Stay a Bit Longer, Judge Tells Emory Cove ‘Mud Ducks’

The “mud ducks” of Emory Cove--boat owners anchored free in the South Bay harbor that the San Diego Unified Port District has declared off limits--gained a six-week reprieve Monday against eviction.

About 40 live-aboards and about 75 craft anchored in the cove south of Coronado Cays on the Silver Strand will remain safe from eviction and from harassment for at least that long under an order signed by Superior Court Judge Patricia D. Benke late Monday afternoon.

Benke did not grant a temporary restraining order to the Fort Emory Cove Boat Owners Assn. as requested by their lawyer, Larry Croyle, but placed the boat owners under the protection of a restraining order issued to Jim Morgan, a party boat owner also anchored in the newly restricted South San Diego Bay waters.

Benke’s order to show cause in the Emory Cove suit and a temporary restraining order issued in Morgan’s suit will be heard April 30 to determine if a permanent injunction against the Port District’s amended regulations will be granted.

The amendments approved by Port District commissioners Feb. 10 prohibit any craft from anchoring in the southern one-third of the bay and specify that citations may be given or boats impounded after the effective date, which was Monday.

Harbor Patrol officers had served South Bay boat owners with eviction notices last month and had ordered them to move out of the area and into approved middle-bay anchorages, including an 80-acre site off National City’s marine terminal designated as A-8.

Emory Cove boat owners protested that the A-8 site, unprotected from west winds, is not a safe anchorage, especially for live-aboards with families. Gale-force winds last weekend caused several of the craft anchored at the A-8 site to drag anchor and beach, damaged one boat that shipped more than a foot of water, and apparently caused damage to another boat that sank Monday.

Lawrence Graf, president of the Emory Cove boat owners group, said in the petition that most of the boats moored in Emory Cove would be destroyed if they were moved to the unprotected A-8 anchorage because of lack of protection from wind and waves, and from the wakes of large ships passing in an adjacent deep-water channel.

Judy Collins, a Coronado boater, requested that port commissioners reconsider their action closing Emory Cove but her request was denied by the Port District board’s executive committee as “inappropriate and untimely” because the board had already adopted an ordinance declaring the South Bay a non-anchorage area.

Collins plans to appear before the commissioners today to protest the earlier action closing the South Bay to most boaters by imposing restrictions that rule out most craft and most recreational activities except for daylight small-boat fishing.