High winds cause damage in Newport Harbor

Feb. 1, 2016 5:59 PM PT

A Newport Harbor boat rescue company was kept busy as strong winds blew through Sunday and Monday.

Ben Scanlan, general manager of Vessel Assist Newport Beach, said his company and Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol deputies responded to several incidents Sunday.

Scanlan said late Monday afternoon that Vessel Assist had aided four boats thus far and had three more lined up to help.

He said winds up to 60 to 70 knots (70 to 80 mph) blew through Newport on Sunday.

“This was the worst weather I’ve seen in the harbor,” he said. “There’s kayaks and stuff littered all over.”

Scanlan also reported seeing damaged docks, mangled canopies and electric boats floating about.

A call to the city’s harbormaster for a further damage report was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.

Bradley Zint, bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint

Bradley Zint

Bradley Zint left Times Community News in 2018. He was a general assignment reporter for the Daily Pilot, where he worked since 2010. At the Pilot, he also was a copy editor, classical music columnist and reporter covering Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. He previously worked in Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Alaska and Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where he served as editor-in-chief of its campus newspaper, the Daily 49er.