Waves pummel SoCal harbors

The effects of Hurricane Marie, a Category 5 hurricane in the Northwest Pacific on Aug. 21, were felt along the Southern California coastline, Aug. 26 to 28, as huge waves pummeled harbors such as Avalon Harbor and Santa Barbara Island. On Catalina Island, Pebbly Beach Boat Yard experienced damage when strong surges rocked boats, snapped boats from moorings and knocked vessels off their jack stands. “The boat yard at Pebbly Beach, which is a mile east of Avalon, is where we got the brunt of the storm,” said Avalon Harbormaster Brian Bray. Bray explained that the south breaking swells hit the facility tossing boats around on the privately owned parcel. Back at Avalon, four Harbor Patrol officers began to prepare for the large swells the night before by lowering the ramps located on the pier, removed the dinghy docks, secured other docks and released the pumpout float as to avoid any damage to the ramps. There were a few mooring lines that snapped but no damage. By Friday, Aug. 29, the island was back to business as usual, Bray said. Debris was still coming into the harbor from Whites Landing and Camp Fox at press time. In Newport Beach, high surf resulted in more than 50,000 visitors at...