Damage and Close Calls on the Waterfront During California Storms

The weather is tough all over California, with near misses and hard hits up and down the coast. The Santa Barbara Yacht Club has, so far, been spared the worst fate, while Chuck Hawley wasn’t so lucky, losing a family beachfront retreat on the Santa Cruz shoreline.

We spoke with Santa Barbara Yacht Club Commodore Dave Sadecki, who filled us in on the storm damage. A high tide and severe waves washed away the beach in front of the recently remodeled club and were rolling right up under the building, which sits on pilings overlooking the Santa Barbara Channel. The waves took out the electricity, plumbing and gas. It also took out half the parking lot and the beach where the beach cats used to sit. The club has evacuated the boatyard and is looking to add revetment (erosion protection) along the beach to prevent further damage.

It’s a stunning location for a yacht club that hosts many races right off the deck out front. However, proximity to the sea has its risks. Fortunately, the club was just high enough, and the tide and storm abated soon enough to prevent possibly worse damage.

Many Southern California sailors, and those cruising north and south, have enjoyed the hospitality of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. In normal times, the beach chairs, volleyball court, race committees and outdoor bar are all active from SBYC’s idyllic location. Commodore Sadecki says they protected the first-floor windows with plywood to prevent more significant damage. The club is currently closed, but they’re planning repairs and, if all goes well, hope to reopen in a few weeks. They’re doing all they can to care for employees while the club awaits reopening.

We also connected with Dennis Longaberger of Sunset Kidd Yachts, who said the boats in the harbor fared well in the last couple of storms, but the harbor entrance is almost closed due to sand drifting into it. Currently the harbor has only five feet of depth at high tide, with a very narrow channel. He joked, “Soon we’ll be calling it ‘Lake Santa Barbara.'”

Meanwhile, it was well-known Santa Cruz sailor Chuck Hawley who, unfortunately, made national news when his family’s Santa Cruz beach cabin was pushed up onto the beach road in front of the house. The New York Times captured the story as one of the many personal tragedies caused by the onslaught of winter storms. The cabin was lost forever when it had to be dismantled in order to clear the road for traffic. The home had been in the family since his parents built it by hand in 1957. It survived the storms of 1982, which washed away many other coastal homes, but the storms of 2023 appear to have been the last.

As everyone knows, the storms have been devastating, with still more to come. Hopefully the worst is over, but we need to keep an eye on the chafing gear, and keep the hatches battened down.