On the Waterfront
EXAMINING LONG RANGE GOALS TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE NEWPORT HARBOR
By Matt Morrison
For a generation of youngsters who grew up around the Newport Harbor, there’s a legacy to perpetuate. OK, maybe they’re only considered youngsters on a geologic scale, yet together they’ve accumulated decades of passion for the fabulous waterway central to our community. The goal now is to preserve it for generations to come.
Chairman Dennis Durgan
We might compare it to fixing up a stately landmark home; the curb appeal is still magnificent but the bones need attention. Dennis Durgan can certainly relate to the analogy.
A residential real estate professional in the community for more than four decades, Durgan grew up on the harbor, beginning in the early 1960’s when it was a seasonal recreation destination. He learned to sail here, then went on to crew in three America’s Cup competitions working with both Ted Turner and Dennis Connor. Now it’s a cause for the future, and not just his own.
“There are numerous issues the harbor has, and will continue to have, as we move forward. There’s more and more people that want to use it,” Durgan explains. “I used to call it the sandbox. Well, the sandbox is overflowing with kids that want to play.”
“With all of their toys…” chimes in Val Lyon, like Durgan, a board member of the Newport Harbor Foundation, established in 2019.
Ah yes, all the toys.
Board Member Edward “Val” Lyon
“Those damn Duffys!,” quips Marshall ‘Duffy’ Duffield, also a BBC member more noted as the inventor of the popular electric touring boat. Some three thousand Duffy boats are in use around local waterways. That’s in addition to all the sailboats, yachts, sport racing shells, paddleboards, kayaks – and the list goes on. The former Newport Beach Mayor has been a City Council member for eight years, and a key ally in the harbor improvement movement.
The long-time friends and lifelong denizens of Newport Beach are only the tip of an iceberg of fellow residents focusing energy and resources on important marine issues. They believe stewardship is best directed by those most concerned; homeowners, local businesses, and recreational users.
“The goal of the NHF is to educate the public on key issues and support City leadership in creating a comprehensive, locally contained Harbor Safety Department,” Lyon explains.
The foundation hosted more than 175 guests including government officials at its pandemic-delayed kickoff fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Resort last October. The event raised over a half million dollars to seed the NHF’s stated mission to study, research, and educate the general public regarding the maintenance and improvement of the Newport Harbor as a valuable environmental, cultural, and recreational asset. The further goal is to equip the local police and fire departments with patrol boats and other equipment so that the public safety component can be fully contained under City jurisdiction.
Mayor Marshall “Duffy” Duffield
“The harbor is this city’s number one asset and the maintenance of any asset takes proper resources, and time, and dedication,” Durgan explains. “It really is the center of Newport Beach. It isn’t Fashion Island and it’s not the peninsula. Everything revolves around the harbor.”
“Basically, we want to take it to the next level, since the City Council adopted a Harbor Department in 2018,” continues Durgan, who served as the City’s first Harbormaster. “We had no policies and procedures, at all. Because they hadn’t had anything on the harbor for four decades. It took a long time to develop that whole system. We got it up and running, and we had tons of derelict boats out there.”
Critical to the eco-health, the Newport Harbor hasn’t been formally dredged to its specified 25-foot depth since 1938. It’s a big part of why Duffield ran for City Council in the first place. He remembers a time when he regularly dug fresh clams from the shoreline. As he terms out of office later this year, Duffy’s managed to sway colleagues locally, and lobby a handful of times in Washington, DC, to help secure Newport Beach approximately $16 million in federal funding for the dredging project.
Since the 1970’s, public safety on the water has been handled by the county Sheriffs department.
“They’re in charge because the City doesn’t have any law enforcement or fire capability on the harbor,” Durgan explains. “This is one of the largest recreational harbors in the world, and we don’t have either. We have a fantastic fire department. If you have a fire at a restaurant or any facility, they can get to it by land but they don’t have anyway to get to it by water.”
With only praise for the OC Sheriff’s department, members of the NHF feel the recreational safety and business aspects around the harbor could best be served with dedicated local law enforcement that have closer ties to community. The County, in cooperation with the Coast Guard and federal Homeland Security Agency, would still oversee the broader criminal threats such as drug smuggling and human trafficking from a boundary extending three miles off the coast.
“If we can use our own police for security, and our own fire department for safety, those are key elements. At that point, we can say to the Sheriffs, ‘we got this covered’,” Durgan explains. “We don’t want them to tell us how to manage our harbor.”
For the past two decades, the Harbor Commission has served as an advisory panel to identify and remedy important issues on the waterway. Yet the slow grind of government operations has been an impediment. With the City’s newly-established Harbor Department, and citizen involvement like the Harbor Foundation, momentum is accelerating. Paul Blank was appointed the new Harbormaster a year ago.
Harbormaster Paul Blank
A Newport Beach native, accomplished sailor and avid yachtsman, Blank previously served eight years on the Harbor Commission. A career IT professional and hotel proprietor, his leadership resume includes Rear Commodore of the Balboa Yacht Club.
“I feel tremendously supported by my colleagues in city government. They are an incredibly impressive group of professionals,” Blank says, while admitting processes can be frustratingly slow. “The best decisions for the greater community are being made. It’s a matter of priorities. I’ve witnessed the healthy discussion and the healthy disagreements.”
The Harbor Department currently has three fulltime employees and another 19 part-time workers.
“We’re going to have all kinds of things that need attention,” Durgan points out. “With the foundation, I think we can help identify those things and make contributions to support the harbor. If people have the means to donate, it’s a good cause that will resonate for generations.”
The article was first published in the June, 2022 edition of Bay Window.
Newport Beach has a handful of iconic attractions that have stood the test of time: The Newport Pier, which replaced the original McFadden Wharf (1888-1939) and is registered as a California Historical Landmark; the Balboa Pavilion, which opened on July 1, 1906 and is the city’s oldest standing building; and the Balboa Island Ferry, which went into service in 1919 to bring cars and passengers across 900 feet of water between Balboa Island and the Balboa Fun Zone.
Michele Gile reports from Newport Beach with Seymour Beek, where many are celebrating that the beloved Balboa Island ferry’s fate is no longer in jeopardy after receiving a $7.9 million grant to convert from diesel to zero-emissions operations by 2025.
The 8th Annual Newport Beach Wooden Boat Festival will return to the Balboa Yacht Club, June 7 – 8, 2024 with more than 40 wooden vessels of all sizes on display, and a collection of master artisans and craftsmen at work.
This year’s festival theme is “The Art & Craft of the Wooden Boat” in celebration of the creative artistry, intricate craftsmanship, and timeless beauty of wooden boats.
“Event guests will be able to immerse themselves in the centuries-old artform of wooden boat building, and the fine woodworking and artistic details that adorn the boats,” said event chair Stephen Paljieg. “This year’s event will be bigger and better than ever. Its theme captures the essence of the passion and artistry behind these magnificent, one-of-a-kind watercrafts and the inclusion of the master craftsmen who build and keep them in ‘Bristol condition’ takes it to a whole new level of experience.”
Welcome to a New Year which takes me back to The Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” whose message is summarized in the last line, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” and its meaning is “nothing changes and so don’t get fooled again.” Which is a very confusing way to report on what’s going on in the harbor this first month of 2024. So let me backtrack before throwing a few soft punches.
I ended last week by walking through Basin Shipyard and took a moment to talk to owners Dereck and Dave New. As always this time of year, the yard is packed with Dave reporting that they are two months out. So, if you own a boat with outboards or Pod drives, you better call now and book your annual maintenance to be ready for the spring/summer boating season. The yard was full of new Tiara products, but I’m sure there were many other makes of yachts in the yard, yet the pretty ones always grab my attention first.
Q: From a distance it seemed like a quiet year, no oil spills, tsunamis, down aircraft. So what did I miss?
A: There were a couple of severe weather (wind and rain) events this year. We revived the technology we use to notify mooring permittees of approaching weather and urge them to verify their mooring equipment and lines to ensure all are secure. You may recall, there was considerable attention and communication in anticipation of Hurricane Hilary arriving in August. One other of the severe weather events was a strong Santa Ana which stresses the mooring equipment from a different direction than usual, so we have significant concern about boats staying in place when faced with unusual conditions. All in all, things were fine and we greatly appreciated everyone’s preparedness in the face of these severe events.
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