On the Harbor: Catching up with OC Sheriff’s Harbormaster Lt. Chris Corn

On the Harbor: Catching up with OC Sheriff’s Harbormaster Lt. Chris Corn

By LEN BOSE

After the Trump fundraiser a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be interesting to give OC Sheriff’s Harbormaster Lt. Chris Corn a call and check in with him. I did happen to bump into him during the fundraiser on the dock just next to Palmer Luckey’s home. At that time, I asked if it would be okay to give him a call and catch up. He said, “Anytime Len.”

Lt. Corn and I both estimated that there were more than 200 boats over 25 feet in the Five Points area of the harbor that day. I asked him to describe the events leading up to the arrival of President Trump.

“He was supposed to come into town a couple of weeks earlier, but he tested positive for COVID-19, so that delayed his first trip. We found out about his arrival about a day and a half before he arrived. It’s always challenging to communicate between the feds, city, state and county. At that point, we got a hold of the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Newport Beach Police and Fire departments. We all started talking on the phone to put a game plan together. Our concern was based around the harbor. Our mission was 100 percent the waterside. We then met with Secret Service the day before, on scene, then asked what they needed from us and what we can do for them with the outfits we would have available. For the most part, we worked with the Coast Guard keeping the security zone clear,” Lt. Corn explained. “The security zone was a 300-yard perimeter off of Mr. Luckey’s dock.” 

Thinking that some of you might be confused as to when you should call the City Harbor Department or the OC Sheriff’s Harbor Department, Lt. Corn reminded me: “Call us for just about everything, other than mooring rentals. Everything else such as law enforcement, marine firefighting, loud music at 2 in the morning, pretty much anything on the water we handle,” he said.

Now that winter is approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to review our moored boats before the Santa Anas or winter’s clearing westerly breeze kicks in. “Remember to check on your boats, mooring lines, bilge pumps, loose canvas. Just remember not to forget about the boat,” said Lt. Corn.

Last week the first Santa Ana hit. “I don’t recall the exact number of boats we had to rescue that broke free from one of their mooring lines, we had a lot of them, two boats broke free from their single point moorings and were adrift in the high winds. We noticed gusts of wind from 40-50 knots,” said Lt. Corn. “Perfect time to check your mooring tackle and look for any loose canvas, in fact, the forecast is for breeze this weekend.”

We all noticed how impacted the harbor was this summer and I wondered what Lt. Corn observed. “An increase of all types of boats, all areas of boating from megayachts to trailerable boats. With social distancing playing a big part in everyone’s lives, a lot of people returned to the harbor,” he said.

I was wondering if the OC Sheriff’s Department had any unusual responses this summer similar to a couple of years ago with someone tried to steal a large motor yacht and then go to Woody’s dock with it. “Recently we did have a person have a food reaction, on one of the large charter boats, who could not breathe, and our guys responded and gave him oxygen while our second team transported the fire department paramedics to the boat to stabilize him. We then transported him to Hoag from our docks. We had a couple of boat fires this year but nothing unusual. Pretty much what we do every year,” Lt. Corn said.

With the “William B” boat fire still singing in my head, I asked if the Sheriff’s Department has been training with the Spill Trailers granted from the state. “We do, we train every single month. Our training sergeant will put together our training scenario for the month. It varies from month to month, sometimes twice a month,” Lt. Corn said. “We constantly train, we never talked about this before Len, but did you know when a new deputy starts at the Harbor Department, they go through more than 600 hours of harbor department training before they start?” Lt. Corn brought up that the OC Sheriff’s trailer in Newport Beach was used a couple of months ago when the Pilgrim sank in Dana Point. “Everything went as planned while deploying the hazmat equipment containing all the hazardous materials. In response, the state awarded us the third trailer after reviewing the Pilgrim sinking,” Lt. Corn shared.

Lastly, I asked Lt. Corn if they have found any navigation lights for the Upper Bay channel markers. “We found the correct lights to use and have done so in Huntington Harbour. We plan on installing them in Newport very soon. We just need to meet with the City Harbormaster and the Harbor Commission to identify which county channel markers should have lights on them,” he said.

Over my 13 years as a harbor reporter, I have interviewed six OC harbormasters, and Corn has become one of the best among them, along with the same ranks as Long and Alsobrook. Corn is approachable, and he attends most harbor meetings from Huntington to Dana Point. I tease him about the nine different yacht club opening days he attends in the hot sun and in full dress uniform each year. He’s a good one, and if we are lucky enough to keep him for the next two years, our harbors will most certainly benefit.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.