The Harbor Column: Be grateful for good drinking water

Did you know that this week is National Drinking Water Week? Neither did I until an e-mail from a loyal reader hit my inbox.

“Drinking Water Week is an opportunity for North Americans to think about what water means to each of us,” AWWA President Craig Woolard said in a news release. “A safe, reliable water supply is critical to the success of any community. It creates jobs, supports business and investment, and provides for the health and welfare of citizens in ways ranging from disease-prevention to fire suppression.”

What Woolard said hits home because we are fortunate to live where our drinking water is of excellent quality and safe to drink from the tap supplied by Newport Beach and the Mesa Consolidated Water District. The district’s reports show that its tap water is above most bottled water.

The water-saving tips from the district are excellent, and you can view them at mesawater.org/education. These tips will not only save our fresh-water supply, but also help to reduce urban run-off from reaching our harbor.

So, let’s tip together a glass of tap water and thank those who bring us water directly to our homes.

Sunday, my wife and I had a wonderful day while visiting Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s opening day ceremonies.

The weather was perfect for this festive event, and the yacht club’s docks were full of members’ boats that were med-tied, beam-to-beam, circling the docks.

Our VIP guest boat for the day was aboard a beautiful J-44 named the Patriot owned by Paul Stemler, whom I would like to thank for his exceptional hospitality. He opened his boat to us as a comfort zone to relax during the day between brunch, the ceremonies and visiting other boats.

Also, this is the first time in my life that I can recall taking off my shoes to go aboard Gary Hill’s tugboat, the William B. Gary had made a creative use of the tug’s bait tank by placing a keg of beer inside it. He had to have the most popular vessel on display and he wondered why I took off my shoes — well, everyone else who was boarding did.

MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating columnist. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to www.boathousetv.com .