Quick Take
A year after a historic storm caused an estimated $16 million in damage to Santa Cruz Harbor infrastructure and destroyed more than 15 boats, harbor officials say recovery is underway and planning is increasingly focused on long-term resilience as extreme weather becomes more frequent. While emergency repairs have stabilized damaged docks, residents and port officials alike say the storm has reshaped daily life and underscored the vulnerability and close-knit nature of the harbor community.
This midwinter season, Lookout Santa Cruz is checking in with some of the people and topics we’ve covered over the past year.
A year after a storm’s historic swell caused millions of dollars in damage to the Santa Cruz Harbor and wharf, harbor community members say they’re more aware than ever of the dangers of living on the water but that they’re getting closer to a full recovery.
In addition to the partial collapse of the Santa Cruz Wharf, the harbor saw more than 15 boats destroyed — including commercial, recreational and liveaboard (residential) boats. One liveaboard boat, berthed on the X dock, was completely destroyed.
Liveaboard Bill Davidson, whose boat sustained no damage, said his fears of storms are amplified since last year: “If we end up back on X dock, every time a big swell comes in, I’m not going to be sleeping at night.”
Santa Cruz Port District Director Holland MacLaurie said the harbor spent the past year developing plans to replace the most severely damaged docks, X and G, and just received the final design plans. It will put the project out to bid at the beginning of 2026 and plans for the work to take place from June to November next year. Emergency work was done on the docks to allow boaters to use them in the meantime, MacLaurie said, but those two docks need to be completely replaced to be able to weather another strong storm.
“We’re recognizing that these are not one-off scenarios anymore. They’re going to continue to keep happening,” she said. “That’s where our efforts are focused now: trying to safeguard the facilities through hazard mitigation thinking.”
The worst damaged docks are in the north part of the harbor, which is farther from the ocean. The north and south parts of the harbor are separated by the Murray Street Bridge. The water and waves coming in from the ocean first go through the south harbor, then pass through the area under the bridge, which is narrower. The narrow path concentrates the waves’ energy into the north harbor, which is what made the damage more severe there.
MacLaurie said the harbor is working on ways to dissipate that wave energy, but she didn’t have any examples of how it might do that.
North harbor residents on the X dock, Davidson and his wife, Jamie Aron, say they were fortunate to not have any damage to their boat. Before the storm last year, Davidson moved their boat to the end of a dock to face the oncoming waves instead of staying in its usual berth, wedged between two other large boats, which took the brunt of the waves on their sides. Their neighbors’ boats sustained significant damage, and one sank.
They’re currently at W dock in the north harbor until they get a permanent spot. They’ve lived on their 45-foot West Bay motor yacht since spring 2023.
Aron and Davidson said the storm has made them realize even more that they need to be prepared for storms and for loss of water and electricity. They also said it has highlighted just how tight-knit their community is.
Their neighbors on X dock, about 15 or 20 of them, used to live right next to each other. They saw each other daily and didn’t have to extend themselves to make plans or spend time together. After the storm, many of their neighbors are still in temporary spots scattered around the harbor.
“We’re all still family and friends, but it’s just a little bit more dispersed,” said Davidson. “I’m excited about having our community back together.”
But again, they acknowledge that some neighbors suffered much more severe impacts. They said one liveaboard spent the summer in the Bay Area fixing his boat and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on repairs.
Aron added that the closure of the Murray Street Bridge also had a major impact on the harbor community. The long-planned retrofit project is unrelated to the storm’s damages.
Davidson and Aron said the closure has almost superseded the effects of the storm. They said they now can’t easily get to different sides of the harbor, which has made interacting with neighbors more difficult and added significantly to their commute times to the Westside of Santa Cruz.
“[The storm impact] is overshadowed by the bridge,” said Davidson. “What would normally be a five-minute trip is now a 30- to 40-minute trip.”
Still, they added, they feel fortunate they still have their home, and they’re looking forward to having their community together again once repairs are done.
MacLaurie told Lookout this month that, not including the loss of boats, the harbor estimates about $16 million in damage to its infrastructure. Of that total, the harbor completed about $1.5 million in emergency repairs to the most damaged docks shortly after the storms. Next, it’s going to spend about $13 million to completely replace those docks.
MacLaurie said the repair costs are eligible for reimbursement through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. She said the harbor district could see 75% of costs reimbursed.
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