Capt. Nathan Warren travels in and out of Oceanside Harbor regularly for whale watching trips.
“They have it marked, ‘Danger shallow area,’ said Warren as he steered his boat around the harbor on Wednesday afternoon.
He said the harbor mouth is dangerous right now for inexperienced boaters, especially during low tides, due to sediment buildup. He's witnessed several boats run aground in the past few weeks.
“Something needs to be done," Warren said. "And people just need to be aware of it.”
That was why the city of Oceanside declared an emergency late last year and is pushing for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel ahead of schedule. Right now, the sand buildup has lowered the depth of the harbor’s mouth to between 7 and 14 feet. The ideal depth is 30 feet.
“If you are not an experienced boater or don’t have a measuring device showing the depth of the area where you’re in, you’re going to have difficulty navigating in and out of our harbor,” said Jayme Timberlake, the city’s coastal zone administrator.
Timberlake said the city has kept Tower 14 along Harbor Beach open longer than usual, which allows lifeguards to monitor the harbor and assist boaters with safely navigating the channel.
The city has petitioned the Army Corps of Engineers to do an emergency dredge, but the Corps declined, determining that the harbor is still navigable.
“Even though we aren't able to accommodate an emergency dredge request, we do acknowledge that the harbor is not in ideal conditions and it needs to be dredged,” said Brian Kim, the Corps' project manager for the harbor dredging.
The harbor is dredged annually in the spring, usually around April. The Corps was working on moving the date up to as early as March.
In the meantime, officials were warning boaters to avoid the harbor during low tides or big swells. The city, however, is continuing to push the Corps to dredge the harbor sooner rather than later.
"We do have a meeting with the Army Corps next week with their command staff," Timberlake said. "It's going to be a higher-level discussion and hopefully the city can encourage them to move even more swiftly."
As for Warren, he hopes that happens soon.
“The last thing we want is Oceanside getting labeled as a dangerous harbor,” he said.
