The Harbor Report: Scenes from the recent storms

The storm that rolled through our harbor Jan. 20, 21 and 22did not break records for wind or damage, but it did shake things up.

In the past people judged a storm’s strength by the amount of oranges that are floating in the harbor afterward; today it’s tennis balls and palm trees.

I thought I would go a little deeper with you on the goings on around the harbor while the storm was passing.

My first call was into Harbor Deputy Terry Smith, who was out on the water during the storm.

On a scale of one to 10, Smith ranked this one a six or seven.

Smith has been working the harbor for 50 years now and was on duty in 1983 during the big one, when the windblew at speeds over 90 knots.

“I have seen docks floating down the harbor with boats still attached to them,” Smith said.

Jan. 20 saw the wind reach 50-plus knots while it rained the hardest on Jan. 22.

While pumping out boats that were filled with water and reattaching vessels that had broken free of their moorings, the Harbor Patrol had its hands full. In their spare time, members dragged large pieces of flotsam, logs and tree stumps back to their docks.

I wondered, who does what on the sheriff’s boat during extreme weather conditions? What type of gear do the deputies wear in storm conditions?

“No two calls are alike, and we are all cross-trained to do any job,” he said. “Our crew works well with three people aboard one of the fire boats. One person stays on the helm at all times while the other two crew secure the lines and make sure the props stay clear of lines.”

It was interesting to learn that nine times in 10 mooring lines break on the bow.

Because of the tight quarters within the mooring fields, “It’s real important to secure the work boat to the mooring can — that way you will not go anywhere,” Smith said.

My understanding is that the deputies will then either manually pull in or tow the vessel to reattach it to its mooring. There are times when the moorings will drag out of place, and the vessel will need to be relocated.

When the wind is up, and the vessel has a lot of windage, those are the ones the deputies refer to as white-knucklers.

As for the deputies’ clothing, it is import for them to protect their hands from the nylon mooring lines, so gloves are worn. Rain gear is always worn, along with floatation jackets.

I made two more stops with the dock master at the Balboa Yacht Club, Mat Stanley, and his counterpart at Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Anthony Palacios. These guys are a wealth of information.

Both are vigilant in maintaining their mooring gear and run constant inspections before and during storm conditions. All service boats have a crew of two, and lifejackets are worn.

Stanley logged 55 knots on Jan. 22 and had nothing unusual to report.

“We got lucky this time,” Stanley said. “There was the usual fly-bridge covers that broke free; the rain came down rather hard this last round other than that we came through it pretty well.”

Over at NHYC, Palacios said a microburst rolled over the club. He recorded 61 knots of wind on Jan. 20.

A neighbor’s roof peeled free, and shingles floated by. Palacios reported that a boat in the dry storage area was thrown from its cradle.

“About every three hours we were pumping water out of the Harbor 20s, checking mooring lines, collecting all the kayaks and dinghies that floated into the mooring field,” he said. “We had all hands on deck, during one of the rain squalls I could not see further than 200 feet in front of me.”

Boat name of the month: Toyon

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist for the Daily Pilot.