The Harbor Column:

As I look into my crystal ball for the weekend, I can ditto the weekend weather report from last weekend. Looks like we will have rain tonight and into most of Saturday and then partial clearing — déjà vu. The Pacific swells will build up to 6 feet and taper off to 5 feet by Monday, and the swells off Point Conception to our north are expected to reach more than 20 feet with wind waves Saturday.

You need to be careful if you punch outside the harbor’s line of demarcation into the ocean this weekend, especially with winds steepening the swells’ faces to where your boat can fall off the top of the swell into the trough. You can expect southerly winds gusting to 18 knots today and Saturday, and the winds decreasing to 10 knots while clocking around to the west and northwest on Sunday.

I am excited to see that Rush Hill has entered in the Newport Beach’s City Council race for termed-out Don Webb’s district seat. Webb has done a great job as a City Council member, and he brought with him the years of experience of being on the frontline as the city’s public works director. Most importantly, Webb saw the importance of the harbor and boating to not only the local community but also the region.

I think that Hill brings with him a sense of importance for the harbor and boating issues, too. We are in a time when recreational boating and water access is an active blip on the radar, even though there are those in Washington that think boating is a frivolous waste of money. Just sit back and think about the $33.6 billion in sales and service that was generated nationally in 2008 as reported by the National Marine Manufacturers Assn.

Does the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol provide a good service and bang for the buck for Newport Harbor and the users? That is the million-dollar question, literally, as the county and city grapple to pay for the services, and in the most economical and equitable means. Let me know what you think about the city’s plans to outsource the mooring contract from the county to a private firm.

MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating columnist. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to www.boathousetv.com .