Eyes of the storm

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

I have noticed many familiar yachts returning to Newport Harbor

and throughout Southern California from their southern wintertime

ports like Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

The boats are heading north out of the hurricane zone, since the

hurricane season started June 1. Boats are moved out of the

potentially affected hurricane areas not just as a smart safety

precaution, but because your boat owner’s insurance rate will

multiply in costs.

Looking at the hurricanes in the past couple of years, experts are

predicting a bad season with another wave of the storms to wreak

havoc. These tropical cyclones are low-pressure systems that develop

in the tropics, and the systems spin counterclockwise in the Northern

Hemisphere.

Luckily, we are protected from hurricanes coming north up our

coast, like on the East Coast, because our water temperature is too

cool for the storms to maintain their energy that is derived from

warm ocean water. Our summertime ocean temperature is usually in the

high 60s to low 70s, and hurricanes need water temperatures greater

than 80. The strength of the hurricane will quickly weaken in the

colder waters or when it goes over land lacking the warm moisture

from the ocean.

However, we can still feel the side effects from some hurricanes

in the Gulf of Mexico or the ones that have crossed over into the

Pacific. These storms can bring us clouds, muggy humidity, rain and

chance of thunderstorms, with Zeus throwing bolts of lightning down

to Earth.

Should lightning develop, or should it have a chance of

developing, then I highly recommend boaters return to their docks,

even those cruising inside the harbor. Boats do get hit by lightning,

which can strike the water near your vessel. Sailboats are extremely

dangerous, with the mast and bonding system resembling a lightning

rod on steroids. Your electronics are very susceptible to the

increased flow of ions in the atmosphere, and the electronic

components will be fried if a strike hits nearby. Turn off every

piece of equipment, if feasible, until the storm passes, and remember

your radar will show strikes and squalls.

Surfers love to hear that a hurricane is south of us, as the

tropical cyclones produce big swells. Boaters need to heed an eye to

caution and watch for the fast-approaching larger swells that seem to

come out of nowhere -- one minute calm seas and the next, large

peaks. The swells can reach inside Newport Harbor starting at the

jetty entrance down the entrance channel past the Harbor Patrol

office. I have seen waves that could be surfed on at the Harbor

Department beach from the southern swells. Now you know why you don’t

see many boats docked from Peninsula Point to the start of the

jetties.

Good time for boating this weekend in our area, with winds today

about 10 knots from the southeast and becoming 10- to 15-knot

westerlies this weekend, creating 2-foot-high wind waves. The swell

is predicted to be 2 to 4 feet from the west with intervals in the

double digits. The good news is that Point Conception is around only

6 feet, and the Gulf of Alaska is under 7 feet.

TIP OF THE WEEK

You have only a couple of weekends to prepare your boat for the

American Legion Yacht Club’s 53rd annual Fourth of July’s Old Glory

Boat Parade. This year’s theme is “Sharing American Spirit,” and I

cannot wait to see all the red-white-and-blue- decorated boats being

led by the fireboat while parading through the harbor.

Additionally, the American Legion Post is hosting a pancake

breakfast from 7 a.m. to noon. It is only $6 per person and includes

a free harbor cruise on the Fun Zone’s boat, the Tiki. The boat

parade will begin at 1 p.m., and you can sign up or get more

information by calling the American Legion at (949) 673-5070, or

stopping by at 215 15th St., Newport Beach.

Tune in to my “Boathouse Radio Show” every Saturday from noon to 1

p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join in during the nation’s No. 1

boating talk radio show by calling the listener line at (888)

344-1170, and you can listen at https://www.boat houseradio.com.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the boating and harbor columnist. Send him

your thoughts to [email protected].