Santa Cruz storm damage photography: Seacliff State Beach pier and Capitola Wharf

By Monique, wife of Scott and today’s guest blogger,

I was visiting family in the Santa Cruz area in late January and decided to document some of the damage from the onslaught of atmospheric river storms that pounded the area last month. I told myself that I better get down to the pier at Seacliff State Beach and the Capitola wharf before they either naturally collapsed, or were torn down. I grew up going to both beaches as a kid, and I even remember a time in the 80’s when the Cement Ship briefly opened back up to fishing, as it had previously been closed to foot traffic since the 50’s.

The pier at Seacliff State Beach was built in 1930 so that people could get access to the SS Palo Alto, also known locally as the Cement Ship. For the first few years of the World War I era ship’s residence at the beach, it was operated as an entertainment ship that had a dance floor, swimming pool and cafe. When that business went bankrupt, the state bought it and people were able fish from it until the 1950s, when it was closed to the public until a brief time in the 80’s after it had been repaired. I have seen first hand over the past 40 years how the ship keeps breaking apart and changing shape.

The Capitola Wharf was originally built in 1856. Steamer ships used it to load timber that was being logged from the Santa Cruz Mountains. It has since been damaged by many storms and repaired over the years, with the last significant restoration in 1998 …. With a new section that completely fell apart from the January storms, I sure do hope that it will get restored again and not share the same fate as the Seacliff pier!

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