Letters/Online Comments
June 13, 2018
Re: In Memoriam: Wayne Rodgers (May 18-31 issue)
A wonderful friend, on land and sea
Sailed many races with Wayne over the 40 plus years we were friends. He was a man of great integrity and a wonderful friend on land and sea.
Jack Nigg
Smooth seas and fair winds, old friend
The recreational boating community has lost a true gentleman and a top-tier broker. Wayne was the consummate professional, a worthy competitor, a friendly confidant and an industry contributor. Wayne’s chairing of the California Yacht Brokers Association (CYBA) Annual Legal Seminars led to several years’ worth of informative, thought-provoking and instructional symposiums that benefitted brokers and salespeople, and served to raise the professionalism of the entire recreational boating industry. Wayne always had time to talk with you, and to tell a good story or two. There are a few in our brokerage industry, and few in the Newport Beach community, that will be missed more than this good man. Smooth seas and fair winds, old friend.
Dean West
Re: Shelter Island Boat Launch Ramp suffers another delay (May 18-31 issue)
Shame on this bureaucratic bumbling
What an unbelievable farce! Over ONE & A HALF YEARS to re-do a launch ramp! The excuses given are as lame the apologies. This is bureaucratic bumbling on an epic scale.
What? They didn’t expect to find concrete and asphalt fill – on an “island” that was originally created with fill?
What? The contractor had a hard time moving this fill – even though they were using equipment capable of moving the gigantic riprap around?
The FACT is that thousands of trailer boaters are being hugely inconvenienced (some even opting to sell their boats) and dozens of businesses are suffering severe economic impact. Where is the help for all those SDUPD tenants and customers?
Yet another example of SDUPD incompetence and arrogance. What a shame for the hard working men, women, and children trying to make a living on the San Diego waterfront, or trying to get some recreational use of the Bay and local waters.
Shame on them!
Dean West
Re: Channel Islands YC hosts disabled veterans for day of sailing (May 18-31 issue)
Grateful for events that benefit disabled veterans
I thank God for everything that is done for disabled vets. I, Ronald Freeland and my other half, Kate Feeney are disable vets. Her brother, sister and dad are vets also. We thank you for what you do for us. We need your help. Thank You.
Ronald Z. Freeland
Re: Battling “sneakaboard” tenants in Southern California (April 20-May 3 issue)
Sneak aboard and deal with it?
After reading the comments on “sneakaboards,” I felt compelled to write some of my own.
Some readers have asked why anyone who owns their piece of property should not be able to live on it. Might the same question be asked of RV owners who choose to live in their homes parked on the street next to any one of these readers? After all, they have paid for their property, are taxed on it, and could be responsible with all their waste, noise, power needs and so on. Would those same people be ready to accommodate them? Let’s say there could be a 50-percent occupancy rate at any marina, how many liveaboards would welcome the resulting lack of privacy, electronic noisemakers, barking dogs, etc.? Anyone who has lived aboard their boat in a marina knows how easy it is to hear and see the comings and goings of fellow residents. Just think of the increased use of facilities and how marinas would have to expand them. Who is willing to pay for that big expansion? If someone wants to live on their boat they need to go through the same process as the rest of us and pay their fees as we do. I don’t think the marina or city government has actively sought to make our life miserable. Our marina management has done a good job at a reasonable charge to make this place nice for all the boat owners and their guests. There is a process by which the public can voice their opinion, how many of them have exercised that right? I can understand the plight of many who can’t afford housing in this state, but that is another matter that needs to be addressed in a different forum.
Logan Reis
I would like to respond to your article about the decline of sport fishing license sales. The reason is simple. All of the good fishing spots at the Channel Islands are closed. The State wants to protect the fish.
Since we know that the taking of the toboaba fish in the Gulf of Mexico is causing the inevitable extinction of the vaquita Porpoise, I thought we should consider how many are being taken yearly. This would give us an understanding of the size of the problem. The number of fish tell us how many boats are out there and more specifically, the number of the 2-kilometer-long nets that are being cast.
The totoaba bladder is what is commonly referred to as the valued prize. CNN reports that the black-market operation of totoaba bladders is estimated to be a multibillion dollar industry. The recent confiscation of 200 bladders was valued at 3.6 million or $18,000 each. Other reports state the value as $20,000 per kilogram, which we will use as a conservative weight of one bladder. Divide 19,000 (average) into 2 billion and we get $105,000 bladders needed. Now let’s factor in the Mexican cartels. On May 5, 2018 Laura Elena Aguayo from The Voice of the Boarder described the confiscation of 229 bladders filled with 100 kilos of cocaine. The cocaine was valued at 7.5 million. As before we divide bladders to get value (7.4 mil/ 229) or $32,751each. Now we add them together for a drug filled value of $51,750. Dividing that number by the estimated international trade value of 2 billion we get a much lower estimate of 38,647. This conservative number of contraband laded totoaba fish caught yearly to maintain a 2 billion yearly trade requires a lot of fishing. Now that the brackish water along the Colorado River Delta, in which they mature, is high in salinity, the future of the vaquita and the totoaba are bleak.
Tony Brunn
Sea of Companions LLC