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Here in DP California

We experienced the Tsunami in Dana Point Harbor, CA. Minor compared to what I have read about in the last year in other parts of the world but for those on this BB from DP here is what we experienced. We watched the beginning from the bluffs. We saw the sand bar and the baby beach flood and then dry in a matter of 10-15 minutes. When the flooding was occurring there was a noticeable set of waves coming up the outside channel against the 15-20 knots of wind from the storm that was passing through at the same time. Thinking it was all over we went down to the harbor to run the bilge pump and empty the rain water from the Whaler. There were only a few boaters on the docks. We hung around and chatted and then noticed the turbulence building in the inner channel. I was leaning against a piling and could feel the dock rising. It was rising fast but not alarmingly fast. We watched in awe and took photos and video. The dock rose several feet over a span of only a few minutes. The boats were all fine. Then just as suddenly the current in the channel reversed and the harbor began to empty. We started scratching the pilings to measure the rise and drop and timing it on our watches. I personally measured a rise of over 12 inches in 2 minutes. Over the course of 2 hours the water surged in and out 3-4 times and we scratched marks measuring a 3-4 foot delta. At one point the harbor patrol and sheriffs came around announcing to evacuate the island. We stayed on the dock and the harbor patrol advised us to move to higher ground but did not insist that we leave. We continued to monitor the in and out flow by scratching marks with an old steak knife on the piling. After a few hours the rise and fall seemed to be subsiding and we headed up the dock. We discovered that the entire harbor was cordoned off with flares and there were sheriffs cars everywhere. We and the few other boaters on the docks were the only ones in the whole harbor. Even the yacht clubs closed their bars! Definitely one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Even more cool than when we were anchored behind Catalina during an earthquake and watched huge boulders tumble down the cliffs into the ocean. See YouTube account below.

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