Hundreds gathered last month when the San Mateo County Harbor District hosted an important event at Pillar Point Harbor to inaugurate new life-saving stations on Harbor District properties and to highlight water safety on our beaches. The inspiration for this event came about through the advocacy of the Arunay Foundation, a nonprofit established just this year after 12-year-old Arunay Pruthi was swept out to sea and drowned while trying to rescue his younger brother. The crowds that gathered were able to hear about the dangers inherent along our coastline, witness a simulated at sea rescue operation by Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco and the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol, and learn of the almost nonexistent water safety training opportunities for youngsters in the Bay Area, including in Half Moon Bay.
Tragedies like the death of Arunay Pruthi happen far more often along our coastline than people realize. Alarmingly, 19 people have been lost so far this year in Northern California by sneaker waves and heavy surf and there have been a staggering 45 total deaths for other reasons including falling overboard and hypothermia. On the coastside, the beaches are often remote, steep and difficult to access, creating significant undertows and limited areas to escape sneaker wave or heavy surf. The remote locations of our beaches also cause delayed responses due to communication impediments.Â
The Harbor District, as the lead agency collaborating with Sea Valor, the Arunay Foundation, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, Coastside Fire Protection District Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard and California State Parks, is doing its part to prevent any more tragic deaths on our beaches, and will continue to be the leader on ocean and water safety along the San Mateo County coast. The district is also working hard to enhance and properly outfit and support search and rescue capabilities to enable the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol to respond to maritime emergencies along our coastline from Gray Whale Cove in the north to Pigeon Point in the south, but we are significantly challenged by limited funding to fully implement this initiative.
This issue deserves the ranking of life and death, and the district would very much welcome the active participation of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and the city of Half Moon Bay to help bring funding and solutions, and to build upon the success of partnerships currently in place with the Sheriff’s Office, Coastside Fire, Sea Valor and the Arunay Foundation. It is imperative that we put a priority on safety, including finding funds for water safety training facilities for all young coastside residents.Â
The Harbor Commission intends to keep moving district projects forward: more Life Ring buoy installations, more education and, of course, continuing our rescue operations, for which our Harbor Patrol crew deserves accolades for saving lives and helping people who are stranded in the water. Â
It only makes sense that the San Mateo coast’s main city, and the elected representatives of this area, partner with the district in its concern for public safety. By helping to provide or identify potential funding to properly outfit the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol to safely and effectively provide the required 24/7 emergency first responder services for maritime emergencies along the San Mateo County coastside, more lives will be saved. Our residents and visitors deserve our leadership on and commitment to safety, and to do so will require properly outfitting the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol the means necessary to provide 24/7 emergency first responder services for maritime emergencies along the San Mateo County coast.
Nancy Reyering is a lifelong resident of San Mateo County and is currently vice president of the San Mateo County Harbor District.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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