Large powerboat runs ashore on peninsula...

Large powerboat runs ashore on peninsula as tide goes out

A 44-foot powerboat ran aground on the Balboa Peninsula late

Thursday evening.

The boat washed up between 12th and 15th streets at about 7:55

p.m., said Harbor Patrol Sgt. Karl Von Voight. By about 9 p.m.,

officials could do little more than wait until morning for the boat

to be removed, as the tide continued to back down. Within hours, the

tide was expect to hover just below 2 feet.

“It’s pretty high and dry by now,” Von Voight said just before 9

p.m. “It’s too far up on the beach to pull it off.”

If the tide didn’t rise enough to return the boat to sea this

morning, Von Voight said, two options would be left: move it off the

beach and through the surf line, or move it over the beach.

“It happens from time to time,” he said. “More often during the

summer because there are more boats.”

Von Voight was unsure what caused the boat to run ashore.

Volunteers needed at ecological reserve

The Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve and Preserve needs

volunteer naturalists to represent its 900 acres of wetlands and

grasslands that are home to bird species, including the endangered

light-footed clapper rail.

For an application, call (714) 973-6832 or e-mail

Rita.McCoy@pfrd.ocgov.com.