Not just salty air in the nostrils

Ahoy.

The Daily Pilot’s story this month, “Something’s rotten in Back Bay,” is amusing and brings back memories.

Do you remember driving along Coast Highway just below Hoag Hospital where there was a smell that burned your nose and there was an exhaust stack with the eternal flame?

Everyone is breathing a breath of fresh air since Hoag built the lower campus, eliminating the foul fumes and stack, but where did the fumes go?

The lower bay has plenty of unusual smells, as many boaters can attest to as they cruise the waterways.

In my youth, I taught and managed the city’s aquatics programs for many moons. I remember teaching sailing at the Orange Coast College Sailing Center where the bay’s water bubbles still today. The bubbles are methane and ethane gases escaping from Mother Earth, and we could capture enough gas in plastic milk jugs to flame off with a match.

That section of the bay at times would have a repulsive odor, but not as bad at the Fun Zone area at low tide. Ouch, that area made my eyes water at times.

However, boaters know that weighing anchor in the harbor’s anchorage can be a messy and challenging chore to keep yourself and your boat clean.

This is where deckhands are most useful washing the dark, sticky, smelly gunk from the depths of the bay off the rode, anchor, bow and locker while I sit in the pilothouse. “Rode,” for you landlubbers, is the chain or line that connects the anchor to the boat, and “weighing” is to pull up.

However, I remember my stinkiest time. I was teaching sailing off OCC’s docks one weekend and a main sewer line burst underneath Coast Highway just a stone’s throw away toward the Bay Club.

The sewage was diverted directly into the bay during repairs, and did I mention thousands of gallons of raw sewage gushing out into the bay? The sailing classes were canceled, to say the least.

TIP OF THE WEEK

The tip of the week is more on decorating your boat for the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The parade is only 4 1/2 weeks away, so do not procrastinate getting your boat decorated safely.

On a technical note, most people do not know that unless you are actually participating in a sanctioned parade, it is not proper to display any external lights, such as Christmas lights, that distract from the navigational lights. The Harbor Patrol and the Coast Guard are using their discretion in enforcing this regulation during the month of December, so cruise safely.

Since you will be cruising at night, the decorations cannot interfere with the vessel’s normal navigational lights. Also, never install any extraneous lights, especially spotlights that shine into another skipper’s eyes. You will notice that the more seasoned boaters will enhance their navigational lights by using red bulbs by the port light and green bulbs by the starboard light.

Boating safety regulations require that none of the decorations obstruct or prevent the deployment of any required safety devices aboard your vessel, including ring buoys, life rafts, life jackets and fire extinguishers. Decorate smart, think safety, and I will have more next week. Also, send me your decorating tips for my column.

Lastly, while I was finishing this column, I received an e-mail from an online boating business newspaper, Trade Only Today: “Study puts Miami show impact at $818M. How much does the big Miami boat show pump into the Florida economy? More than $800 million, according to a report released today by the show’s producer, the National Marine Manufacturers Assn.”

Just think on a smaller scale how the annual Newport Boat Show and the Lido Yacht Expo boosts our local economy and the city’s coffers, not to mention that the shows are a great family recreational activity. Hey Duncan, boat shows producer, how about arranging dancing dolphins in the bay at your upcoming show in May?

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.

Safe voyages.

* 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 mike@boathousetv.com or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.

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