Set Sail for the SeaFest : Newport Harbor Combines Traditional Summer Events for a Big 10-Day Celebration of the Community’s Nautical Character

If it looks as if the water level in Newport Harbor is a little high for the next few days, don’t be too quick to blame it on the tide. It could be the effects of SeaFest.

Hundreds of antique and classic wooden boats, tall ships, electric boats, wind surfers, sailboats, runabouts, yachts and one 522-foot Navy vessel do, after all, displace a lot of water.

They also are expected to attract more than 50,000 boat buffs and other salty types to the harbor and its environs for the first 10-day celebration of its kind in Newport Beach history.

Juggling the Schedule

Newport SeaFest, which began Friday and ends Sept. 24,, is the first consolidation of several traditional Newport Beach summertime nautical events with a handful of new festivities designed to highlight the waterborne nature of the community.

“It all started with suggestions from a couple of (Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce) members who were sitting around talking about how we could pull together a big community-wide event with the cooperation of service groups and agencies as well as the chamber,” said Richard Luehrs, president of the Chamber of Commerce, the sponsor of SeaFest.

“This was coupled with questions about why we couldn’t do some of the things later in the year that we normally do in the middle of summer, like the Character Boat Parade and the Wooden Boat Festival. In mid-summer, there’s so much traffic and congestion down here. We thought if these things were scheduled later, it’d be a little less hectic on people.”

So they did, and in the bargain added new events such as the Taste of Newport (which features live music and samples of food from 40 area restaurants), a fishing tournament and kite contest--and the SeaFest Marine Art Festival.

Seamanship and Silliness

The centerpieces of the festival are the traditional boating events, which show off seamanship, precise marine architecture, creativity and, in one case, plain silliness.

The first of these is today’s third annual Great Electric Boat Race, in which more than 40 electrically powered boats will compete in a rally around the harbor and in a “Rhine Channel Drag Race.” The rally will begin at the Cannery restaurant (3010 Lafayette Ave.) at 11:30 a.m., where each skipper will be given a set of clues to solve which will lead to points around the bay, where the skippers will collect tokens. The final “drag race” will be held at the Cannery following the rally.

The first visit to the Newport Harbor area of a Navy vessel in more than 25 years will take place today and Sunday. The 522-foot-long U.S. amphibious dock landing ship Fort McHenry will be anchored off the Newport Harbor jetty for the weekend and will offer free tours. The Chamber of Commerce will offer transportation to the ship both days for $5. Transport tickets, good for a bus trip from Newport Center to the Harbor Master’s dock and a launch from there to the ship, are available in advance only from the Chamber of Commerce offices (1470 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach), the Balboa Pavilion (400 Main St., Balboa) and the Meridien Hotel (4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach).

Next weekend will see the arrival of several old-timers and a few very old-timers as part of the Tall Ships Festival and the Wooden Boat Festival, both of which will take place at the Boy Scouts Seabase at 1931 W. Pacific Coast Highway.

Next Saturday, the tall ships “Pilgrim,” “Resolution,” “Argus” and others will be tied up at the Boy Scouts Seabase and will be open to boarding and tours for $3 (children 12 and under free). They are scheduled to sail into the harbor about 5 p.m. the day before, along with other classic and antique boats.

Wooden Boats on Display

The same day, the third annual Wooden Boat Festival begins with a display at the Boy Scouts Seabase of more than 60 classic wooden craft, from sailboats to motorized runabouts. All boats are available for inspection for $3 (children 12 and under free).

Events during the day will include a wooden-boat sailing regatta (noon), a boat-building contest for children and adults (11 a.m.), and wooden-boat cruises (ongoing).

Several of the wooden boats scheduled to be on display are owned by members of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, an international organization of wooden- boat fanciers. Roger Huebner of Newport Beach, the president of the Southern California chapter of the society, said that he would be sailing his own 1939 Chris Craft runabout.

“Many of these old boats have their history right here in Newport Beach,” Huebner said. “There’s real enjoyment in seeing something that’s old but looks new and is fully functional. People look at these boats and say, ‘Where did you get that ?’ ”

Marshall Steele, chairman of the Wooden Boat Festival, said: “Some of these runabouts are worth about $150,000, and they’re only 20 feet long. We’re probably going to have about $7 million or $8 million worth of boats out there. Everybody’s been spending the last few months sprucing their boats up. The owners have really gotten into this. There’s so much pride in these boats, and love for them, that the owners won’t put them in the show unless they’re in great shape.”

Boat Owners Play Dress-Up

On Sept. 24, the final day of the festival, the zaniest of the events, the Character Boat Parade, sets sail. “Newport Harbor in the Roaring ‘20s” is the theme of the 29th annual bay cruise in which local boat owners decorate their boats in often outlandish ways.

The parade will follow a new route, beginning at the Lido Marina turning basin at 1 p.m., continuing through the harbor and ending at the starting point (tall ships will sail with the parade for part of the route). The boats will be judged on best decorations, best sound, best animation, best costumes and best interpretation of the parade theme. There also is a “Dirty Old Manifold” award for the oldest boat.

The idea for the parade was hatched by local cartoonists Virgil Partch and Dick Shaw, who inaugurated it by sailing their 24-foot tug “Michigan” around the harbor with a few friends.

“Partch and Shaw were Disney cartoonists at the time, and they painted the boat to look like Little Toot,” said Jim Dale, a local restaurateur whose family now owns the “Michigan” and sails it each year in the Character Boat Parade. “They said, ‘Let’s do something for fun and get all the people with boats out there who want to get a little crazy and have a good time and all end up at a bar after the parade’s over.’ Now that the Commodore’s Club of the Chamber of Commerce has taken it over, it’s become real organized, but it’s still a lot of fun. Our family likes to take the boat out and kind of wave the flag a little bit.”

In all, there are more than 35 events scheduled during the 10-day SeaFest. For information about festival activities call the Newport Chamber of Commerce at (714) 644-8211. The following is a chronological list of the events:

TODAY The Great Electric Boat Race, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Held at the Cannery restaurant, 3010 Lafayette Ave. Free.

Outrigger Canoe Races, 1 to 5 p.m., Newport Dunes Aquatic Park, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. Paddlers racing from Marina del Rey will finish here. Demonstrations, with opportunities for visitors to paddle the boats. Free.

Harbor Sailing (small boat races in the bay). Today, Balboa Yacht Club SeaFest Regatta Inside, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Balboa Yacht Club SeaFest Regatta Outside, noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Balboa Yacht Club Little Old Lady Regatta, noon to 4 p.m. Next Saturday, Balboa Yacht Club Macho Men’s Regatta, noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 24, Lido Island Yacht Club Over 30 Regatta, noon to 4 p.m. Sign-ups and information available through all Newport Harbor area yacht clubs.

Navy Ship, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday. A visit by the U.S. amphibious dock landing ship Fort McHenry. Free Navy tours. Shuttle service $5, by advance reservation only.

SeaFest Marine Art Festival, through Sunday. Held at the Hyatt Newporter, 1107 Jamboree Road.

Surfing Championships, 8 a.m. to noon, through Sunday. A long-board contest for competitors ages 20 to 40, and a short-board contest. Both events to be held offshore from 54th Street. Check-in at 6:30 a.m. Entry fee is $30. Call: (714) 644-3151.

A Taste of Newport, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Fashion Island. Live music and food displays by nearly 40 area restaurants. Admission $2. A book of 10 “taste tokens,” good for food samples, is $10.

Windsurfing Regattas, noon to 4:30 p.m. today and Sept. 24. Register for either 8:30-10 a.m. at American Legion Yacht Club in Newport Beach. Competition today in the harbor, Sept. 24 at Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar. For more information, call (714) 495-0368.

SUNDAY

Bike Tour, 10 a.m. to noon. A 10-kilometer bicycle tour around upper Newport Bay, beginning and ending at the entrance to Newport Dunes recreation area. Free. Participants receive T-shirts and lunch.

Kite Contest, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contests for single-line and double-line kites at Balboa Park on the Balboa Peninsula. Open to all. Free.

Open Houses, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Held at the Newport Beach Police Department (870 Santa Barbara Drive), Coast Guard base (adjacent to Harbor Patrol offices), Newport Beach Fire Department (475 32nd St.), Harbor Patrol offices (1901 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar) and Nautical Museum (1714 W. Balboa Blvd.). Nautical Museum also open noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. Free.

Life Guard Pier Swim, 9 a.m., off the Balboa Pier, $15 entry fee. Entry fee includes T-shirt. Sign-up through Newport Beach Marine Department, (714) 644-3044. Check in at 8 a.m. at Lifeguard Tower M.

Volleyball Tournament, 8:30 a.m. (spectators only, teams are filled), Corona del Mar State Beach.

Sandcastle Contest, noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Corona del Mar State Beach. Community clubs, organizations, businesses and families compete for prizes. $25 entry fee for nonprofit organizations and families, $60 for businesses. Sign-ups and information available through the Chamber of Commerce, (714) 644-8211.

TUESDAY

Fishing Tournament, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Two competitions, one in the ocean, the other in the harbor. Sign-ups and information available through the Chamber of Commerce.

WEDNESDAY

Boat Auction, 6 p.m. Held aboard the yacht “California Hornblower” at Lido Marina Village. Community and corporate leaders bid on use of boats during December. Reception, auction and dinner, $50 and $125. For advance tickets, call Danielle De Palma at (714) 557-5100.

FRIDAY

Wooden Boat Festival, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Sept. 24, Boy Scouts Seabase. Antique, classic and modern wooden boats open to inspection. Admission $3, children 12 and under free. Displays, demonstrations, seminars, wooden boat sailing regatta, tall ship parade, boat building contest and wooden boat parade.

NEXT SATURDAY

Tall Ships Festival, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Boy Scouts Seabase. Tall ships will be docked at the base and open to boarding and tours. Admission $3, children 12 and under free.

SEPT. 24

Character Boat Parade, 1 to 3 p.m. The parade will cruise throughout the harbor, beginning and ending at the Lido Marina turning basin. Free.

Closing Ceremonies, 6 p.m., Balboa Pavilion, 400 Main St., Balboa. Presentation of awards, hamburger and hot dog buffet. Dancing and comedy acts follow. Admission free.