Community

Have an opinion about something Letters/Online Comments Write to: The Log Editorial, P.O. Box 1337, you read in The Log?

Newport Beach, CA 92659 thelogeditor@thelog.com.

Letters/Online Comments

RE: Floating Homes: The Life of Southern California’s Liveaboards

I found this information very helpful. I’m getting ready to buy or rent a liveaboard. It’s always been a dream of mine. Being a recent widow and Divorce. I need a change. I’ve had ski boats, jets skies, and the water has always called to me. Would like more information on a 40’ to 50’ foot to lease to buy. It would be the adventure of my lifetime. Thank you. — Traci Herrera

RE: Is Long Beach’s Ecosystem Restoration Project Bad News for Boaters

(FEB. 21 - MARCH 5, 2020)

No kelp will grow in the harbor. As anybody that has waded in the ocean on the peninsula side knows, the water is super dirty. Your legs will get coated with plastic bags and other crap. They fi rst need to spend millions and fi lter the water coming down the L.A. River. Currently, the Long Beach Harbor water is too hot and dirty, the only thing that will grow now is Bacteria! — Chris

RE: SoCal Classics:

Galatea (AUG. 25 - SEPT 7, 2017)

I used to go on the Galatea occasionally as a kid. My grandfather, Tom Bussjaeger, was cousins with Violet. — Marek Robinson

All comments are edited for grammar and clarity.

Reader Q&A By Jordan B. Darling

RE: “Balboa Island Ferry Has Been in Service for Over 100 Years”

QTrue or false. The Fun Zone is being sold? Sad if this is true, and what would happen to our ferry?

AThe Discovery Cube, a nonprofi t science center, is planning to sell the property that The Balboa Fun Zone is on, because of the fi nancial impacts of COVID-19. The sale will include the Fun Zone building, a 21,400 square foot marina, a boardwalk, including the Ferris wheel and other rides, and the parking garage. There is no indication of what the new buyer would do with The Fun Zone. The original announcement came out on Dec. 2, 2020, but the property was not o cially listed until Feb. 16, according to a March 1 article from Spectrum News 1. The ferry is privately owned by the Beeker family and is not included in the sale. FAST FACTS

Whale Watching Rises to Fame

By: LINDSEY GLASGOW

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — From a $1 business in 1955 to a billion-dollar industry today, whale watching has transformed into a booming industry in California and across the world.

“What began about 30 years ago as a way for local sportfishing boats to survive the slow winter months has now become an important industry all its own,” the Log reported in the February 1979 issue.

The first ‘official’ whale-watching trip was conducted by a fisherman from San Diego named Chuck Chamberline who put out a sign saying “See the whales: $1,” according to The Whale-watching Industry: Historical Development, a chapter written by E.C.M Parsons and Erich Hoyt for the book “Whale-Watching (Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management).”

Chamberline was influenced by the slow fishing in the winter and by land-based student whale-watching ‘counts’ which had been going on since the late 1940s as part of a University of California research and government monitoring project by the pioneer whale researcher Carl Hubbs.

Gray whales at the time were recovering from very low numbers after the end of 19th-century whaling practices. Interests in the whales began peaking and land lookouts, formal guides with naturalists, and informal guides sprang up all along the California coast to witness the gray whale migration between Baja California, Mexico, and Alaska. The California gray whale became a symbol of the U.S. conservation movement in the late 1960s and was designated California’s State Marine Mammal in 1975.

By the 1970s, boat-based whale watching started to take off. Commercial whale-watching spread first to the Mexican lagoons, with long-range, naturalist-led trips out of San Diego, according to “Whale-Watching (Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management).”

A headline from the December 1978 Log read “Permits For Baja Whale-Watching Trips Sent To San Diego, Officials Say.”

“The firms planning whale-watching trips this winter include H&M Landing, Fisherman’s Landing, Baja Expeditions, Wilderness Trails Expeditions, and Baja Frontier Tours,” said the 1978 article.

In 1975, whale-watching tours opened up in New England to see the humpback whales feeding in waters on the east coast and it went on to become a big business, according to “Whale-Watching (Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management).”

In 1981, it was estimated the value of whale-watching amounted to $14 million in tourist expenditure from tickets, food, accommodation, travel, and souvenirs, according to “Whale-Watching (Sustainable Tourism and Ecological Management).” In 2008, the whale watching industry was estimated to amount to $2.1 billion in total expenditures.

On Board With Johnson by J.R. Johnson

STANDING WATCH SHOULD THE COASTAL COMMISSION APPROVE CHANGES TO NEWPORT BEACH HARBOR VISITOR DOCK?

In May, the California Coastal Commission is poised to consider an application from Orange County Parks to amend a coastal development permit to make a Corona del Mar visitor dock for emergency use only by the sheriff’s department and modify dinghy dock tie-up hours but not all stakeholders are satisfied with the conditions of the proposed amendment.

By: LINDSEY GLASGOW

NEWPORT BEACH—An issue of public access and authority that has been ongoing since 2019 when” Keep Out” and “Authorized Personnel Only” signage appeared on a set of public guest docks shared by the boating public and the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol in Corona del Mar has now made it to the California Coastal Commission docket. While “Keep Out” signage at the guest docks at 1901 Bayside Drive has given way to “Public Guest Docks: Please see OC Harbor Patrol for rental information” signs, some stakeholders say issues and an unwelcoming feeling persist at the harbor front site.

“Without exception, the public is made to feel like intruders — or perhaps even having criminal tendencies,” wrote Penny Elia in comments submitted to the Coastal Commission.

OC Parks is now seeking after-the-fact approval to amend the coastal development permit to change the use of the visitor dock from a public temporary tie-up to an emergency dock for OCSD use only and to change the hours of the dinghy dock tieup from 72 hours maximum to day-use only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. They are also seeking to install two safety gates and fencing around the OCSD building and lifeguard headquarters. Five guest slips at the facility would remain available for boaters to use and public parking would remain for the adjacent beach.

Readers might remember a series of Standing Watch articles published in 2019 after several changes were made at the facility by Lieutenant Christopher Corn, who has since retired from the OCSD. According to a

2C 2C DARK BKGND BW

See STANDING WATCH page 12

Dog Aboard

Is your pet as avid a boater as you? Send The Log pictures of your four-legged first mate. Email your photo, contact information and a description about your pet and boat to thelogeditor@thelog.com

Mr. Sam, Wants You to Give Him Pats Terrier-ific Pups on the Water

California’s Boating and Fishing News

Founded in 1971

NO. 1152 APRIL 16 - APRIL 29, 2021 WRITE TO:

P.O. Box 1337 Newport Beach, CA 92659 (949) 660-6150 (800) 873-7327 Fax (949) 660-6172

EDITORIAL/CREATIVE

(949) 660-6150

Staff Editor

Jordan B. Darling (949) 503-7654 jdarling@goboating.com

Staff Writer

Lindsey Glasgow (949) 503-7690 lindsey@thelog.com

Graphic Artist

Julie Hogan

Production Artist

Mary Monge

Contributors

J.R. Johnson, Catherine French, David Weil Publisher Duncan McIntosh, Jr. duncan@thelog.com

Vice President and General Manager

Debbie Brock dbrock@duncanmcintoshco.com

Operations Manager/ Sea Magazine Editor

Jenny Scroggins seaeditor@goboating.com

ADVERTISING SALES

(949) 660-6150 Fax: (949) 660-6172 Susanne Kirkham-Diaz (California) (949) 503-7693 susanne@goboating.com Daniel Voet (California) (949) 503-7679 dvoet@goboating.com Felice Lineberry (Northwest) (949) 503-7692 felice@goboating.com

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

(800) 887-1615 Jon Sorenson jon@thelog.com

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

(800) 887-1615 circulation@seamag.com

THE LOG ONLINE AND NEWSLETTERS

thelog.com

BOAT SHOW HOTLINE

(949) 503-7536 Newsletters For the California boating newsletter and FishRap Newsletter, go to thelog.com

The Log, San Diego Log and FishRap are registered trademarks of Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. Copyright 2021, all rights reserved. No part may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Log, PO Box 1337, Newport Beach, CA 92659. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: One year, $39.00 by third class mail. Subscriptions are transferable but not refundable. Call us at (800) 887-1615. The Log is published every other Friday and distributed throughout Southern California.