Running for Tuna & Harbor Repair

Back in March of 2011, I had two boys at home, in High School, when school was cancelled due to the earthquake and the knowledge that once again, a tsunami was heading toward Crescent City.

That Tsunami hit Japan a lot more harshly than it hit Crescent City, CA but it was no friend to the fishing fleet and the commercial harbor here.

That morning my oldest son, woke me to tell me, "Mom. the schools are closed today because we will probably get a tsunami.  I'm going fishing."

and his brother,

one year younger, decided it was a day to be spent sleeping.

They have never made the same choices, but I love them both so much that becoming a Mom, twice in 12 months, was like a tsunami to the heart, that wiped out everything I had once considered important and rebuilt in its place a whole new world.

Now my fisherman son has done two season's fishing on a commercial boat, one tuna and one crab season, and as the next tuna season has just gotten up and running, he is happy to be back on the Barbara Marie again

But the Crescent City Harbor is one gigantic construction zone at this point, replacing the docks and dredging, and repairing and trying to become able to withstand the next Tsunami, and there always will be a next tsunami here.

This blog has previous posts about tsunamis in Crescent City

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2013/03/two-years-after-tsunami-in-crescent-city.html

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2013/02/one-year-after-tsunami-we-shared-with.html

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2011/10/crescent-city-still-dredging-out.html

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2011/03/tsunamis-do-more-than-wave-at-crescent.html

Two Years after the Tsunami in Crescent City

The Tall Ships, Hawaiian Chieftain and The Lady Washington come most years to visit our harbor, but had to pass us by two years ago this month when the harbor was destroyed by the same Tsunami that devastated Japan. Last year and this they get to return because some repairs have been done, but the progress is very slow. 

 Before the Tsunami, the harbor was a thriving, busy place filled with boats taking turns in the various seasons with trying their luck for the dungeness crab and the prawns and tuna hauls that kept the fishing community afloat, both literally and financially.

This is a picture I took of my TV screen when they were showing how the water from the harbor was being sucked out of the harbor and then came flooding back in 10 minute cycles

This blog has previous posts about tsunamis in Crescent City

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2013/02/one-year-after-tsunami-we-shared-with.html

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2011/10/crescent-city-still-dredging-out.html

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2011/03/tsunamis-do-more-than-wave-at-crescent.html

 This is the boat my son, in high school when the tsunami hit, now works on as a crabber, but even though it still is listed as being out of Crescent City, It has to dock elsewhere except for loading and unloading as there are not enough places to tie up the fleet now, so as the season winds down my son is heading south from Eureka to Bodega Bay.

boxes filled with crab are unloaded

 Here is the edge of the harbor parking lot as crab season finishes up and the pots come in to be stored and repaired

Many rocks are piling up as the silt and rocks in the harbor are removed to try and make the boat basin deeper and more usable

This barge and crane are in the same corner today that Is shown in that screen shot from the TV news above with the docks sitting on the mud

 nets spread in the parking lot with floats attached

 pipes waiting installation to replace the old, damaged concrete ones

 The rectangles are docks which were damaged and need replaced in the water once the heavy machinery finally leaves

Last year the family of Dustin Weber, the young man who was swept to sea here and recovered 400 miles north when his body washed up in Washington, had his ashes returned as his family completed the walk between those two location.

http://www.triplicate.com/News/Local-News/Tribute-trek-concludes-Not-forgotten

  I haven't seen anything in the local news this year mentioning the anniversary, just the reminders that work is ongoing and repairs are not expected to be completed until at least 2014. Still, life goes on, and the wreckage transforms again into a working harbor.