Wave Watch ready to sail for Laguna Beach marine safety
Under overcast skies in Newport Harbor, Laguna Beach city officials and dignitaries gathered Friday morning to introduce a rescue vessel the city hopes will bring brighter days ahead for the marine safety department.
During a christening ceremony, the name Wave Watch was assigned to the vessel. Mayor Sue Kempf then smashed a bottle over the front of the boat, a tradition performed for good luck on future seafaring voyages.
“Wave Watch makes a significant milestone for our city, as it reinstates our rescue vessel program, which has been dormant since the ’90s,” Kempf said. “This vessel bridges a critical 7.5-mile gap in our offshore capabilities, ensuring we can provide more efficient and effective emergency operations on the water.
“The vessel’s ability to provide a stable platform for emergency medical care and [to] store essential life-saving equipment significantly enhances our community’s safety.”
Acting Marine Safety Chief Kai Bond said the 33-foot Crystaliner is equipped with an 800-megahertz radio system and very high-frequency radio for ship-to-ship communication to aid in coordination efforts with responding agencies during emergencies.
The boat came to Laguna Beach as a transfer of surplus property from the state, Bond said, adding that it was partially funded by a donation from residents Steve Chadima and Mark Porterfield.
Public safety personnel from several coastal cities — Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach among them — attended the ceremony at Marina Park in Newport Beach.
“We’re able to move dive teams around, so when we do have an incident that requires a dive team, we’re able to deploy them from this vessel,” Bond said. “It’s essentially an on-water platform for all emergency operations within the city of Laguna Beach, and we can provide mutual aid. We can run up to Newport. We can run down south and assist in those instances, as well.”
The vessel will allow those rescued an opportunity to rest, rather than immediately being navigated back through the surf line to the beach. Marine safety personnel can return to the harbor to bring those in need of further assistance to paramedics, if necessary.
As operators and deckhands train in preparation for the busy summer season, the vessel has been called into action to perform a rescue already. Bond confirmed that the boat was utilized to rescue a swimmer in distress at Christmas Cove Beach on April 27.
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