TowBoatUS San Diego Tows Big Boats To Safety After Tsunami Destroys Pier

Vessel Assist San Diego Pulls Big Boats off each other During Tsunami Waves.

Too many movies show a towering 1000 foot tsunami wave hitting big cities, giving us a false impression of what a tsunami even 2-3 feet can do. The reality is even a 2 to 3 foot tidal wave can wreak havoc on marinas, boats and low lying shoreline. There was very little damage done to the Big commercial boats in Americas cup harbor but the pier they were attached to was destroyed. It was truly amazing to see the power this tsunami as the waves sucked the water out of the bay, during low tide, slamming the deep draft boats on the bottom, as the waves rushed back in, it push the boats under the pier breaking the pier apart.  The pylons that the boats were tied to were broken as well. Captain Travis Basom and Captain Eric Lamb moved the 100 plus ton vessels to a safe dock, not damaged, near downtown. Other Damage included the Bally High Dock which was ripped apart by the waves. To the best of Vessel Assist San Diego’s knowledge at the time this story was written no major damage occurred in the other San Diego Bay or Mission Bay marinas. This could have been much worse, maybe even catastrophic. When the Tsunami hit the tide was at an extreme low which allowed the rising water to float the connected docks (99 percent of the marinas have connected floating docks) without risk of floating them over the top of the pylons that holds them into place. However, earlier that day San Diego had a extreme high tide of 6.4′. Throw in a tsunami of just a few feet higher, say 4-6 feet, now certain devastation would occur if the docks floated over the pylons holding them in place. This exact scenario happened in a Galveston Texas Harbor, when the storm surge from Hurricane IKE lifted the entire marina off its pylons a few years ago. There is not much anyone can do to prepare for a Tsunami, even though you know it is coming. Another amazing fact is how fast a tsunami moves, they move so fast you rarely have time to do anything except get to high ground. This tsunami came from almost 5000 miles away and arrived in around 12 hours that’s about 420 knots. this means if a tsunami started in Santa Barbra there would be about 10-15 minutes to evacuate. If there is a tsunami Warning in your area act on the advice of the local authorities. Do not go to the beach to see the waves. Follow the local evacuation signs away from low lying beaches to high ground.