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Water Side Slip Design
Over
the last couple of months we've dealt with several elements that would
increase or decrease the number of families that can be accommodated in a
newly laid out harbor. Previously we discussed ADA and overhang
impact. The ADA impact in our case is a non issue, since compliance
will result in the loss of less than three slips. During the second
Focus Group Meeting OC DPH showed us what would happen if no over hang is
allowed, this OC DPH slide summary can be seen here. The conclusion
from this presentation was that with no overhang there will be 100's of
boats that won't have a slip in the new layout and in some cases 100's of
empty slips. Subsequent to my last update on overhang I've had the
opportunity to discuss the issue with the relevant Division Chief at Department
of Boating and Waterways (DBAW) and he confirmed that if our harbor
director determines that it is safe to continue the practice of overhang
we will not be denied our loan.
Three other design elements are available to us to either allow more families
to remain or not: double wide slips, sail vs. power and channel
width. Two of the three are very controversial issues that often
result in divisive discussions.
Power vs Sail Slips
Taking the easier, or at least less controversial, design element
first the more slips that are laid out for sail the more slips per acre
we can accommodate. The obvious problem that this creates is that
if you have a power boat and the next available slip happens to be laid
out for sail your vessel MAY not fit. The benefit is that you can
fit in 10 to 13% more sail slips per acre than power. It should be
noted that the larger the slip the bigger the gain by going to
sail. This graph shows how many slips of
each size can be accommodated per acre of water while going from 0% sail
and 100% power to 100% sail and 0% power. The "Plan 4"
with its 374 slips lost uses 30% sail and 70% power. Our harbor as
it is today was laid out with 100% power.
Double Wide Slips
This graph shows the impact, by
size of slip, in the number of slips per acre. This design element
has a similar impact providing a 10 to 14% increase in the number of
slips per acre. This technique is often called the "gel coat
repair man employment act" by opponents of double wide slips within
our harbor. I have not been able to validate claims of higher
accident rates or higher insurance costs. The DBAW design
guidelines do not discourage the use of double wide slips.
Double wide slips are a very commonly employed technique to increase the
number of boats that can be accommodated in high demand areas like
Southern California. Santa Barbara Harbor is almost
100% double wide slips. They received approval from the California
Coastal Commission earlier this year to replace all of the docks in their
harbor. They will be remaining with near 100% double wide
slips. Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego completed replacing all
of their docks earlier this year. The membership there also chose
to stay with near 100% double wide slips. I talked to an officer at
Coronado Yacht club which has near 100% double wide slips and he stated
that there has never been an accident or problem between two slip mates
that he is aware of.
The Dana Point Boaters Association has a survey tool with about 400
respondents that asked peoples willingness to make use of double wide
slips. The results were consistent across size of slip and
indicated that over two thirds would prefer to go into a double wide to
avoid loss of slips.
Channel Width
Perhaps the most controversial issue before boaters is to stay with the
current channel width or reduce it allowing for a reduction in the
proposed loss of slips. Nothing points this out more than the
Harbor Department's survey where 55% said we should be considering some
form of narrowing of the channel, hardly a mandate. Had our harbor
been constructed with 120' channels we would have all gotten accustomed
to it long ago. Back then OC had a population of 1.49 M people and
South County was largely undeveloped. Today we have over 3.2 M and
many communities in South County are approaching fully built out.
Having a large center channel where we can short tack back to our slips,
or paddle around may be a luxury that we can no longer afford in Southern
California. It should be noted that this does not eliminate the
ability for human powered vessels or small boats to enjoy our harbor; it
may only limit their safe use in the inner channel. Unfortunately,
as much as we would like to have an area like Newport Harbor, we don't so
we can't expect to be able to allocate space the same way.
An analogy to skate boarding and BMX bikes are a good example. A
few years ago they exploded onto the scene and anywhere there was a
railing, stairs, a ramp, or anything worth jumping over became a favorite
spot for these recreational users, but a dangerous one for the people
trying to use the stairs, railings, ramps, etc... As a result, rules
needed to be put in place because the new use was not always compatible
with the existing one.
Summary
The current proposed choice which results in a loss of 374 slips already
makes use of 40' of channel narrowing, 30% double wide slips for 30' and
smaller, and 30% sail and 70% power. If you look at the detailed break-down (look at
second slide) of proposed slip loss you will see that the 50-59 foot and
20-29' size categories are particularly hard hit. When we take into
account what will happen to these families I believe that we should
consider the above options as serious methods for mitigating these severe
losses. While it is commonly stated that these displaced families
have other options, remaining in the harbor after the landside
development is completed is not one of them. From my research it is not
clear where in our community they will be allowed to go if they are not
allowed to keep their boats in their yards. As it is estimated by
OC DPH that 50% of the displaced boats will be sail the loss of water and
harbor storage will be particularly difficult.
I, like many of you, only want what is best for the
harbor. I hope you will agree with me that this involves a very
complex set of tradeoffs with no clear right or wrong answers. That
said, I believe it is vital that we use as many facts and non-emotional
or political elements in our discussions and analysis as possible; after
all, we are talking about spending $85,000,000 or more and it has to last
for up to 50 years.
I've worked full
time for the last two years to try to increase the knowledge and
understanding of the issues facing boaters in Dana Point harbor while
increasing the involvement of boaters in the planning process, as well as
working with the proper authorities to improve on the plan.
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