Newport Beach
8/07/2002 - 8/15/2002
Whisper's gennaker (or spindrifter, or asymmetrical spinnaker, or "big pretty sail").
It was a glorious sail from Avalon to Newport Beach. The 27 mile crossing (4-6 hours) allowed us to delay our departure until late morning -- with the hope of finding some sailing wind.
A broad reach in a light 5-8 knots of wind gave Whisper about 4-5 knots of boat speed. The weather was sunny and clear for 10 miles, and the ocean was as gorgeous as we have seen it. We made a brief stop at a patch of floating kelp to enjoy the floating aquarium. Several large Ocean Sunfish cruised around the 6x6 ft clump of kelp, and an entire swarm of smaller fish schooled over from the kelp flotsam to the newly arrived fiberglass flotsam, Whisper.
We flew the gennaker in the light winds, but we quickly discovered that the sail is happiest in at least 7 knots of wind if there is any swell running. We snuffed the gennaker within 5 miles of Newport Beach and proceeded into the harbor under motor and mainsail.
We arrived in Newport Harbor at 2pm and began calling around for available moorings. Guest slips/moorings in Newport Harbor cost around $2/foot/night. We were thankful to find a mooring at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club with three free days and tied up for the next week.
Flat seas, 5-8 knots of wind, crystal clear indigo water -- an ideal broad reach from Avalon to Newport Beach.
Duncan tweaks the gennaker trim by connecting up the ATN Tacker.
Great Expectations
Friends and locals set our expectations of Newport Beach very high. They said to expect hundreds of beautiful homes on the water, dozens of great restaurants with easy dinghy access, and great walking and beaches. Although Newport Beach met only a few of these expectations, we were still glad we visited the area.
The Mooring
Sunset at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club mooring.
Unfortunately, the only mooring available at the yacht club was right on the main channel, so we spent several nervous days and nights watching 50 to 100 ft tour/party boats come within 20 ft of our boat. Most of the party boats were loud, put up a decent wake, and left us momentarily committed to move to another anchorage/mooring. In the calm of each new morning, we decided it couldn't be any worse than the previous night, so we would stay.
Given the proximity of Whisper to the busy channel, we chose to leave our anchor light on each night. On Saturday night, we turned on our spreader lights from dusk to midnight to ensure we were seen. While Duncan fished off the stern one afternoon, a sailor on an approaching sailboat yelled over, "What are you doing fishing in the middle of the channel?", only to then realize we were in fact on a mooring -- not just fishing in the middle of the channel. He waved, shaking his head. Duncan smiled and waved back.
The Newport Harbor Yacht Club
We very much enjoyed the Newport Harbor Yacht club located in an area of Newport Beach called Balboa. Although we did not go out of our way to engage with the membership, the staff was excellent and the food was great. The Yacht Club has a good "central location" for access to beaches, restaurants, and the ferry to the Balboa Island and the mainland.
Mail Drop
Feeling cocky about the ability to receive mail via general delivery at the post office, Robin put in a request with our mail forwarder to send our mail to the Balboa post office. Upon arriving at the Balboa post office, Phil, the not so personable mail clerk, informed us not every post office branch accepts or handles general delivery. Phil proceeded to give us directions to the probable location of our mail -- six miles away. Being public transportation aficionados, we embarked on a two mile walk/ferry ride and four mile bus ride to the main post office in Newport Beach. Luckily, they had just received our box and had not yet sent it back to the sender. Whew! We got our mail.
Restaurants
Balboa pier and the view southeast along the beach.
Our first big dinner out was at The Cannery, a newly remodeled restaurant on the water. We took our dinghy to their valet boat parking dock, tied up with the assistance of the valet, and had an excellent dinner. Although a bit expensive, we determined that this was the best dinner we have had since leaving the San Francisco Bay area. The Cannery was the only restaurant we found in Newport Beach with a dinghy dock.
The next evening, we discovered Roy's near the Fashion Island mall. Another expensive dinner of small plates in the bar, but again, one of the best meals we've had on our travels. The service was excellent, the calamari memorable, and the atmosphere upscale but fun.
Big thumbs up on these two restaurants.
The Walking and Beaches
The beach of Balboa peninsula. Great walking.
For the first few days, we walked everywhere - requiring cabs for the later evening returns. The geography of the Balboa Peninsula left the mall and shopping areas only two miles away as the sea gull flies, but five miles away by road. Once we discovered the car/pedestrian ferry (between the peninsula and Balboa Island), and the bus system, we walked to the bus stops (a walk, ferry-ride, walk -- about one mile away), and either returned the same way, or returned to the Yacht Club via cab.
The beaches are beautiful and not too crowded during the week. We walked the beach and the sidewalk along the beach admiring the awesome expanse of sand, but we cringed at the 1970-1985 styling of (most of) the homes along the beach. Many of the oceanfront vacation rentals had seen their better days.
Newport Harbor
A couple of the nicer homes, a neighbor's dock, and their Electra-Craft boat under a cover.
Several man-made islands (Lido, Balboa, Linda, Newport, Bay) in the harbor were packed with huge homes on tiny lots. Many of the homes were gigantic replacements for what was probably once a modest "weekend getaway" home. Some of these originals were still there or in the process of being leveled. Without an architecture review board like Santa Barbara, it is amazing the range of wacky home styles that can spring up in one block.
Each waterfront house has its own dock, most had either a huge yacht, a Formula race boat, an Electra-Craft, kayaks, a selection of personal water craft/toys -- some had all of the above.
The harbor water was a reasonable 67 degrees Fahrenheit, but the day-old guacamole color and twelve inch visibility made it less than inviting for swimming or water making. Three hours of fishing one afternoon resulted in a sore casting shoulder and a plastic lure with its tail bitten off -- but no fish.
Our main activity in the harbor was to cruise around in Shout (with dozens of other dinghies, Duffys, Electra-Craft, and kayaks) looking at boats and homes. We discovered very few homes that were to our fairly conservative taste.
The Locals
Another cute home with docks, kayaks, big boat, and runabout. They likely have three Mercedes Benz and a Jaguar in their garage.
There is a tremendous amount of wealth in this community, and there must be a significant rat-race to run to keep up with these Jones'. We have never seen as many Mercedes Benz and Jaguar automobiles in one town. Porsche and BMW's came in 3rd and 4th. Waterfront "fixer" real estate starts at $2 million with the nicer places starting around $4 million.
We guessed that because of the high-pressure lifestyles, the expense of living here, and the stresses of busy Orange County commutes, there were fewer of the friendly folks we've met in nearby So-Cal communities. We did, however, get great haircuts at Toni & Guy and caught a couple of silly movies (Signs, Austin Powers) at their very nice shopping mall.
Our high expectations of Newport Beach now realistically reset, we head off to Dana Point and Oceanside -- our last two stops before arriving in San Diego.