Storms whip up dangerous seas
 During a deceptive calm between storms, a Charleston-based U.S. Coast Guard motor life boat crew helps bring the 65-foot sailboat, Broken Hobbels, into Coos Bay this morning. The sailboat crew radioed the Coast Guard for help Thursday morning, after the vessel was damaged in rough seas and heavy winds off Cape Blanco. --World Photo by Madeline Steege |
By Susan Chambers, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- A typhoon that ravaged Guam last week is now sitting in the Gulf of Alaska -- and spinning off a series of cold fronts that continues to bring high winds and heavy rainfall to the South Coast.
One of the fronts endangered a private sailboat with two people aboard off Cape Blanco on Thursday morning, prompting a call for help to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Winchester Bay couple notified the Coast Guard in North Bend early Thursday that they were struggling with their vessel, the Broken Hobbels, in heavy seas. At 10:30 a.m., they asked for help, according to Coast Guard Lt. Toby Holdridge.
Two North Bend helicopter crews flew to the 65-foot sailboat, where the couple asked to be taken off the boat. Offshore swells were bulging to 30-40 feet with high winds pushing to almost 60 mph.
"It was howling. It was pretty rough," Holdridge said.
The crew of the 52-foot motor lifeboat Intrepid set off from Charleston to meet the boat, while the helicopters stayed in orbit above the boat. Holdridge said the couple, 72-year-old Richard Carpenter and his wife, Doris Carpenter, age unavailable, asked to be taken off the boat, but it was too risky for rescuers to get on the vessel due to masts. The Broken Hobbel's sails also were torn.
The sailboat headed toward Coos Bay with the Coast Guard escort. Eventually, the couple met up with the Intrepid, which took the boat in tow at about 5 p.m., but was unable to cross the bar due to the rough seas. All the while, the helicopters returned repeatedly to shore to refuel. Charleston Station's two other motor lifeboat crews also sailed out to help keep watch over the stricken sailboat. All were able to cross the bar at 7 a.m. today, Holdridge said.
Medical crews were sent to the Charleston marina to help one of the sailboat's passengers with a possible head injury. Holdridge said later medics were evaluating the couple.
The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory and gale warnings for much of the northern California, Oregon and Washington coasts. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department also is warning visitors to the coast to be careful while watching the storm action.
"There have already been several close calls this winter," said Robert Smith, parks department beach safety education coordinator, in a press release. "A woman nearly drowned in November when a big wave knocked her down and washed her beneath a truck and beachcombers plucked a family from the water after a wave washed them off a rock they were exploring."
November's storms, with ocean swells greater than 20 feet, produced spectacular displays along coastal cliffs and beaches when the waves crashed ashore. They also brought some destruction and at least one death. At Sunset Bay State Park, rocks, rolling logs, sand and seaweed were strewn across the parking lots. In northern California, waves swept a child to sea.
The National Weather Service expected the weather will calm down today, briefly, before picking up again over the weekend. The service predicts ocean swells of 23 to 24 feet with wind-generated seas pushing those heights a couple feet higher. Gale-force winds -- forecast winds of 39-54 mph -- will prevail much of the weekend, and storm-force winds of around 58 mph will often sweep through the area.
"On some of the capes, like Blanco, you could see close to hurricane-force wind," NWS meteorologist Sven Nelaimischkies said. "Isolated gusts over 65 knots."
As of 2:52 p.m. Thursday, winds over inland areas of southern Oregon and northern California did not develop as strongly as forecasters predicted. The NWS canceled high wind warnings inland or downgraded the warnings to advisories.
Officials reiterated the need for safety at the coast, however. The parks department encourages visitors to watch the storms from day-use areas and to stay behind fences and guard railings. Logs on the beach are particularly unstable and cliffs are prone to erosion.
"With the strong winds that we're going to be having, especially with the high tides along the south coast, you could get caught pretty easily," said Nelaimischkies. "Any jetties or things like that I would avoid like the plague."
Rivers, too, are likely to rise quickly, though forecasters didn't expect them to rise above flood stage. Most of the South Coast will see a series of rain events that drop a total of between 2 and 5 inches.
As to boats venturing offshore, Holdridge offered a reminder to keep life jackets aboard, check radios and know how to use them. The Coast Guard monitors Channel 16. He also suggested vessel crews keep a constant check on the weather.
"We recommend they wait this one out. It's going to be rough," Holdridge said.
-- City Editor Elise Hamner contributed to this story.
