boasted nearly 11,272 citizens as year round residents.
100,000 plus at Easter Week..however! There was a
Speed Shop right on PCH in West Newport. Home of the
famous Smitty Muffler...whew, we are talking way back
huh? At any rate, Newport Beach was still the ultimate
location for "Easter Week"! It was so famous..they
wound up calling it "Bal Week" in the 1920's! The
Rendezvous Ballroom had such luminaries as Glen Gray
and the Band of Today and of course our favorite: Dick
Dale and the Deltones! Various Surf Bands also found
their home at the Rendezvous...which had been the main
place for the younger generation since the gambling
boats of the hot Prohibition years! The Jefferson
Airplane and Grace Slick played in the parking lot in
1966! It was all so cool!
Dancing with the Stars...get back!
OK, back to 1961. The term "Drag Boat" had just been
invented. The parents lived in Cameo Shores...and pop
had the Downey boat builder Rich Hallett build a him a
wooden 18 foot wooden racing hydroplane boat with a
Keith Black blown Chrysler engine with Hillborn Fuel
Injection. At the time, it was one of the top 10 fastest
quarter mile race boats in the world. 121 MPH in about
8 seconds. We tell this story to give everyone some
partial perspective. As we recall, the Rueben E. Lee
was just a figment of John McIntosh's imagination. We
backed the "Pacifier"...Drag Boats had names you know
..down the boat ramp under the Newport/PCH/Dover Drive
Bridge....and then to water ski in the back bay behind
the "Pacifier" at about 65 miles an hour.
Mom, had named the Drag Boat the "Pacifier" because she
thought my father was bored with his life...and needed
something to do that was exciting! You probably have to
be a Mom to get this sort of attitude...but undoubtedly,
it was apropos! The next time we got some pretty weird
looks from Harbor Patrol....but they really didn't know
how to handle it. Were we being safe? Well, when we hit
80 plus MPH...in the shallows of the Back Bay...who could
even know? So, we left, went under the PCH bridge and
into the the Main Channel of Newport Beach. When we hit
over 100 MPH as we rushed by the Rozan Concrete plant..
the sailboat people were definitely "freaking out"! Many
were of course screaming - others crying...at us to slow
down! Who did we think we were: Diaspora from Marine
Stadium in Long Beach?
Well, as with so many "great ideas" there were some
"unintended and difficult consequences" to our exhibition
of speed in Newport Harbor. First they created designated
areas called "Speed Zones" ..of course those were on in
the Back Bay where no other boats were anchored. The
so-called "Speed Zone" wasn't intended for anything over
30 MPH..however. Oops! The next thing that happened was
Unlimited Hydroplane Racers wanting to Race right in the
middle of Newport Harbor ...just off Lido Isle and between
PCH...ooops..big time.
That only happened once. The damage from the wakes of
these giant Unlimited Hydroplane Racers ...almost 30 feet
long rivaling Oil Tankers caused a lot of serious damage
to some anchored sailboats both at dock and on whispers
and floats! The V Bottom and Flat Bottom racing boats and
Racers faired no better. To be sure....no more motor
boat racers were ever allowed in the NB again!!
Fast forward to 2008. The Harbor Patrol faces questions
from Racing Sailboats....about letting Sailboats exceed
"Harbor Speed Limits". Well, the first and only questions
to answer before all others is: Is it safe and will or
could that speeding endanger and persons or property
within the Harbor?
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