Harbormaster Richard Young attempts to photgraph a surge at the entrance to the inner boat basin at the Crescent City Harbor. (The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson)

Ocean surges reached Del Norte County on Saturday afternoon after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

One of the surges, according to gauges in the Crescent City area, was 1.2 feet above normal levels.

Sandbars not normally visible in  the Crescent City Harbor poked above the water line on several occasions as water receded before the surges.

The tsunami advisory was canceled Saturday evening.

Bob Ginnochio of Crescent City, owner of the charter fishing vessel Tally Ho II, watched from the harbor docks after receiving a call about the tsunami warning.

“I just came out to make sure my boat was tied up — if the dock goes, at least it would be tied to the dock,” said Ginnochio.

Ginnochio said he began docking his boat at the harbor in 1993, and the vessel road out the 35-inch surge that damaged the docks in 2006.

His boat was undamaged then, and it appeared every boat left in the harbor would escape damage Saturday.

John Brubaker decided he would just pull his 22-foot boat out of the water.

Brubaker said with a laugh he pulled his boat out because “there’s a tsunami coming — it’s just common sense.”

Ginnochio said the harbor was allowing people to take their boats out to sea to wait out the surge or leave them in the harbor.

A couple dozen boats were taken out to sea in case of a bigger tsunami.

Authorities blocked public access to Citizen’s Dock, only allowing boat owners to come in and either secure or take their vessels out to sea.

Sheriff’s Commander Bill Steven said access was blocked because if the harbor was flooded with people, it would create a safety issue for boats coming in and out.

Crescent City Police Sgt. Garrett Scott said authorities also blocked access to B Street Pier, the Preston Island parking lot off of Pebble Beach Drive and the Crescent City jetty.

By comparison to Saturday’s surges, the biggest wave of the destructive 1964 tsunami here was estimated at 22 feet above the mean low tide level, meaning it was 16 feet above the tide at the time.

Researchers have found that the crescent shape of the city’s coastline along South Beach tends to amplify tsunami energy, and with the way the harbor is situated, it seems to act as a funnel for the surge. More recent research has suggested the inner boat basin adds to this effect, and focuses a tsunami’s energy even more.

This was seen the last time a tsunami struck Crescent City in November 2006. On that occasion, a 35-inch surge that never breached land caused millions of dollars worth of damage to the inner boat basin.

In 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Alaska generated a series of waves that destroyed much of Crescent City’s downtown, killing 11 people in Del Norte County.

A 9.5-magnitude earthquake in Chile on May 22, 1960, generated a tsunami that caused flooding in coastal areas of Crescent City. It was the strongest recorded earthquake in human history.

A man apparently shot himself fatally after authorities responded to reports that he had shot at his father at a Klamath residence Saturday afternoon.

Del Norte County sheriff’s Commander Bill Steven said a SWAT team was called out to the home at 511 1/2 Mynot Lane in Klamath at around noon after reports were received that a man had fired a handgun at another man several times.

Steven said when authorities arrived, they learned that 21-year-old Sandy Johnson of Klamath had allegedly fired four shots at his father.

“It was an argument between the son and the father, the son took a handgun and fired four rounds at his father, missing him all four times,” said Steven.

The commander said Johnson then “retreated to a cabin on the property.”

Authorities set up a perimeter around the cabin and began ordering Johnson to come out. Steven said calls were made to the phone in the cabin as well, but to no avail.

More than an hour went by and finally at around 2:30 p.m., “they introduced gas into the residence and that didn’t produce results,” Steven said.

After another hour of commands and phone calls following the tear gas,  authorities made a tactical entry into the cabin at 3:30 p.m.

Steven said deputies searched the cabin and the perimeter of the building for 10 minutes until “they found him (Johnson) behind a wood pile in the back of the house, dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”

Restoration work and tours set for offshore landmark

The most recent tours of St. George Reef Lighthouse were in 2007. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Volunteers will leave for the historic landmark this morning and stay until Sunday when they will be giving guided tours of the lighthouse that was built in 1892 in response to the Brother Jonathan shipwreck that killed more than 200 people.

Home burglars often steal keys to vehicles

Car theft can often be avoided by simply taking your keys with you when you leave your home or vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Vehicle thefts also seem to be a crime of opportunity, due to keys being left in a vehicle or out in the open in an unoccupied home where the vehicle is parked, said the CHP.

Half of the vehicles stolen in Del Norte County during a period studied by the CHP were nabbed by thieves using the ignition keys, either left in the cars or taken from homes during burglaries.

The CHP said 68 vehicles were stolen in Del Norte from August 2008 to August 2009. Of those, 53 were recovered.

New devices aid task of finding missing people

Volunteer Mike Souza uses an antenna and receiver to search for a transmitter during Saturday training.

The program, called Project Lifesaver, uses radio transmitters attached to wrists, ankles or clothing, that send out signals to search and rescue authorities to help them pinpoint a missing person’s location.

“It’s a very reliable program that’s very successful, and that’s why we wanted to sign on,” Del Norte County sheriff’s Commander Tim Athey said. “Geographically in our area people can go out and be in the brush and get lost within minutes. It’s not like we’re in the downtown of a city where people can go out and look for these lost people, these lost souls, quickly.

May celebration to kick off with new bird festival

The reincarnation of the Aleutian Goose Festival as the California Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival is fast approaching.

And it’ll come with some companion activities as the May 7-9 festival kicks off a 10-day string of events culminating with the Van Deventer Wildflower Show May 14-15.

The wide range of natural attractions in Del Norte County, a decrease in the number of geese that stop over here and the unpredictable weather in March were some of the catalysts to change the decade-old goose festival.

One of the things staying the same is the festival’s tagline: “A celebration of wildness.”

“Because that what it’s about,” said Rick Hiser, one of the festival’s organizers.

Authorities find stolen property in stolen car

A Crescent City man was arrested late Monday after being found driving a stolen car loaded with items stolen from a burglarized Crescent City home, authorities said.

A glass-break burglar alarm at the Hiouchi Information Center on U.S. Highway 199 led to the arrest, according to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office.

Wreck closes Highway 101

Authorities investigate the accident scene Wednesday. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

The three-lane section of highway was reduced to one lane for 20 minutes and closed entirely for about 10 minutes while responders cleaned up the area and moved the damaged Ford Tempo and pickup.

A nine-hour Coast Guard search for a possibly missing kite-surfer was called off Wednesday after a surfer identified his kite-sail that was found floating in the surf.

The kite-sail was reported in the water off of Pilot Rock near Trinidad at 4 p.m. Tuesday, resulting in a search by two 47-foot boats and three helicopters that continued until 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning, according to a USCG press release.

Focus is still on standards, community

Bernadette Johnson, the dean of students at Klamath River Early College of Redwoods, talks about some of the changes at the school that seem to be working for students. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

The charter school’s founder Geneva Wiki handed over her role as director to Sarah Supahan, who works part-time as superintendent of Burnt Ranch School District, and Bernadette Johnson, the dean of students.

Supahan and Johnson have tried a few new ways of doing things at the high school in Klamath and believe that through trial and error they found a system that works.