With the coming of March and April we see several of my favorite things come into view. Daylight Saving Time will resume on Sunday, March 12 biding adieu to early sunsets and welcoming extra sunshine into the evening. Annual yacht club opening day events will kick off the Spring and Summer sailing season in our Alamitos Bay and local coastal waters. The Acura Long Beach Grand Prix will speed through our downtown streets on the weekend of April 14 through April 16. The 58th Congressional Cup will pit the finest captains in the world against one another again April 19 through April 23. And water temperatures in our bay and ocean swimming areas increase towards those enjoyable mid to upper 60s.

As you start to make plans for this coming sailing and boating season I ask that you take stock of your vessel’s condition and overall seaworthiness. Take the time over the coming weeks to do a thorough assessment of the maintenance needs of your boat’s exterior and interior. Also pay close attention to the scheduled maintenance needs of onboard mechanical equipment. Identifying an issue at the slip and working towards a repair plan is much easier than dealing with an issue after it happens to you on the water and underway.
 
Speaking of underway, City staff continue to make progress on Capital Improvement projects across our entire Long Beach Marinas footprint. New mailboxes and access gates to protect them are currently being installed in Shoreline. Marine Maintenance staff is also finalizing plans for the revitalization of the Shoreline Marina parking lot between GG Dock and Shoreline Village. The trash enclosures in the Shoreline Marina will also be updated with covers in the near future. In Alamitos Bay Marina we continue to progress towards design completion of our restroom replacement project and hope to break ground on the first two restrooms later in the year.

Marina staff is also playing a major role in the coordinated effort to address homelessness. With the City’s emergency declaration to combat homelessness in January every department in the City has come together to muster resources. Because of this we are seeing the long needed elevated attention to homelessness issues in our waterfront areas. While no solution will resolve the problem in a day, week, month or year, we are starting to see incremental improvement due to the application of additional resources.

With that please enjoy the coming Spring season and the vibrant events and activities that sunnier days and warmer weather brings to our waterways, beaches and marinas. Take care of your vessel and marine equipment so that, in the moment you least expect, your vessel and equipment take care of you. Lastly, be safe out there, make smart on water decisions and always let someone know where you’re going and when you’re coming back.  

Be well and safe boating,

Todd Leland
Interim Marine Bureau Manager
Marina Offices are open and accepting new vessel permit applications. To keep you and our staff safe from COVID-19 we are continuing window service at ABM and Shoreline offices. Note – Many requests can be readily handled by phone or email. 

Pay attention to the weather forecast before heading out and keep an eye on any bad weather heading our way. Stay in your slip or turn back to shore if you think it’s going to storm.

Have a float plan before you head out on the water. It is important to have a float plan in place so that someone on land knows where you might be just in case something happens. Make sure to carry a fully charged waterproof VHF marine radio on board. If you have an emergency while out on the water, you can contact the Coast Guard on channel 16.

Most of all, use common sense. Always stay alert and focused on what is happening around you, and operate your vessel at a safe speed, especially around the marina or other busy areas. Don’t forget that larger ships will take longer to stop or turn, so stay clear of getting in their way.

Dock Carts have been and still are high value theft targets. Our Marine Patrol has begun focused efforts to locate and retrieve dock carts that have been removed from our Marina footprints unlawfully. As a permittee you can help maintain our cart inventory – PLEASE return carts to the head of the gangway after every use. Leaving dock carts in the parking lots leave them exposed to easy theft. 

Unauthorized commercial activity is ILLEGAL IN LONG BEACH – Please do not engage in unauthorized commercial activity at, on or near Long Beach Marinas property. Violators can and will be cited and punished to the full extent of applicable law. Reminder – Unauthorized Commercial activity will put your slip permit in jeopardy of cancellation.
 
DID YOU KNOW Daylight Saving Time is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona. However, not everyone in the Arizona region sees time the same, the exception being, the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe DST
When driving along our beautiful Ocean Boulevard you come to a location recognized and familiar to many but known by name to very few. Between Cherry and Junipero Avenues lies Bixby Park to the north of Ocean and……. Bixby Annex Park to the south. The Annex Park and Bixby Park itself are often misnamed or taken for different parks in our City all together.

Bixby Park is regularly mistaken to be Cherry Park because it abuts to Cherry Avenue. Actual Cherry Park is located off of 45th Street north of Carson Street. Bixby Annex Park has been a name carousel for the everyday public – Bluff Park, Rock Park, Coral Tree Park, Junipero Beach Park, and of course Yoga Park have been a few titles that Bixby Annex Park has been called over the years.

Recently, at the suggestion of Ronald Janus, a member from the Friends of Bixby Park neighborhood community organization, our Marine Maintenance team went to work to settle the name issues with Bixby Annex Park once and for all. On Tuesday, February 21 Bixby Annex Park finally got its very own park signage. The traditional City of Long Beach Parks, Recreation & Marine parks designation sign was placed on the grass, curbside for all to see. Now park users, passersby and motorist will know for certain that the plot of park space on the beachfront bluff between Cherry and Junipero is Bixby Annex Park.

Cheers to Mr. Janus for his suggestion and persistence in seeing the signage for the park space finally becoming a reality. And a thank you to all the Marine Maintenance staff that designed, fabricated and installed the Bixby Annex Park sign.