Accident is important reminder to be safe

Ahoy.

Nice to be back in my home port of Newport Harbor this week, and I

really enjoyed skippering a private yacht last night around our

harbor after being on the open ocean and visiting a half a dozen

ports.

Next week, I am scheduled to deliver another yacht from here to

Emeryville in East San Francisco Bay, and again assisting me will be

Capt. Chandler Bell of Bongos Sportfishing. Yet, the probability of

postponing the voyage is high because of the 6- to 10-foot-high

swells from Point Conception north to the Golden Gate Bridge.

At the same time as I am planning this voyage, I am very saddened

to read about the capsizing of the charter vessel Taki Tooo in high

seas while leaving Tillamook Bay, Ore. last Saturday. Most of you by

now have heard about the fatal fishing trip. What a terrible accident

to kick off the boating season, but also what a wake-up call to

boaters and to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Coast Guard reports lists that the 1977 32 1/2-foot vessel was

last inspected on March 13, 2003 (Activity No. 1742449), and

certified for charter after satisfying eight deficiencies noted from

a previous inspection on March 13, 2003, by Coast Guard Marine Safety

Office in Portland. A typical charter vessel is required to be

regularly inspected and certified by the Coast Guard to carry more

than six passengers. The Taki Tooo was certified to carry more than

six into coastal waters and at the time of the capsizing had 19 souls

onboard.

Mournfully, only eight people survived after the skipper ventured

out in small craft warnings with 10-foot seas breaking over the

entrance’s sand bar and some estimates of 15-footers.

I do not want to question, by all reports, the experienced

captain’s decision, but in my opinion, that is a small boat to go out

in those reported conditions, especially with that many people on

board. Why he turned north to be broached by the seas remains a

question. Did he lose an engine, or was it a rogue wave?

I know firsthand the ramifications of canceling a trip not only

from the lost earnings, but from the upset passengers, who mostly do

not understand the power of the sea. It is the captain’s decision.

This is a wake-up call for not only the professionals and paying

passengers, but also for the recreational boaters, as well. I can not

emphasize enough -- know before you go.

Can this happen here at Newport Harbor? You bet! Would I venture

out in 10-foot seas in a 32 1/2-foot boat? No way, and the only time

I experience those seas or bigger is when I cross the Pacific or on a

voyage up the coast, where conditions can change instantly while I

reroute for the nearest safe harbor.

I am noticing Newport’s jetty entrance’s swell conditions worsen

with the building sand bar. In the past few years, Morro Bay and

Oceanside, known for their treacherous sand bars, were dredged, and I

have personally seen the improved conditions entering those harbors.

The bars create unpredictable conditions with breaking seas that can

catch even the most experienced off guard.

So, if the Tillamook Bay’s sand bar had been dredged, would this

accident have happened, and is a similar accident awaiting Newport?

I think that this should be a wake-up call too to Washington,

D.C., and locally to all the governmental agencies responsible for

Newport Harbor. The county of Orange and the city of Newport Beach

both need to turn up the heat on the Bush administration and the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, who have drastically reduced and in some

cases eliminated dredging funds for small harbors and inlets.

Additionally, we all need to take a hand in maintaining the safety of

our navigable waterways.

The important tip of the week is that the only fuel dock in Morro

Bay that sold gasoline has closed. Now, only diesel is available

until later this summer -- maybe. This creates a major problem for

gas-powered boats heading north as the distance between Santa

Barbara’s fuel dock and Santa Cruz’s fuel dock is too far for most

gas boats, and no Port San Luis dock sells gas, either.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit BoathouseTV.com.