Anaheim Bay

At the turn of the century, farmers in the Anaheim area were looking for an ocean port that could be used to ship their produce out of the county. They settled on Anaheim Bay in Seal Beach. For several years, vegetables were shipped out of the bay. Today, the port is controlled by the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Source: Times archives

One man drowned and three others were rescued in Anaheim Bay on Sunday after their boat stuck a jetty and flipped, officials said. The men were heading out to pick up bait about 5:30 a.m. in the 27-foot boat when it hit the jetty, said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. Michael Thomas Smith, 52, of Mission Viejo died after being trapped in the vessel. Two of the other men suffered head injuries that were not life-threatening.

I read with interest the brief editorial about the dangers of alcohol and boating ("A Goal of Sobriety at Sea," June 25). However, the editorial contained an error. It stated that the boating accident in Anaheim Bay that killed five people happened in 1983. It actually happened in 1984. As an editor, I understand that such errors can creep into copy. But I feel it's important to correct the error in print for two reasons: one, those killed were alive in 1983; and two, because this editorial might, in turn, be used as a reference someday and 1983 would go on to be incorrectly cited as the date of the accident.

The restriction on pleasure boat travel through Anaheim Bay, imposed after the Sept. 11 attacks, has been lifted, to the cheers of Huntington Harbour boaters. The Navy was limiting access to four hours a day, giving boaters a small window of time to get their boats to and from the ocean. The restriction was imposed because Anaheim Bay is near Navy ships that deliver and retrieve ordnance at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.

County health officials closed part of Anaheim Bay to swimming and diving Monday because of a sewage spill--the record-breaking 39th time this year that Orange County's coastal waters have been tainted by human waste. The harbor patrol and "A" docks were closed Monday because of a five- to 10-gallon spill, said Larry Honeybourne, program chief for the Orange County Health Care Agency's water quality section.

An estimated 10 to 20 gallons of heavy marine fuel oil were discovered floating Thursday in environmentally sensitive Anaheim Bay, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. The oil was being cleaned up without any damage to the environment, said spokesman Tom Thomas. He said the source of the oil spill was unknown. It was first seen about the same time a Navy helicopter carrier docked at the main wharf.

Stricter boating safety regulations for Anaheim Bay have been adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The regulations, which bring the county's ordinance into line with stricter federal regulations, "are intended to increase boating safety and should pose no hardship in compliance," Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said. Under federal law, the bay is a "special use area" for military operations. The county regulations were amended Jan.

Stung by a $2.3-million judgment against the Navy for the victims and survivors of a speedboat crash in Anaheim Bay, the Department of Justice's chief attorney in the case said he will push for an appeal. If approved by top Justice Department officials, attorney Warren Schneider's move would delay for a year--and perhaps longer--any payments by the federal government.

As Bob Cannon pushed his motorboat down the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club launch, he dismissed a federal judge's condemnation of U.S. Navy safety measures in nearby Anaheim Bay. About the worst thing he's seen happen in 25 years of boating in the bay "is that your engine fails," Cannon said. "You can't legislate intelligence."

Re your Feb. 3 story "Survivors of Boat Crash Rebuild Lives": I am, of course, sympathetic to Virl Earles and his surviving passengers in their injuries and sufferings. Nonetheless, when will the likes of Virl Earles ever learn these terrors of inshore and inland waterways? I have brought big ships, freighters and tankers into major harbors at night, when an error in judgment can be disastrous and when the barrage of lights can be unnerving unless one is properly familiar with the harbor.

Re "Harbor Access Limited Near Weapons Site," Sept. 30: That was a pretty weak story in Section B on the Anaheim Bay closure. There was not one interview with a local business owner such as the fuel dock, restaurants and tackle stores. If the Navy can be safe for four hours a day of boat traffic, why can't they be safe 24 hours a day? San Diego Harbor remains open around the clock and you can't say the sub pens, etc., in that harbor are any less strategic. Rich Holland Aliso Viejo

Kent Clampitt is a boat guy and a patriot who doesn't want to be the victim of a terrorist attack. So when the U.S. Navy restricted his access to the ocean as a way to beef up security at the adjacent Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, Clampitt was all for it. "We are at war," Clampitt, 60, said Saturday as he lounged aboard his 32-foot boat in Huntington Harbour. "That base up there has significant munitions.

The Aug. 1 article "No Aid to Seal Beach Sea Wall" told of the refusal of Gov. Gray Davis to approve funds for the repair of the sea wall in Seal Beach. The sea wall was made necessary by the U.S. Navy constructing jetties near Anaheim Bay and the mouth of the San Gabriel River. These structures were required to provide more stable conditions for the transfer of cargo to and from naval vessels docked at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Seal Beach should take a page out of Vice President Dick Cheney's playbook.

County health officials closed part of Anaheim Bay to swimming and diving Monday because of a sewage spill--the record-breaking 39th time this year that Orange County's coastal waters have been tainted by human waste. The harbor patrol and "A" docks were closed Monday because of a five- to 10-gallon spill, said Larry Honeybourne, program chief for the Orange County Health Care Agency's water quality section.

Workers buried two whales Wednesday on Sunset County Beach after the pair of 30-foot mammals washed up nearby earlier in the day. The California gray whales, one weighing 5 tons and the other 15 tons, were hoisted into a 12-foot-deep trench dug by bulldozers as spectators stood by. The larger whale, a 33-foot male, was at least 5 years old and probably died of natural causes, officials said.

A tugboat working on a dredging project in Anaheim Bay capsized Thursday morning, catapulting its three crew members into the water near the Seal Beach Naval Station, the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol reported. Sailors in a U.S. Coast Guard vessel on routine patrol saw the accident and rescued the tug crew. One was taken to the Seal Beach Maritime Medical Facility, where he was reported in stable condition with broken ribs and cuts.

A tugboat working on a dredging project in Anaheim Bay capsized Thursday morning, catapulting its three crew members into the water near the Seal Beach Naval Station, the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol reported. Sailors in a U.S. Coast Guard vessel on routine patrol saw the accident and rescued the tug crew. One was taken to the Seal Beach Maritime Medical Facility, where he was reported in stable condition with broken ribs and cuts.

Anaheim Bay was closed to the public for about an hour Thursday morning after an unarmed guided missile slipped from its launcher aboard a warship at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and cracked its plastic tip. Navy officials said the accident, which occurred during unloading of munitions on the frigate Jarrett, caused no explosion or injuries and only slight damage to the surface-to-air missile. It was described as a minor mishap.

At the turn of the century, farmers in the Anaheim area were looking for an ocean port that could be used to ship their produce out of the county. They settled on Anaheim Bay in Seal Beach. For several years, vegetables were shipped out of the bay. Today, the port is controlled by the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Source: Times archives

An unarmed guided missile slipped from its launcher aboard a ship at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station Thursday morning, cracking its plastic tip and triggering an immediate, precautionary shutdown of Anaheim Bay for a time. Navy officials said the incident, which occurred during unloading of munitions on the frigate Jarrett, caused no explosion or injuries and only slight damage to the surface-to-air missile.