Pacifica Pier News

Great shots by Nathan Wirth.

PACIFICA: There have been a lot of crabbers at the pier and results have been fair. The water has been on the rough side but when it’s calm, the crabbing is best. There is a decent perch bite from the beaches on blood and pile worms. (650) 355-8303
Tim Goode/ Contra Costa Times

Part of the roof and subsequently the interior sheet rock were torn off of this house at 1344 Crespi Dr. in Pacifica on Wednesday morning.[mathew sumner/staff ]Thousands of people were without electricity Wednesday as a hairy storm blasted San Mateo County and the rest of the Bay Area, causing floods, flight delays, road closures and minor auto accidents.

The National Weather Service put out a flood warning and high-wind and high-surf advisories for San Mateo and other counties. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain soaked the County during the morning deluge.

Although the worst of the storm had passed by early afternoon, forecasters said showers and isolated thunderstorms could continue into Friday.

“The brunt of the system has come through,” said meteorologist Rick Canepa, adding that there is a 40 percent chance of showers on Thursday night and a 30 percent chance on Friday night.

The rain and heavy winds knocked out power to more than 43,000 customers across the Bay Area. A spokeswoman for Pacific Gas & Electric said power was expected to be restored to all but a hundred or so customers by early this morning.

“This is the windiest storm we’ve had this season,” said Paul Moreno of PG&E, which reported that up to 5,000 County customers had no power at 10 a.m. “We were doing really well until about 5 a.m., when the outages started and the heavy winds began.”

The majority of outages were in Daly City and San Bruno; others affected live in Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and Belmont. By about 5 p.m., the power was back on for all but 739 of those customers.

The wind was so powerful that electrical wires fell and the roof blew off a home on Crespi Drive in Pacifica, said North County Fire Authority spokesman Dave Dewey.

Dewey said emergency crews were busy

fielding numerous flooding calls, but had not ordered evacuations in most of the cases.

Westpark Drive and the surrounding Westlake Shopping Center saw some of the worst flooding, with three feet of water standing in some areas. Firefighters had to pull one motorist from a car who got stuck in water on Westpark, Dewey said.

“The storm drains were over-taxed,” Dewey said. “Everyone’s safe and we got the person out of the vehicle.”

Highway 1 in Pacifica was closed for two hours Wednesday, until 10 a.m., and phone lines went down at San Pedro Avenue. The Pacifica Pier was closed last night and remained closed throughout the day.

A Pacifica Public Works Department spokesperson said three large trees came down, including one on Eastlake Avenue that narrowly missed a city employee.

Farther south on the Coast at Pillar Point Harbor, all available staff spent the morning tying up boats to secure the pier. Lt. John Quinlan, of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office substation in Moss Beach, said his office had received more than 30 weather-related calls by late morning about “downed trees, downed wires…and garbage cans flying everywhere.”

He said the sign at the Shell gas station at the corner of Highway 92 and Main Street also came down.

Flights in and out of San Francisco International Airport were delayed throughout the day.

SFO spokesman Mike McCarron said at 11:20 a.m. that arrivals were coming in up to 45 minutes late and that departures were expected to be delayed all afternoon.

The heavy rains also flooded an area where BART keeps computerized train-track switching equipment at the Daly City station, which meant trains had to be rerouted, according to a BART officials. The problem led to only slight delays at the start of the evening commute.

Staff writers Malaika Fraley, Amelia Hansen, Amy Yarbrough and Justin Jouvenal and wire services contributed to this report.

LOAD-DATE: February 26, 2004

Copyright 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
San Mateo County Times (San Mateo, CA)
February 26, 2004 Thursday
SECTION: LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

LENGTH: 625 words

HEADLINE: Storms cause havoc;
STORM PUMMELS COUNTY

BYLINE: STAFF REPORTS

BODY:
http://media.mnginteractive.com

Construction workers worked late into the evening Thursday pouring concrete into the promenade of the Pacifica Pier. The pier was battered by storm-driven waves Thursday and yesterday, but crews managed to complete the repairs Thursday night.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Chris Hardy/The Chronicle

LOAD-DATE: January 13, 2001

Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
JANUARY 13, 2001, SATURDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A18

LENGTH: 41 words

HEADLINE: Re-Pier Work

DATELINE: Pacifica

BODY:

Gigantic storm-driven waves hammered Pacifica yesterday, pulverizing a portion of seawall to rubble and threatening to flood beachfront homes.

And as it had for much of the week, the weather raised havoc throughout the state, soaking some hilly regions with more than 5 inches of rain, inundating low-lying areas and tying up both air and vehicular traffic.

In Pacifica, where El Nino storms of three years ago destroyed seven houses on Esplanade Avenue, nature put on a particularly impressive display. As residents watched in slack-jawed amazement, lines of 25-foot breakers rolled in, smacked into the bottom of the Pacifica pier, then crashed into a seawall, sending columns of foam 50 feet into the air.

“I’ve lived on the Mississippi gulf coast, I’ve been in some really big hurricanes, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Bill King, who works in the Pacifica area.

Town resident Deborah Hughes said she was worried the Pacifica pier might topple, and her house, a couple of blocks from the beach, might flood. But she also found the huge surf enthralling.

“It’s like a train wreck,” she said. “You can’t take your eyes away.”

Aided by the highest tide of the season — 7 feet — the massive combers knocked out 30 feet of Pacifica’s seawall as easily as a child toppling a sand sculpture.

As nervous residents watched, equipment operators driving graders and dump trucks on Beach Boulevard, adjacent to the seawall, shoveled crushed rock into the breach. Across the narrow street, apartment buildings and houses are tightly clustered.

“I don’t really think that’s doing any good,” said Jeff Keene, who watched from the vantage of his apartment, about 50 yards away. “The surf is washing it out as fast as they can dump it in.”

The pier was closed. Residents and officials expressed concerns that the battering could damage the pier, which has already been undermined by years of heavy weather.

Towering surf also compelled officials to close public beaches and beachside roadways in Santa Cruz, Aptos and Capitola. Waves estimated at 20 feet splashed beach homes in Aptos, but caused no serious flooding.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, authorities said the storm might have contributed to at least three traffic deaths, one in San Jose and two on Interstate 280 in Daly City.

The weather also caused big problems at Bay Area airports. By yesterday afternoon, at least 169 flights had been canceled at San Francisco International Airport, and flight delays of as long as four hours were typical.

Wind and tide also made things ugly in the bay. Four-foot swells generated high surf along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, forcing officials to close northbound traffic from Folsom to Mission streets. Salt water 3 feet deep collected at the foot of Mission.

Bay ferryboats and tugboats kept running, though they rocked and rolled like ocean liners in the deep Atlantic during a Nor’easter. Landing the ferries was tricky.

“We have to time (the landings) to combers coming from the direction of the Bay Bridge before we put down the ramps,” said Mike Smith, a terminal attendant at the Golden Gate ferry dock. One woman was hesitant to get aboard. “I told her, ‘Every trip is an adventure, ma’am. No extra charge.’ ”

Alcatraz remained closed while workers continued to repair the weather-damaged gangway and dock that left more than 300 people temporarily imprisoned on the island Wednesday. The closure could continue into the weekend.

Minor flooding problems were reported around the area yesterday. In Marin, the high tide hit at about 11:30 a.m., covering Miller Avenue in Mill Valley and Bridgeway Avenue in Sausalito in 2 feet of water.

For fair-weather fans, the best news yesterday was that the rain might be coming to an end for a while.

With this storm headed south, said George Cline of the National Weather Service, “we should probably have nice weather, probably beginning this weekend and continuing into next week.”Chronicle staff writers Peter Fimrite, Steve Rubenstein, Maria Alicia Gaura, Pamela J. Podger, Angelica Pence and Chuck Squatriglia contributed to this report. / E-mail Glen Martin at glenmartin@sfchronicle.com, and Carl Nolte at cnolte@sfchronicle.com.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, In Pacifica, 25-foot breakers crashed into the bottom of the Pacifica pier, left, then smacked into a seawall, sending a spray of foam 50 feet into the air. / Eric Luse/The Chronicle

Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
JANUARY 12, 2001, FRIDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A21

LENGTH: 705 words

HEADLINE: Spectacular Surging Surf Wreaks Havoc in the Bay Area;

Surging Surf Shatters Part Of A Seawall;

Homes in Pacifica facing flood threat

SOURCE: Chronicle Staff Writers

BYLINE: Glen Martin, Carl Nolte

DATELINE: Pacifica

BODY:

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2001

SALTWATER — Rockfish and Dungeness crab, and a sale on Dramamine
BAY — San Pablo, Suisun, delta sturgeon
LAKE — San Pablo catfish
RIVER — Smith, Chetco steelhead
PACIFIC OCEAN

GOLDEN GATE — If we didn’t know any better — and if the weather folks weren’t honking to the contrary — we’d say it felt like spring yesterday. Aside from a freshet yesterday afternoon, we’re pretty much working on a two-day stretch of rainless days. That alone, it would seem, is reason enough for celebration. For the sportfishing fleet, it meant a quick look out west to the ocean to see what she was up to. Consensus ran along the line of 10 knots of wind with a swell of 8-9 feet. And then there was that epic struggle pitting the opposing virtue of De Masoch against that of De Sade — in other words, submit to the conditions or run out past the Gate for a day of fishing and damn the consequences. The verdict, of course, is yours in the booking. As it stands, boats were planning trips to the Farallon Islands and the waters off Point Reyes for rockfish and Dungeness crab. In Bodega Bay, boats plan to hit Cordell Banks and the nearshore reefs. Half Moon Bay boats will concentrate on the D eep Reef and perhaps weigh a trip out to the islands. And down south, the Monterey Bay fleet will be motoring about in search of the usual assortment of rockfish

The Pacifica Pier, we’re happy to report, continues to remain in one piece. The ocean about the pier has calmed, but it’s still too rough to expect any reasonable chance at catching fish — not that that ever stops anyone. . . . The ocean salmon season gets under way above Pigeon Point on March 28 (March 14 below) with a 24-inch size limit; circle hooks must be used when fishing with a pound of weight or less.

THE BAYS
SAN FRANCISCO — Talk is slow in these parts but a look out over the water yesterday morning revealed a few boats fishing off Candlestick Point and around the San Mateo Bridge. Of course, it wasn’t clear whether anything was being caught. The only sure thing seems to be the Northern California Skippers’ Annual Sturgeon Derby, which motors onto the bay in a cloud of two-stroke fumes Saturday at 5:43 a.m. Tickets, available at Jailhouse Bait in Brisbane and Castro Valley Sportsmens Center, are $20. Information: Brisbane: (415) 468-7887; Emeryville: (510) 654- 6040; Berkeley: (510) 849-2727; Oakland: (510) 534-1131; Alameda: (510) 522-6731, (510) 521-2460; San Mateo: (415) 343-6837.

SAN PABLO — The weekend saw ideal conditions and what you might call excellent action for sturgeon between the Pump- house and China Camp. Since then, the action has shifted to the waters off Paradise, where some monster sturgeon and a few stripers were caught late in the outgoing tide (after 3 p.m. today). The prized shrimp off Paradise is mud shrimp, which is good because you can’t get grass shrimp these winter days. The upper bay suffered a stiff breeze yesterday, but there were reports of sturgeon seen rolling far up the Petaluma River between the mud and pickleweed banks. Also, anglers fishing the east bank of Sonoma Creek have been taking their share of sturgeon, mainly in the 55-58 inch range. Information: San Rafael: (415) 456-032 1; Sonoma: (707) 762-7818.

SUISUN — Boating is back in business in these parts, and the sturgeon activity is centered around the Mothball Fleet, Buoy 27 and Broad Slough. Elaboration comes is skeletal utterings of “They’re gettin’ ‘em,” and “Pretty much mud and ghost shrimp ’cause you can’t get grass (shrimp).” And that’s pretty much enough said. Information: Pittsburg: (510) 458- 4904, (510) 432-8466; Martinez: (510) 229- 9420; Crockett: (510) 787-1048; Antioch: (510) 757-3852.

THE DELTA — The Sacramento River is open for boating from Isleton to Montezuma Slough so long as you don’t exceed 5 mph and don’t throw a wake. Other than that, have at it. No restrictions are in place above Isleton or on the San Joaquin River. Information: Isleton: (916) 777-6806; Rio Vista: (707) 374-5554.

THE LAKES
MERCED — The sun could be seen as far west as the lakes Merced yesterday, but no anglers were around to see it. The lakes just are not attracting much fishing interest these days. Information: (415) 753- 1101.

SAN PABLO RESERVOIR — If you’re particular about what you catch, you might want to wait out the rain in hopes of clearer water and trout-filled days. For now, those muck-slurping catfish reign. Our hill-song motto: They’re good eatin’. So it’s a can (Styrofoam these days) of worms, a bag of anchovies, a bucket of clams, chunks of mackerel, assorted roadkill pickings — and we’re off to the backwaters of Scow Canyon for whiskerfish. Recent inductees onto the Catfishers Wall of Fame: Chris Bronken of Richmond with a 14- pounder caught Tuesday; and Mike Brenner of El Sobrante, who lobbed his bait into three feet of water enough times for a 10-fish limits that included one specimen the size of a healthy piglet. Information: (510) 223-1661.

THE RIVERS
WHAT’S AVAILABLE — You can forget about the Russian, but if you continue far up the North Coast, the steelhead fishing turns spectacular. The catch is that you have to get up there now to enjoy it. The Smith has dropped to the shade of green that occupies steelhead angler’s dreams, some palette swirl that exists between forest mist and silver, where every cast holds the promise of a take and a fish. The Chetco is dropping toward ideal, and guides are averaging two fish per day, with steelies running seven to 15 pounds. Farther up the coast, well into Oregon now, we hear there’s epic fishing on rivers with mysterious names like numbers and in images of bizarre rituals. If nothing else, it warrants exploration. Information: (707) 487-0935; (54 1) 469-2422; (541) 469- 6627.

The Fishing Report is available to anglers who surf the Net. Use the “Feedback” feature for questions or comments: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/outdoors/ or message me at hoffmansfgate.com. The phone number is (415) 777-6062.

Catch Brian Hoffman’s “Hooked on Fishing” Saturdays on KNBR (AM-680) from 6 to 7 a.m

THE FISHING REPORT
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
February 26, 1998
Author: Brian Hoffman
Estimated printed pages: 4

BEST BETS

Edition: FINAL
Section: SPORTS
Page: D8
Column: THE FISHING REPORT
Index Terms: SPORTS; FISHING
Copyright 1998 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
Record Number: 12472

The perch are biting at the Pacifica Pier, but that is small comfort to anglers left on shore when the City Council abruptly closed the popular fishing spot because of concerns about its safety.

”It’s been gorgeous out here for the two weeks we’ve been closed,” moaned Joe Jimno, who has seen the business at his snack bar and bait shop at the front of the pier drop to nothing since the gates were locked January 25. ”We’ve been seeing big perch, three to four pounds, and there’s no one to catch them.”

The decision to shut down the pier came as a surprise, said Pacifica City Manager Daniel Pincetich. City officials had gone to the council to describe storm damage to the pier’s steel bulkhead and to ask for $ 7,000 to put together a repair plan.

But the council, worried that the pier might collapse and injure someone, ordered it closed immediately.

The council probably was being more cautious than it needed to be, Pincetich said.

”We might have gotten them too concerned,” he admitted. ”We’re not worried that the pier is going to collapse, but that it might buckle two inches.

”If it fails, it won’t be with a quick kaboom, but with a slow creak and groan.”

CLOSURE MAY BE RECONSIDERED

The council may consider reopening the pier this week after reviewing a report saying the main danger ”will not be a catastrophic failure but a gradual . . . settlement.”

Such a settlement would ”result in significant damage from an economic point of view, but will not pose a serious threat to life and safety,” the report said.

It would be safe to reopen the pier, the report added, if it is constantly monitored and shut down during bad weather.

The pier’s reopening cannot come soon enough for Jimno, who has run the concessions there for more than 12 years.

”There are about 20 to 30 fishermen a day during the winter, but during the summer we can get as many as 4,000 when the salmon are running,” he said. ”There are also a lot of old guys who come out here every day to walk, talk and watch the fishing. They’ve got no place to go right now.”

The spot is especially popular with the elderly because state law does not require a license for fishing from a pier.

PROBLEMS NEED FIXING

Even if the 18-year-old concrete pier is reopened, there are plenty of problems that need to be fixed if it is going to stay in use for very long, city officials said.

The quarter-mile-long pier, which stands 35 feet above the crashing surf, originally was built as part of the city’s sewer treatment system. A 28-inch pipe from the sewer plant runs beneath the pier’s deck and disappears underwater at its end, where it continues for another quarter-mile offshore. Treated wastewater is pumped through the pipe and into the ocean.

The pier shows the effect of nearly two decades of constant pounding by the waves, said Scott Holmes, Pacifica’s environmental services manager.

Standing on the city’s wide shoreline promenade, Holmes pointed out the rust-covered steel bulkhead that anchors the pier at the shore. Although wet sand was piled high against the weathered structure, it was a different story last month, when storms sucked as much as 15 feet of sand from the beach, he said.

”Six feet under the sand, there are holes in the bulkhead 70 inches long and a foot wide,” he said. ”The waves got in there and began scouring out the hard-packed sand and concrete inside.”

Without that internal support, the end of the pier could start to sag, Holmes said, twisting the wastewater pipe and causing the deck to crack and buckle. To fix the problem, the city will have to sink new pilings into the sand and build a new bulkhead outside the present one.

PIER TAKES BRUNT OF STORMS

The Pacifica Pier always will be vulnerable because of where it is built, Holmes said. It is one of the few piers on the Pacific coast that faces directly west and takes the full brunt of any storm.

”It’s almost like when they built this thing they said ‘In your face, Mother Nature,’ and now Mother Nature is responding,” he said. ”If it was made out of wood, it would have been gone long ago.”

Fixing the bulkhead and even shoring up the concrete legs that carry the pier through the surf are not permanent solutions. The continual battering of the wind and the waves ultimately takes its toll on anything built on Northern California’s rough shoreline.

”Someday, the ocean is going to say, ‘I want it down,’ and then it’s going to be a matter of whether we have enough money to keep it up,” Holmes said.

Copyright 1993 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
FEBRUARY 15, 1993, MONDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A17

LENGTH: 757 words

HEADLINE: Pacifica Shuts Down Pier — Safety Fear
Although popular fishing spot may reopen, it has plenty

BYLINE: John Wildermuth, Chronicle Peninsula Bureau

BODY: