Well, we now have been through a tsunami although we’re glad to say it was pretty mild. Before Friday we had been through rogue waves, water spouts, 125 knot winds in Hurricane Ofa, electrical storms, being struck by lightning, and more but this was as close to a tsunami as we ever want to be. I attached a picture from the damage 300 miles up the coast in Santa Cruz, this wasn't us!!

We woke up Friday, March 11th about 7am and there was a message on our phone telling us that there had been an earthquake and the tsunami was predicted to hit California’s coast about 8:30am. It was Dana, a friend on the east coast who had heard the news 3 hours earlier and thought to warn us. We really appreciated that, Dana.

We turned on the news right away and began to see reports. Then we heard the harbor police warning boaters to evacuate the harbor and not to leave their dock unless they planned to go 4-6 miles out. It would be safe out there but you’d be very exposed as you crossed the bar or didn’t get to deep water quick enough.

We elected not to leave the harbor but stay with our boat although there were 18 boats that decided to go out far enough. We listened to reports of harbors nearby that only experienced a 2 foot surge and felt we should be safe. Also, we were on an end tie and felt we could make a quick getaway and not be tangled in a mess of boats if we had to leave. Some of the boats that decided to return to the harbor even after 2 hours later, still experienced difficult surge currents as they returned across the bar.

Oceanside had no major problems although some of the navigational buoys were washed away from their position. We watched the tidal surge go up and down four feet within a 20 minute period. It was surreal like watching the tide in a time lapse camera. There were also clouds of churned up mud all along our boat (we took pictures but it doesn't show up very well). At 3pm, we did hear that 4 people who were 5 feet above the shore, got swept to sea when a 7 ft. wave hit them. They were all rescued by the lifeguard service. Crescent City and Santa Cruz did have casualties and significant amounts of damage due to heavy surge hitting their harbors. Further south, Mission Bay had a barge break loose twice during the 24hrs of surge activity and caused damage to moored boats.

It was a nervous time throughout the day but God is good and we had no problems whatsoever. Our goal for the next few months is still to find a place to safely store the boat while we return to Seattle for the summer. We will leave exploring the Sea of Cortex for the next season.