Another Story….part 1

As part of my move to Long Beach, I had to schedule an inspection of the boat with the Harbormaster Office staff. One of the people I talked to was very unclear explaining the purpose and timing of the inspection. She was very pleasant, but unclear.

As she explained it to me, I would have to schedule my move so that I would dock the boat at the Harbormaster dock upon arrival in Long Beach. Because I was moving the boat on a holiday weekend, the staffing necessary to perform the inspection would not be available until Monday morning. I asked if I could come down a few days before the move to complete the necessary slip rental paperwork and present my registration and insurance information on the Excalibur. I was told that was not the correct way to handle things and that the paperwork and the inspection would have to be performed at the same time.

I explained that I was uneasy vacating the Dana Point slip, making changes to the boat’s insurance, and moving the boat a day up the coast without some written agreement that I would have a place to come to at the end of our trip. Because it was a holiday weekend, and because the slip had already been held for me, she explained that I could move into the slip the weekend before and then move the boat to the Harbormaster dock on Monday for processing of paperwork and inspection.

This seemed reasonable, and made me feel less like I’d have to anchor in Long Beach Harbor and blow up the dingy to get to shore, so I rolled with this explanation. The move went successfully and despite the Columbia 30 in my slip, by Sunday the Excalibur was tied into her slip and the outboard was home, flushed and resting in the garage on its stand.

On Monday, I called the Harbormaster Office to confirm my appointment for 11:30 am for inspection.

“Hi, this is Todd Lipps, I was just calling in to confirm my appointment for later this morning.”

“Yes, Mr. Lipps, you’re on the books for 11:30. Where are you now?”

“I’m at work, I’m planning on coming down there on my lunch.”

“If you’re at work,” she said. “Where’s your boat? Shouldn’t you be on your way here in your boat?”

“The boat’s in its slip.”

“What slip?”

“My slip. The one I’m renting.”

“Why is it there? You’re not authorized to have it there. We never let a boat into the harbor until after the paperwork and inspection are done.”

“I was told I could bring it up this weekend, park it in the slip and complete the other stuff today. Because of the holiday weekend.”

“No. That’s not how we do it.”

I was taken aback. “Uhhh…I wanted to take care of the paperwork several days ago but I was told I couldn’t do that until I got the boat here. I was told since the slip was already held for me that I could put it there temporarily.”

“No. That’s not correct.”

“Hmmmm. Well, I’ll take responsibility for the mis-communication. I’m sorry. I’ll be down shortly to take care of things. Rather than meet at the Harbormaster dock, can we do the inspection in my slip?”

“Why do you need to do that?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t have the engine in the boat. I took it out yesterday and have it at home.”

“Your boat doesn’t have an engine? Your boat is supposed to run to get it to the dock for the inspection.”

“That’s why I asked if it was okay to check the boat in the slip. The boat has an engine. It’s an outboard and I took it home yesterday to flush it.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get it to us to inspect it. Can you get your engine running in time for your appointment? We can’t push you back today and you’re not supposed to be here without the paperwork completed.”

“It’s not a problem,” I said. “It only takes a minute to put it in the well. I’ll motor the boat over to you.”

“Are you going to be late?”

“No,” I said. “I’ll be there.”

I’m not repeating this conversation in an attempt to put down anybody in the Long Beach Harbormaster Office. Everyone was polite up to this point. I hadn’t followed their procedures, but I had been told a set of directions that seemed reasonable and attempted to follow them as well as I could. It seemed counter-intuitive not to get as much of the preliminary things out of the way before the boat was brought to Long Beach. It seemed as if Long Beach would have benefitted from knowing as much about me as possible before entering into a slip rental agreement. Am I who I said I was in the application? Did I have a California ID? Did my boat belong to me? Was the registration and insurance on the boat current and in force? It would make sense to put together a package of paperwork for the city to have on me beforehand, and then when that all checked out, I could be approved to move my legitimately owned, registered and insured boat into the harbor. Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t make sense.

In any event, I left work a little early to get the Tohatsu motor out of the garage before I went down to the slip. I went over my paperwork one more time to make sure that everything was in order and when I got to the boat, arranged everything I’d need so it was easy to get to before it was asked for.

Alex and I motored the boat over to the Harbormaster dock and tied up to a side slip. We walked up the gangway and entered the office at precisely 11:30am. I had my backpack with me that held the notebook with all of my paperwork and checklists.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Yes. I’m Todd Lipps. I have an 1130 appointment to have my boat inspected.”

She heard my name and looked over to another employee, a supervisor, and made eye contact with her. They both looked at me. The supervisor came over to the counter and spoke to me.

“Mr. Lipps, hasn’t been an easy morning, has it? You really haven’t done things right up to now.”

“I’ll take the blame for everything up to this point.” I wasn’t going to argue with her about anything. “I really tried to work within your rules, but some of the info I was given caused me to think that what I was doing was all right. I’m really not trying to cause trouble. I just want to have a place for my boat to stay.”

“Okay,” she said. “Show me what you have.”

I spread out everything I thought she’d need in the order I thought she’d need it. She mulled through everything but didn’t change the order and didn’t ask for anything else. She seemed satisfied.

“Fill out these forms. You can buy up to two parking placards and two keys if you want them. How many do you want?”

“Two would be great.”

“Okay. You’re going to have to go with …… and ……. for the measuring and inspection.”

We walked back down the gangway, past the racing boat being prepped, past the Harbor Patrol boat, and finally to the Excalibur.

“Cute little boat…” one of them said.

“Permission to come aboard?” she asked.

“Affirmative,” I answered. It all seemed so formal. Affirmative is the answer I pictured a Coast Guardsman giving to another Coastie.

The inspection went well. Any suspicion they might have had about the ability of my boat to move on its own was put away when they saw the new engine and it started on the first pull. The lights all worked. The sail inventory seemed adequate. The measurements confirmed that it actually would fit in the slip they assigned me. The bilge was dry. My bilge pump worked. My flare kit was good. My lifejackets checked out. They commented on my low tech porta-potty.

With that out of the way, we went back to the office and completed the paperwork and I gave them a check for the first and last month’s rent. As tensely as it had started, in the end, everything went perfectly. The telephone conversations I had with the personnel in the office were tough. They seemed uncaring, impersonal, and contradictory. In person, all were pleasant, understanding and helpful. I probably seemed as if I was trying to pull one over on them and was planning on moving a boat into the harbor that was not sea-worthy and that would be a blight compared to all the other really beautiful boats there.

Alex and I motored back to our slip and secured the Excalibur. It felt familiar and comfortable. It felt like home.

At the conclusion of my third year of college, I came a signature away from joining the Coast Guard. I hadn’t had any interaction with them until my Coast Guard inspection in Dana Point. But that, also, is another story…..