. On Thursday, the

local icon was retired.

“The ball’s been kind of a landmark,” David Beek recalled.

Beek’s family owns the fuel dock and the adjacent Balboa Island

Ferry service. He remembered people would tell others “meet me at the

76 mart,” or “the ferry’s next to the 76 ball.”

The Union 76 sign was replaced with a white, black and yellow sign

advertising ValvTect Marine Fuel. The new sign promotes fuel

additives sold at the dock that are designed to prevent water damage

to diesel engines and to kill microbes that can thrive in diesel

fuel, Beek said.

Beek said his company started selling boaters fuel with ValvTect

additives around April 2003, and the enhanced fuel became popular

with local mariners within six months.

“Every boat that tried it never went back to regular diesel,” Beek

said.

If his station serviced cars, Beek said he would never get rid of

the Union 76 ball, but he wants the fuel dock’s image to reflect its

waterfront locale.

“We just want to be a marine fuel station. We don’t have anything

to do with cars,” he said.

Early Thursday morning, a crane barge motored its way through the

harbor and pulled up next to the fuel dock. Higinio Ramirez sat on a

small wooden plank that was hooked up to the crane. Barge operator

Felipe Rodriguez lifted Ramirez above the orange sphere, and

Rodriguez attached a cable to the old sign.

“We always do this kind of work, so I’m not scared,” Ramirez said.

While Ramirez worked above the sign, fuel dock maintenance

director Tom Smith, and operations manager Lowell Swett loosened the

bolts that held the ball in place. After the bolts were out, Smith

snipped a wire that ran down from the ball and gave a thumbs up to

Rodriguez, who lifted the sign above the fuel station and carried it

to the middle of the harbor.

The ball was lowered onto a ferry, and work to install the new

sign began.

In less than two hours, the 15-year-old Union 76 ball had been

replaced.

“I’ve been on this barge 22 years, so it makes it easy,” Rodriguez

said.

Beek said he would wait awhile to find out if anyone has a claim

to the old sign. If not, he suggested the ball could be sold on EBay.

“I don’t think there’s a manual on how to dispose of 76 balls,”

Beek joked.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.