Is Santa Cruz Harbor Poorly Designed? Yes, It Is
After gut-wrenching video of waves peeling through Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor during Christmas week showed boats thrashing and snapping their cleats, causing some $25 million in damage to harbor infrastructure and sinking 12 boats (including at least one liveaboard), a few readers shared their experiences of being docked inside the 1,000-plus-slip marina.
“We were there for the Tsunamis. Isn’t [it] about time a more protected entrance was installed? When the entrance is a direct shot, why wouldn’t you expect this?” asked one reader. “Santa Cruz Harbor is not a harbor to keep an expensive boat in the winter,” said another reader.
One reader said that the harbor’s issues were baked into its DNA, and might have been avoided. “This harbor was placed incorrectly in 1964 against advice of long-time mariners. The Army Corps of Engineers ignored advice.”
The March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami put Santa Cruz Harbor’s flaws in the spotlight.
“More than a week after a tsunami forced its way into the Santa Cruz harbor like a rushing river, questions have surfaced about whether the port design and topography of its basin may have contributed to the surge’s estimated $26 million in damage,” the Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote in 2011. “At the Moss Landing Harbor District, just 24 miles to the south, the tsunami’s impact was far less severe. With a deeper harbor mouth and a channel that empties into several sloughs, Moss Landing experienced no loss to boats or docks.” Fourteen boats sank and a number of docks sustained major damage in Santa Cruz Harbor following the events of 2011.
But the tsunami revealed only part of the harbor’s flaws. “Designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the channel narrows and veers off on an angle as it spills into the confined upper harbor, where the tsunami became magnified,” the Sentinel wrote. “‘We had people ask the question of whether a different configuration of the jetty or seawall parallel to the sea would have affected some of the wave energy,’ said Port Commission member Jeff Martin, who is also a civil engineer. ‘Could they have designed it better? I think so.'”
Martin, who is no longer a commissioner, said there was a “low degree of likelihood” that the Port District would pursue any major redesign — and that was nearly 14 years ago.
So the answer is emphatically yes, Santa Cruz Harbor has some design flaws that have left it exposed it to the elements. It doesn’t appear as though a major infrastructure investment is coming any time soon, given the massive price tag associated with the Christmas-week surge and the collapse of the wharf. “The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to ratify an emergency proclamation to unlock state money for repairs on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and parts of the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor damaged by large surf on December 23,” Santa Cruz Local reported. Now that we’ve stated the obvious and answered our own question, we’re curious to hear about your experiences in Santa Cruz. The Small Craft Harbor’s unique (and less-than-ideal) design has us thinking about other sporty — one might say sketchy — harbors throughout the world. Please comment below, or write us here.
This story might read like a hit piece trying to dissuade sailors from visiting the gem that is Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay. That is not the case! While the harbor could clearly benefit from another breakwater, Santa Cruz is an incredible destination worthy of sailors’ attention, and deserving of our dollars in its efforts to rebuild.
Cruising Club of America Awards Cole Brauer
Cole Brauer learned to sail with the University of Hawaii sailing team and went on to a career in professional sailing. She achieved this by doing all the hard work of managing other people’s boats and crewing whenever and wherever she could. As everyone knows, things really took off when she raced the Class 40 First Light to second place in the Global Solo Challenge. For that stunning achievement, the Cruising Club of America has awarded Cole the 2024 Young Voyager Award. The CCA describes the award: “This award recognizes a young sailor who has made one or more exceptional voyages, demonstrating exceptional skills and courage.”
Her 130-day solo voyage around the world has inspired many. And she’s not sitting still. She has passed First Light on to new owner Elizabeth Tucker of Australia, who is planning her own participation in the next Global Solo Challenge under the banner Za Ocean Racing. As part of that effort Cole and Elizabeth are now together aboard First Light, deep in the South Atlantic, to deliver the boat from Spain to Australia. Temporarily, the two solo sailors are a duo. You can see their position on the map below.
You can read more about Cole Brauer’s award here and the CCA reward recipients here.
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Inaugural Sausalito Crab Festival Claws Its Way Onto the Calendar
The Sausalito Sustainable Waterfront Association (SSWA) and Fish Restaurant are excited to announce the first annual Sausalito Crab Festival, a celebration of Sausalito’s hardworking crab fishing fleet and maritime heritage, now set to occur each year at the start of crab season.
This year’s festival will take place on Saturday, February 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Clipper Yacht Harbor on Sausalito’s waterfront. The day kicks off the season with a celebration of fresh seafood, live music, and community connection. All proceeds from the event will go directly to supporting Sausalito’s local commercial fishing fleet.
Event Highlights:
- Fresh Crab: Enjoy freshly cooked crab and creative dishes prepared by Fish Restaurant, plus takeaway options to savor at home.
- Drinks: Warm and cold beverages to perfectly pair with your meal.
- Meet the Fleet: Connect with local crab fishermen to learn about the industry and its significance to Sausalito.
- Live Music: Performances by local bands.
This event is made possible through the generous support of Clipper Yacht Harbor, H & M Marine, KKMI, Helmut’s Marine Service, Sausalito Boat Show, Silver Seas Yachts, Jeff Brown Yachts, and Williams Group, whose contributions highlight their dedication to Sausalito’s fishing culture and maritime heritage.
In conjunction with the Crab Festival, H & M Marine, Silver Seas Yachts, Rifkin Yachts, Jeff Brown Yachts, and Williams Group will host an open-boat showcase at Clipper Yacht Harbor. This offers visitors the opportunity to explore and shop for a range of vessels, from luxury yachts to fishing boats, while indulging in fresh crab and embracing all the waterfront has to offer.
The Sausalito Sustainable Waterfront Association is committed to preserving Sausalito’s maritime traditions and supporting its working waterfront community. Through events like the Sausalito Crab Festival, SSWA promotes sustainable fishing practices while celebrating the unique culture and history of Sausalito’s fishing industry. For more information, please contact: [email protected].
Get your tickets here: Sausalito Crab Festival
Follow the event and see who’s going here.
See more local waterfront events in our calendar here.
Sailagram: A Snapshot of December Sailing
Welcome to December’s Sailagram. We welcome you to take a look at the last month of 2024 through the eyes of West Coast sailors. Remember to upload your pictures to Sailagram for inclusion in next month’s gallery.
Different From Anywhere Else — Cruising Alaska Aboard ‘Petrichor’
From the warmth of Mexico to the far north: cruisers Kate Schnippering and Sean Kolk from Oakland check in from Alaska aboard their Catalina 36 Petrichor.
At 58°52’N we find ourselves 1,300 miles from home, in a breathtaking anchorage with our own “personal” glacier.
The icefalls tower high in the distance. The land is newly carved by frozen water, raw and rocky, with shrubs starting to grow. As we’re enjoying dinner on deck, a pod of orcas ventures into the cove to take a look around. At breakfast, a moose is swimming laps near the boat.
Reid Glacier was once a tidewater glacier, and in 1899 it filled the entire anchorage. Now, a one-mile paddleboard down the inlet takes us to the silty mudflats at the base of the glacier, which no longer runs to the water. We climb off our boards into knee-high, slick quicksand, and trek along streams — eventually taking our shoes off to cross the water and investigate an ice cave at the base of the glacier. Inside, the cave is a deep blue, forming its own layer of fog. The bluer the ice, the older it is, as it is more compressed and light takes longer to travel through it. We stand in contemplation at this ancient yet fleeting, ever-changing maze, guarded by behemoth bears we are grateful not to run into today.
Scraping mud off gear for several hours while wearing winter jackets in July, it dawns on us that cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, is decidedly different than in anywhere else we’ve ever been.
How did we get here?
Only a year prior, we’d shipped Petrichor up to Seattle, after a couple of seasons in the Sea of Cortez via the 2021 Ha-Ha. We wanted to get our California/Mexico cruiser ready for southeast Alaska: the cold, the wet, and the rugged anchorages.
Discover the Magic of Owl Harbor
