A new wave of celebration for some old men of the sea.

ANCHORS AWEIGH!: The restored World War II cargo ship Lane Victory and its crew of senior-citizen ex-merchant seamen didn’t quite make it to Europe for the D-day 50th anniversary. But next month, if all goes well, the 455-foot freighter will once again head out to sea.

The occasion is the scheduled triumphant return of another old oceanic codger, the WWII Liberty ship Jeremiah O’Brien, which made the 9,000-mile D-day anniversary voyage and is heading back to its home port of San Francisco. The Lane Victory crew, all members of the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II, plans to take the ship into San Francisco Bay with the O’Brien about Sept. 23 and tie up there for a few days before returning to San Pedro.

Engine problems aborted the Lane Victory’s D-day voyage in May after only five days at sea, but they have now been repaired, says Jerry Turner of the merchant marine veterans.

After the San Francisco trip, Turner says, the Lane Victory will be moving to its new quarters at Berth 94 in San Pedro, near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

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NUMBERS PLEASE: El Segundo Mayor Carl Jacobson says he would be glad to turn over records for his city-owned cellular phone to former City Councilman Scot Dannen. After all, Jacobson says, he has nothing to hide--no calls to a bookie or a sex line.

Unfortunately, he says, city officials won’t let him.

“I would be happy to release them, if I had them,” Jacobson says of the phone records. “But I’ve never had physical possession of them. . . . But I can tell you I use (the phone) strictly for city business.”

Jacobson said the itemized bills for his phone have averaged $5 to $10 per month, and never more than $22. City Manager James W. Morrison says the mayor and other city officials need cellular phones in case of an emergency.

The controversy started three months ago, Dannen says, when he wondered why the mayor of a one-square-mile city needed a city-issued cellular phone. He asked for copies of the phone bills, which he got, but city officials refused to turn over the itemized list of calls made and received on the mayor’s cellular phone. They cited a court ruling that said releasing such phone numbers could violate the privacy of callers.

Still, Dannen says, he doesn’t intend to give up.

“I’m going to ask him again who he’s been calling,” he says. “I just want to know.”

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A ROYAL STINK: If you noticed a stench coming from Manhattan Beach last weekend, don’t be alarmed. It was for a good cause.

Nearly 50 men from the South Bay competed Saturday in the fifth Annual Old Smelly Jocks Sports Tournament, a 12-hour test of endurance and athletic prowess.

Competitors, who raised $300 for a Hollywood orphanage, played three-on-three basketball, three-on-three volleyball, over-the-line baseball and Ultimate Frisbee.

As it turns out, the aging jocks weren’t as fit as they thought, says Bob Makela, 33, of Manhattan Beach, who organized the annual tournament five years ago. “Guys were hunched over walking around afterward. There were a lot of aching muscles.”

But in the end, Gary Ceregioli, 31, of Manhattan Beach smelled victory when he won the most games and was crowned King of the Old Smelly Jocks.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If God could grant me all of my wishes, I would wish he’d give me the ability to make a difference in a place like Inglewood. I am a child of a place like Inglewood.”

--McKinley Nash, the new superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District.