‘I surfed a 150-foot gun’: City worker who survived Santa Cruz Wharf collapse recounts narrow escape

Before all of the news cameras set up, and before the throngs of residents, visitors and local dignitaries descended Saturday onto the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to mark its official reopening after a storm tore through it, Norm Daly took a moment to himself. 

Using a cane to support his still-injured left leg, Daly, who turns 70 later this month, hobbled to the end of the wharf and examined its raw, jagged edge. Less than two weeks prior, a record storm swell ripped the last 150 bayside feet of the wharf off into the ocean, with Daly and a colleague still standing on it. Returning to the scene for the first time Saturday, Daly was hit by a chill of perspective. 

“I thought, yeah, that could have been much worse,” Daly told Lookout. “Fate’s funny. It’s only things that were lost, and they can be replaced if that’s what the community wants to do. But yeah, I’m just glad that I’m still here, able to talk about it.” 

Daly now sees that the wharf collapse heard ‘round the country was a closer call than he appreciated at the time. 

On Monday, Dec. 23, Daly, a city project manager, set out to inspect the progress of the wharf repairs that had been ongoing since the powerful winter storms of 2023 and 2024. Joined by two private engineers, Grace Bowman of Power Engineering Construction and Brad Porter of Moffatt & Nichol, Daly and the team were well aware of the weather warnings: The unusually powerful swells present throughout the weekend were forecast to reach peak strength that day. The city made the decision to push forward with the inspection. Daly and Porter said it felt routine, as rough and even dangerous conditions often make for a good test of the quality of the repair work. 

“The wharf was definitely moving the whole time we were out there,” said Porter, who has worked for decades on wharfs throughout California and performed countless storm condition inspections. “We knew it was starting to pick up, and the movement was getting bigger. The movement I saw out there was probably some of the larger movements I have ever felt being on a wharf.” 

At that point, Porter retreated a few steps to a more stable section of the wharf. Daly, much farther out, stood next to a multi-ton construction crane and continued surveying and taking photos. In the distance, he noticed a particularly massive swell begin to rise and head their way. Porter, from his more stable perch, watched the wharf sway back and forth, amid the loud, creaking strain of timber. Then, just 10 feet from where he stood, the wharf snapped and folded into the ocean with Daly and Bowman still on it. 

Daly said he didn’t feel the wharf collapse, only that “one second I was 25 feet above the water, standing on the wharf; the next, I was at sea level.” The 150 feet of wooden deck was now a raft holding Daly, Bowman, a multi-ton crane and the restroom building, snaking atop what city officials called some of the most powerful waves the area has seen in 30 years. 

Each successive swell broke up more of the floating deck, and pushed Daly and Bowman farther from the wharf. Daly watched as the crane, within spitting distance, began tilting back and forth. 

“I was like, hmm, what’s going to happen next? What’s next in my life?” Daly said. “The crane was my first concern. I was close enough and I was worried it was going to fall on me.” 

The crane then toppled, but missed Daly. 

“The swell was huge,” Porter told Lookout. “About 30 seconds after the deck fell, I saw Norm and Grace. It was certainly dramatic; however, when I saw the way the raft was deflecting in the waves, that was scary. I figured it was a matter of tens of seconds before that thing breaks up and they go in.” 

When Porter called 911, the dispatcher said they had already been alerted. Within minutes, he said, jet skis converged on the scene. Because of their positioning, Bowman was able to step off the deck directly onto the jet ski, but Daly, who wasn’t wearing any protective equipment, had to jump into the water and swim to the emergency responders. 

Daly’s son, Brendan, a marine safety officer with the Santa Cruz Fire Department, was on duty that day and knew his father was out inspecting the wharf. Brendan didn’t know that Daly had already been rescued by the time he arrived on the scene. Later, Daly received a text from Brendan, telling him he had been searching for him in the wreckage. 

After the jet skis brought Bowman and Daly to the harbor and the adrenaline began to subside, Daly realized his lower left leg had been injured. 

“Grace and I were looking at each other like ‘Hey, we’re still here, we’re still kicking,” Daly said. He then looked down and was surprised to find “a huge, eggplant-sized knot on my leg.” Daly said he’s not sure how or when it happened. He went to the emergency room and X-rays showed no breaks or fractures. However, two weeks later, Daly still needs a cane, as his leg remains swollen and shoots with pain whenever he stands up. 

Daly technically retired as a city employee in 2018, after 33 years working a variety of positions, including managing the wharf’s assets. However, he’s picked up some city project-manager roles that he said allow him to “stay engaged.” 

Looking back, he said he dodged a real disaster that day; however, until the wharf collapsed, nothing about the work or the day felt atypical. He called that it “a pretty normal day until that one point.” Despite the weather warnings, he said “there was no reason to suspect there would be any issues.” 

Daly said he’s already back at work, helping to figure out what the next steps are for the wharf. He can even joke about the incident now, in a rather distinctly Santa Cruz way. 

“I’m just glad to be here,” he said. “You know how the surfers at Mavericks surf those guns, those 14-foot surfboards? Well, I surfed a 150-foot gun and rode one of the biggest swells we’ve ever seen here.”

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