Anchoring rules considered

Newport Beach Councilwoman Nancy Gardner remembers hearing about a boat last year moored off Corona del Mar State Beach with a string no thicker than a finger.

They all knew what would happen, and sure enough, it did. The boat washed ashore, leaving pieces of itself along the way floating among beachgoers.

It’s a problem Gardner said she and council members saw only get worse as they headed into summer: Boats, some seaworthy, some not, left for hours, days, even weeks at a time anchored off the coast.

Now, Gardner said, the city appears close to nipping this one in the bud before the new sailing season.

In an ordinance coming before the City Council next week, council members could limit the amount of time boats are permitted to anchor off the Corona del Mar coast and how long boat owners can go astray from their vessel.

“We’re trying to weed out the bad apples and protect the others,” Gardner said.

If the ordinance is approved as is, boats anchored off the Corona del Mar coast will have to be occupied from dawn to dusk. Owners would be allowed three hours away from their boats and vessels, and could not drop anchor for more than three days in any 30-day period. If a vessel is unoccupied and a Small Craft Advisory is issued, Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol would have the right to board the boat and tow it into the harbor.

“That’s a good area to anchor. We’re not trying to keep people from anchoring there,” said Chris Miller, Newport Beach’s harbor resources manager. “People were walking away from their boats for days or weeks at a time.”

Officials are concerned about boats slamming into the rocks and sending debris toward swimmers, a destroyed vessel leaking fuel and other toxic materials into the water, and older vessels without holding tanks dumping into the water.

“We anticipate not necessarily fewer boats, but the boats there will be with people on them, they’ll be seaworthy, they’ll be moored,” Gardner said.

If approved, the ordinance would have to be approved by California’s Department of Boating and Waterways. Officials there said issues of long-term anchoring off shore are statewide and they have a fund to help cities recover the costs of towing or destroying vessels. Newport Beach officials explored the issue years ago, Miller said, and it did not tailor to the city’s needs.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.