Jan 14 2008
Close calls at Channel Islands Harbor
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There was a high surf watch Saturday. And that played out with some pretty impressive waves. Even though these weren’t breaking inside the channel, they did catch some brother sailors unaware.
Cruising in just before sunset, we saw two boats that disappeared in the troughs inside the breakwater very near the south jetty. The wind abruptly dropped to 5 kts or so and it looked like both boats would be swallowed up in the breakers.
Fortunately, boat #1, farthest from shore, maneuvered clear. Boat #2, which looked like it was going to do an Irving Johnson, started it’s engine and averted disaster.
We heard the captain of some boat alert the Harbor Patrol, which responded that the entrance was passable.
I guess it was. We all made it, but it might not have been such an adventure if the Harbor Patrol had stationed their boat near the entrance and directed traffic or had made a Securite announcement, warning us that waves were breaking a quarter mile farther out than normal.
