Tsunami in Santa Cruz

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

They're probably the same philistines who watch auto racing for the crashes.

--or, they may just be people who know nothing about boats, who, when they try to take a liesurely stroll down the dock to look at the boats, are confronted with locked pier gates, and "NO TRESPASSING" signs. As Desert Pete says, you gotta give, before you get.

We all need to do our PR before the next big one.

[Pete7]

Liam, thanks for taking the time to write this up for us when clearly your mind is on other things. Hope the Beneteau is safe, nice boat the 331.

The You tube video shows the power involved, arms and legs easily broken in that. Leaving the pontoon was probably a good call.


Pete

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by sabray

Some time you can't just at no notice move out. I was curious if any one other then the harbirmaster was trying to save boats. The image I saw was bystanders with beer watching. Why didn't they down the beer and help

No public access to docks.

Doubt few bystanders knew what to do.

High danger due to crashing docks and boats.

Wonder why some boat owners hadn't taken their boats to sea as it was known many hours before there was a tsunami threat.

[sabray]

Originally Posted by pdnervo

re: Sabray query: r u kidding ! we are not a family anymore like in the 50's. Germany and China r paying off other countries debts ?? we aint !! all we can do is lend out human fodder ..and not caring for them when they come home.
those guys drinking the beer just standing by and is our norm.. no more community spirit....
we, you and i just think of getting out to sea away from it all or being someplace else...
well maybe that's a little too harsh but its close !!

Not me if I can help I'm there. Even if we ain't family. Just sounded like the harbor guys were busting tits and no one wanted to help.

[John A]

Several factors may have influnced the decision to move boats from the marina. Hind sight being a perfect answer to conditions we as CF members are not aware of.

The marina is on a creek on the north end of Monerary Bay, protected from most Pacific storms, and gives a false sense of security. The entrance routinly is closed during the late winter due to sand bars that are created from the large Pacific winter storms. The upper half of the marina is reached by passing under a bridge which requires sailboats to remove their mast. If you were able to get your boat out of the marina, you would have to contend with the realitive shollow waters of the Bay which is fronted by the Monteray Trench, a 3000 foot plus Canyon in the sea floor which would have had an effect on the approaching Tsunami.
Many if not most boatowners live in the Bay area which is 50 to 60 miles away, over the Coastal Mountain range.

I think that we should refrain from to many judgemental opinions and instead offer them words of concern and encouragement.

And hey, maybe the bystanders couldn't enter the marina to help because of locked gates!

[Bash]

Originally Posted by sabray

Some time you can't just at no notice move out. I was curious if any one other then the harbirmaster was trying to save boats. The image I saw was bystanders with beer watching. Why didn't they down the beer and help

They may have been complying with orders from public safety officers who were prohibiting anyone other than boat owners from entering the marina.

Not a bad idea, keeping the public off the docks during a tsunami.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by sigmasailor

Since this Tsunami was not unexpected I fail to understand why owners didn't take their boats out a couple of miles to deep water and ride it out there.
In deep water the wave is a couple of meters high and would pass harmlessly. It is in the shallow waters were the harm is done.

I didn't hear about the Tsunami until I checked my e-mail on Friday morning at about 6am. When I went to the harbor I was planning as you suggest, to take the boat out to deep water. By the time I got there the surge was already so strong that there was no getting out. The surge was running at 6-8 knots and shifting direction every 10-15 minutes. All you could do was add dock lines and hope that the cleats held. If I would have untied the dock lines and tried to leave I would have been slammed into the dock behind me and pinned there until the shift and then slammed into the other side. The harbor patrol boats (25' RIB's with twin 75hp outboards) were having a hard time keeping control.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by sabray

Some time you can't just at no notice move out. I was curious if any one other then the harbirmaster was trying to save boats. The image I saw was bystanders with beer watching. Why didn't they down the beer and help

There is so much power in the event it is really hard to comprehend. Honestly There isn't very much that can be done other than watch. The most effective thing we could do was to try and get the "smaller" pieces of debris out of the water to keep them from banging about and denting things.

Trying to harness even a small boat that is being pushed and pulled by 6-8 knot current is like trying to get a rope around the neck of an angry bull and stopping it!

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by alagary

Good morning Liam, my heart goes out to all the people of Japan. I've been watching the news and feel terrible about all the people who have either had their boats damaged or lost. I used to keep my boat in Santa Cruz and know the harbor well. I hope your boat is OK! I was planning a cruse to Monterey via Santa cruz in April but I might have to wait. I hope all gets back to normal as soon as possible. My best to all in Santa Cruz.

Gary

Thanks Gary. I'm with you. Compared to what happened in Japan, Santa Cruz was nothing. We were so lucky. Sure there was damage but no one was killed or badly injured.

[mbianka]

Some more video of the tsunami waves that hit Santa Cruz. Really shows the power of these waves:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: TSUNAMI: SANTA CRUZ CALIFORNIA

[NDH]

Originally Posted by sabray

Some time you can't just at no notice move out. I was curious if any one other then the harbirmaster was trying to save boats. The image I saw was bystanders with beer watching. Why didn't they down the beer and help

After watching the Youtube video, I do not see what bystanders could have done, the power of the surge is unstopable and at the end of the day no boat is worth anybodys life........

[NativeUSAindian]

So can I get help to build a inclosed boat yard in the Ocean with a one Hundred foot wall. Just grow a reaf and put a wall on top of it.
I hope every one is Ok.