Boat wrecks at Pirate’s Cove — after officers warned operators to ride out storm in port
A boat ended up wrecked on the rocks at Pirate’s Cove after its operators ignored warnings and tried to anchor offshore during Tuesday’s storm, the Port San Luis Harbor District said.
No one was injured in the wreck, although one of the passengers was arrested on an unrelated charge, Chief Harbor Patrol Officer Matthew Ashton told The Tribune on Thursday.
Last week, two passengers and a dog were aboard the boat when it departed from its last known port of call in Morro Bay, Ashton said.
The Harbor Patrol intercepted the craft near Pirate’s Cove on the day before the large atmospheric river storm hit the county on Friday, Ashton said, bringing the craft back to Port San Luis ahead of the weather system.
The Harbor Patrol provided a free mooring to ride out the storm, Ashton said, allowing the boat to anchor at Port San Luis, where the passengers stayed the next two days.
On Monday night, the boat was anchored at Port San Luis Harbor, but then returned to Pirate’s Cove “against our recommendations,” Ashton said.
“They anchored the boat, they removed items from the boat and left the boat there,” Ashton said. “During that second storm is when it ended up on the rocks by dragging anchor — the anchor wasn’t properly set.”
The passengers and dog were safely ashore when the boat was wrecked, Ashton said, though the grounding and abandonment of the boat was unlawful.
Ashton said one of the two passengers has since been arrested and booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail, though the name of the person and the reason for the arrest — which was unrelated to the boat’s abandonment and grounding — are unknown.
“If the boat is registered to him, he’s responsible for the operation and resolution of any accidents that are caused by his boat,” Ashton said. “He’s definitely on the hook. Now that we know where he is — he was running for a couple days — we’re looking to seek some kind of restitution on getting that resolved.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 11:37 AM.
