Ferry tale, retold: Balboa’s beloved boats to go electric instead of under
- Share via
For more than a century, the iconic Balboa Island Ferry has transported autos, bicycles and passengers between the island and the Balboa Peninsula. Its modest fleet — consisting of the Admiral, Commodore and Captain — operates year-round, providing a ride of about 800 feet, three cars at a time.
One can hardly imagine their engines going silent but, before too long, and in the very best sense, they will be.
We first learned, in early 2023, that the Balboa Island Ferry could end up dead in the water due to regulations put in place by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in December 2022 that required commercial harbor craft (crew and supply boats, fishing vessels, ferries, excursion vessels, etc.) to start using renewable diesel fuel that year. They were further mandated to begin the process of going all-electric to reduce emissions and health risks from ports and the movement of goods up and down the state. And, that work had to be completed by Dec. 31, 2025.
When the Daily Pilot interviewed the local ferry’s operator, Seymour Beek, three years ago to find out his take on the mandate, he was candid in his reply.
“We just can’t afford it,” he said. “It’s $2.5 million to convert the first boat — to do the engineering and design — if it can even be done. The feasibility of it has yet to be proved. We’re not sure we can do it because of our cramped space and so on. Everybody talks about the funding that’s available, but we haven’t found it yet.
“We’re a business that, for the first time, exceeded $2 million in 2022. We don’t make a profit. Some years, we don’t make any profit... It’s just out of our ballpark. We can’t do it. If something doesn’t give, we’re out of business.”
State Assemblymember Diane Dixon, a former member of the Newport Beach City Council, recognized the situation as dire for the little ferry company. She told the Daily Pilot that losing the Balboa Island Ferry would not only be like losing a family member but would also hurt the local economy, as the ferry has also intertwined tourism while providing low-cost, visitor-serving amenities.
“His current diesel engines have consistently met all state environmental requirements, so this isn’t an issue of him avoiding conversion,” Dixon said at the time. “The technology just doesn’t exist [for boats of the Balboa Island Ferry’s size]. It just does not make sense in my mind that he has to comply or go out of business as of Dec. 31, 2025.”
In the fall of 2023, Dixon began posting a four-part documentary titled “Save the Ferry” to her YouTube channel. Around that same time a CARB spokesperson, Lys Mendez, said ferry owners would be able to apply for extensions to the 2025 deadline, which the Beek family did.
Last week, we reported that things are starting to look ship-shape for the family’s operation. In fact, the Balboa Island Ferry will be the first electric ferry fleet in California, according to The Pilot’s story, because it has secured more than $10 million in grant funding. Those funds are coming from CARB and the South Coast Air Quality Management District as part of a cost-sharing partnership with the Beeks’ business to help cover most of the conversion costs.
“This partnership marks a transformative moment in the ferry’s 100-plus-year history,” Seymour Beek said when the news was announced. “The execution of these agreements with CARB and South Coast AQMD sets the stage for a new era of clean, quiet and sustainable ferry service for residents and visitors alike.”
This deal took some work to put together, to be sure.
“Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley convened a working group to keep the ferry business afloat while searching for grant funds to cover conversion costs,” according to The Pilot’s article by Gabriel San Román. “The group [which included Dixon] identified grant opportunities, including one that was part of an anti-pollution program between CARB and local air quality districts while asking for deadline flexibility.”
“This ferry is very important to tourism, to commuters and residents,” Foley told San Román. “More than 12 million vehicle miles were traveled around the island and the peninsula. Reducing the emissions is important. Imagine if we didn’t have the ferry. That number would probably double.”
MORE NEWS
• Some Newport Beach residents who spend months each year in Puerto Vallarta were among the Americans who were urged to shelter in place in Mexico Sunday after cartel violence broke out in the wake of Mexican security forces’ killing of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the Los Angeles Times reported.
• The Orange County Board of Supervisors were scheduled to discuss yesterday the mounting multi-million verdicts against the county in a string of harassment lawsuits involving the district attorney’s office. As of newsletter deadline there was no update on the board meeting, but so far the county is down $9.5 million with five related cases against it still in the pipeline.
• As a Hail Mary of sorts, Huntington Beach hoped to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in its favor in its long battle to avoid complying with state housing mandates. But this week SCOTUS declined to hear what Surf City attorneys have to say in the matter.
• The Santa Ana City Council unanimously last week approved a new law that aims to address concerns that platforms offering algorithmic devices have been allowing landlords to collude on “unfair rent-setting practices,” including artificial rent hikes, TimesOC reports.
• Costa Mesa last week passed the ordinance the City Council had been considering that will regulate self-checkout lanes at stores by requiring one human attendant per every three open lanes and limiting shoppers to scanning no more than 15 items at those lanes. Penalties will cost stores $100 per day for each attendant they fail to staff, up to a maximum of $1,000 per day.
• Work has officially begun on a project to create a permanent pedestrian plaza on lower Forest Avenue in downtown Laguna Beach. In other Laguna Beach news, the City Council is considering asking voters to allow it to create a limited charter to self-govern some aspects such as parking enforcement instead of being constrained by state statutes.
• A pilot program San Clemente’s been running that employs ravenous goats to help reduce wildfire fuel load will be reviewed and revamped due to budget concerns, it was decided at a recent meeting of the City Council. “If we want to continue with a fire prevention program that could include goats as well as other fire prevention means, we would need added funds coming into our revenue,” Councilmember Mark Enmeier said, before suggesting a raise in the city’s sales tax might be the answer.
• People from all walks of life who want to learn more about local law enforcement are taking part in this year’s citizens’ academy offered by Costa Mesa Police Department and led by Police Chief Joyce LaPointe.
BUSINESS
• Disneyland has seen a dip in international visitors, so it’s counting on — and shifting market focus to — California residents, especially those with young families, to offset the loss, The Times reports.
SPORTS
• Both the Newport Harbor High boys’ and girls’ soccer teams are riding high in CIF playoffs and are heading into the finals.
• The preseason rankings for the Top 20 high school softball teams were released by CalHIS.com and reported by The Times. Check it out to see if your favorite O.C. team made the list.
LIFE & LEISURE
• La Casa del Camino hotel in Laguna Beach recently held a ribbon-cutting event for its newly reopened K’ya restaurant, where the mastermind behind its menu is Ceferino Hernandez, known to the team as “Chef Cef.”
CALENDAR
• “Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure,” showcasing works by Ruben Ochoa, is on view through May 31 at Langson IMCA,18881 Von Karman Ave., Suite 100, Irvine. For more information visit imca.uci.edu.
• OC Parks is hosting “Biking the Bay,” an interpretive bike ride, on Thursday, March 5, from 8 to 10:30 a.m. in the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve that will begin and end at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center. It’s free, but registration is required at letsgooutside.org/activities. When we checked Tuesday afternoon there were just 8 spaces left.
• The San Juan Capistrano Fiesta Assn. is gearing up for its El Presidente Ball, which is set for 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 at El Adobe de Capistrano. To buy tickets visit this eventbrite page.
KEEP IN TOUCH
We appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.