Jerry Dunlap spent more than a year fixing up his 1910 dream sailboat. But a gaggle of about 15 hefty sea lions managed to sink the 50-foot craft in just one weekend.
Dunlap paid $3,500 to have the boat dragged up from the bottom of Newport Harbor. The radios, radar and electrical system were ruined, and he doesn't know how much it will cost to repair the boat.
"I really don't know what I'm going to do with it," said Dunlap, a contractor. "This is a major setback. I'm 63, I don't know if I feel like working another two years to get a boat to work."
The scuttling of Dunlap's $24,000 boat may be the most striking example of mayhem that sea lions have caused since they started showing up in the harbor in May.
Residents complain that they bark all night long, and the city received a report that a rogue sea lion tipped over a mother and her child in their kayak.
City officials are considering asking the City Council to make it illegal to feed the sea lions.
Some boat owners have also strung barricades made of wire and milk carton around their crafts, while others place upside-down lawn chairs on their swim steps, said Harbor Patrol Lt. Erin Giudice. The Harbor Patrol sprays the sea lions with fire hoses but they reboard the boats within minutes, she said.
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Dunlap paid $3,500 to have the boat dragged up from the bottom of Newport Harbor. The radios, radar and electrical system were ruined, and he doesn't know how much it will cost to repair the boat.
"I really don't know what I'm going to do with it," said Dunlap, a contractor. "This is a major setback. I'm 63, I don't know if I feel like working another two years to get a boat to work."
The scuttling of Dunlap's $24,000 boat may be the most striking example of mayhem that sea lions have caused since they started showing up in the harbor in May.
Residents complain that they bark all night long, and the city received a report that a rogue sea lion tipped over a mother and her child in their kayak.
City officials are considering asking the City Council to make it illegal to feed the sea lions.
Some boat owners have also strung barricades made of wire and milk carton around their crafts, while others place upside-down lawn chairs on their swim steps, said Harbor Patrol Lt. Erin Giudice. The Harbor Patrol sprays the sea lions with fire hoses but they reboard the boats within minutes, she said.
Story