Harbor Tug “Caleb” Parks Illegally, Damaging Fishing Dock at Pillar Point Harbor, Gets Towed to Outer Harbor for Disposition

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VIDEO. From the San Mateo County Harbor District Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, April 18th, 2022 at 1:00pm by Zoom.

The owner of the Caleb, Jasper Danielson, San Mateo, CA, acquired the tug in the 2000s (new docs below).

Before being towed to outer Pillar Point harbor, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) removed all hazardous materials from the tug. The Bearcat towed Caleb to the outer harbor and it now on buoy awaiting disposition.

 

Photo by Cathy Taylor

 

 

Photo by Cathy Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

The History of the Caleb

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Sassaba Class District Harbor Tug:

  • Built by Gibbs Gas Engine Corp., Jacksonville, FL
  • Laid down, 22 September 1944
  • Launched, 27 February 1945
  • Delivered to the Navy and placed in service, as Panameta (YTB-402), 08 June 1945
  • Assigned to the 17th Naval District in Alaska, Naval Station Adak
  • Reclassified District Harbor Tug, Medium YTM-402 in February 1962
  • Assigned to Kodiak, AK, 1968-70
  • Towed to Seattle for overhaul, early 1970s
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), 01 July 1977
  • Acquired by a local resident of Adak, AK and renamed Cindy Lee (ON 597271)
  • Renamed Cindy, date unknown
  • Acquired by Western Towboat, Seattle, WA, rebuilt with two diesels and renamed Ocean Mariner, date unknown
  • Acquired by Salmon Tug and Barge Lines, Seattle, WA, renamed Caleb, date unknown
  • Acquired by Brian Farcy, Ward Cove, AK, date unknown
  • Acquired by Jasper Danielson, San Mateo, CA, 2000s
  • Current Disposition, Active

 

Specifications:
Displacement 345 tons
Length 100′
Beam 26′
Draft 10′
Speed 12 kts.
Complement 14
Armament unknown
PropulsionCleveland 278A diesel engine
single propeller, 1,200shp

 

 

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Source
Panameta (YTB-402)
Panameta
140940212
614k Panameta (YTB-402) underway off Adak, circa 1946.
Photo courtesy Olen Dwain Hill.
Benjamin Ayres
Panameta
140940213
63k Crew of Panameta (YTB-402) at Pyramid Cove, Attu, Alaska, 1945-1946. Olen Dwain Hill is at left center, just above the crewman in the sailor’s hat.
Photo courtesy Benjamin Ayres via National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors (NAFTS).
Benjamin Ayres
Panameta
140940201
33k Panameta (YTB-402) underway, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy Mike Jones and National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors (NAFTS)
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940202
45k Panameta (YTB-402) underway off her homeport of Attu, AK., circa 1945.
Photo, courtesy Joe Surette and National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors (NAFTS)
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940203
34k Panameta (YTB-402) underway, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy either Mike Jones or Jim Walker and Paul Smith of US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940204
61k Panameta (YTB-402) moored pierside, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy either Mike Jones or Jim Walker and Paul Smith of US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940208
38k Panameta (YTB-402) underway, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy Paul Smith of US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940205
86k Panameta (YTB-402) moored pierside, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy either Mike Jones or Jim Walker and Paul Smith of US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940206
99k Panameta (YTB-402) drydocked, date and location unknown.
Photo, courtesy either Mike Jones or Jim Walker and Paul Smith of US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
Robert Hurst
Commercial Service
Panameta
140940209
34k ex-Panameta (YTB-402) in commercial service as Ocean Mariner, date and location unknown.
Photo by Dave Miner, courtesy tugboatinformation.com
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940210
50k ex-Panameta (YTB-402) in commercial service as Caleb, date and location unknown.
Photo by Ric Shrewsbury, courtesy tugboatinformation.com
Robert Hurst
Panameta
140940211
35k ex-Panameta (YTB-402) in commercial service as Caleb, date and location unknown.
Photo by Ric Shrewsbury, courtesy tugboatinformation.com
Robert Hurst

 


 

San Mateo County Harbor District Board Meetings ~ 3rd Wednesday @ 1:00pm

Board of Harbor Commissioners Contact Information:

Please note that email correspondence sent to or from Members of the Harbor Commission via the District’s website are considered public records and may be subject to disclosure and additional distribution pursuant to the Public Records Act and the Brown Act.

To email the entire Harbor Commission, click here.

 

Nancy Reyering,  President
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (650) 851-405

William Zemke,  Vice President/Secretary
mail: [email protected]
Phone: (650) 730-9239

Tom Mattusch, Treasurer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (650) 619-0459

Virginia Chang Kiraly, Commissioner
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (650) 730-3911

Edmundo Larenas, Commissioner
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (650) 730-3810

 

District Office: 504 Avenue Alhambra, Ste. 200,  El Granada, CA 94018   

Mailing Address: PO Box 1449, El Granada, CA 94018   
Phone: (650) 583-4400 Fax: (650) 583-4614

 

Pillar Point without the harbor.

 


 

Harbor District Board of Commissioners

The Harbor District is governed by a five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners, who were elected county-wide for staggered four-year terms. Beginning with the election in 2020, Commissioners will be elected by District, as was approved by the Board of Commissioners in 2018.

Following shows when each Commissioner’s term ends.

  • Chang Kiraly, Mattusch, Zemke – 2025
  • Larenas, Reyering – 2022

For information regarding Election procedures and deadlines, click this link to San Mateo County’s Shape the Future.

 

Commissioner Nancy Reyering

Position: President
Term: 2018-2022
Phone: 650-851-4058
Email Address: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 1449, El Granada, CA  94018

At the Regular Board meeting of January 15, 2020, Commissioner Nancy Reyering was voted in as President of the Harbor Board of Commissioners for the calendar year, 2020.

At a special meeting of the Harbor Board of Commissioners on September 19, 2019, Commissioner Reyering was elected to the office of Vice President in addition to her office of Secretary.. .

At the January 16, 2019 Regular Board meeting, Commissioner Reyering was elected to the position of Secretary by the majority of the Board.

Commissioner Nancy Reyering was elected to the San Mateo County Harbor Commission in November 2018.

Nancy is a lifelong peninsula resident.  She graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Linguistics and French.  During her professional career, she founded a property development and management company specializing in executive office complexes in Atherton, Menlo Park, and Redwood City.  As a volunteer she has taught high school (AP French), served as VP at Stanford Professional Women Alumnae Association, and is currently a director of the Committee for Green Foothills.

Awards for Ms. Reyering’s work include a San Mateo County Sustainable Development Award, and Woodside Environmental Champion.

As a third generation Californian, and a sailor from a young age, Ms. Reyering has sailed out of almost every port in San Mateo County, and has lifetime interests in our coast and marinas.  Nancy will work collaboratively with the public and fellow commissioners to ensure the mission statement of the Harbor District is met.

 

Commissioner Virginia Chang Kiraly

Position: Commissioner
Term: 2016-2020
Phone: 650-730-3911
Email Address: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 1449, El Granada, CA  94018

At the January 15, 2020 Regular Board meeting, Commissioner Chang Kiraly was voted in to the positions of both Vice President and Secretary of the Harbor Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Chang Kiraly was elected as President of the Harbor Board of Commissioners at a special meeting on September 19, 2019.  She was previously Board President in 2018.

At a special meeting on November 16, 2015, the Board of Commissioners interviewed six candidates seeking to fill the vacancy on the Board. Virginia Chang Kiraly was appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy,  Commissioner Chang Kiraly ran for a four year term in 2016 and won, being elected to a four year term on the Harbor Board.  She was re-elected to Vice President of the Board on January 18, 2017.

Virginia earned her B.A. in Government and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Commission for Economic Development. She served on the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury for two years from 2007-2009 and as Foreperson from 2008-2009. During her time on the Civil Grand Jury, she led an effort to connect public school fire alarms to first responders, such as fire departments (2008-2009); curb public employee pensions in San Mateo County cities (2008-2009); and discourage public agencies from using cash out re-funding of their general obligation bonds (2007-2008)– a practice that has since been deemed illegal in California.

Virginia has fifteen years of professional experience in corporate financial analysis, planning, and investments. She is a former Senior Director of the Nasdaq Stock Market and has worked at some of the country’s leading financial institutions.

She serves on the boards of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, California State Parks Foundation, and Sequoia High School Education Foundation. She is the founder and President of Ring The Bell Fund, which was established in 2012 to advocate, educate, and raise funds for school fire alarms to be connected to first responders and for automatic sprinklers to be installed in schools. She is a member of the San Mateo County Community College District’s Measure G Parcel Tax Oversight Committee and the Sequoia Union High School District’s Career Technical Education Steering Committee. She is a guest lecturer on “Women & Management” at Notre Dame de Namur.

A daughter of Chinese immigrants, Virginia was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She and her husband, Ken, live in unincorporated West Menlo Park with their two sons.

Contact information for Virginia Chang Kiraly:

 

Commissioner Tom Mattusch

Position: Treasurer
Term: 2016-2020
Email Address: [email protected]
Phone: 650-619-0459
Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 1449, El Granada, CA  94018

At the Regular Board meeting on January 15, 2020, Commissioner Tom Mattusch was once again voted in as Treasurer of the Harbor Board of Commissioners.  Commissioner Mattusch has served as the Treasurer in 2018 and 2019.

Commissioner Tom Mattusch was first elected to the San Mateo County Harbor Commission in November 2014, and re-elected in November of 2016. He was elected as President of the Commission,  re-elected for a 2nd term  at the Board Meeting of January 18, 2017.

Captain Tom Mattusch is the owner/operator of the Huli Cat, a charterboat in Pillar Point Harbor. He has fished the West Coast since 1967. He fishes for salmon, rockfish, tuna, Dungeness crab, flatfish and Humboldt squid. Tom also participates in Nature Trips, Bird Watching, Whale Watching and ash scattering at sea. He was a Member of the CA DFW Salmon Stamp Committee, License Agent Advisory Committee, NOAA’s Sportfishing Action Team and is an Ambassador for DFW’s Fishing Passport Program. Tom was a Member of the Regional Working Groups for the Central and North Central Coast Region to assist in the creation of the network of marine reserves along the coast. Past Board Member of the Golden Gate Fishermans Association and the Fishery Enhancement and Research Foundation. He is currently on the Board of Coastside Fishing Club and assists the National Weather Service as a Marine Users Group member. Tom has collaborated with the PCFFA and Institute for Fisheries Research on research projects. In addition to charterboat activities Tom participates in fisheries research with NOAA/NMFS, The Nature Conservancy and has completed projects with Scripps, Point Reyes Bird Observatory and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. He has participated in Exempted Fisheries Permit projects for chilipepper and other underutilized species. Tom has experience in healthcare operations management and an MBA in Management. A former competition freediver, underwater hockey player, Tom has worked out of Pillar Point Harbor since 1992.

 

Commissioner William Zemke

Position: Vice President/Secretary
Term: 2021-2025
Phone: (650) 730-9239
Email Address: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 1449, El Granada, CA  94018

Commissioner Zemke was appointed to the position of Commissioner San Mateo County Harbor District, District 1 on November 3, 2020 for a term of four years.  He has been a resident of South San Francisco since 1976 and has worked to improve the community as an appointed city official on various commissions as well as filling many volunteer positions.

Commissioner Zemke

Raised in Spokane Washington, he received a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1973.  Upon graduation he moved to California to take a position with Pacific Gas and Electric.  Over a 38 year career he worked on generation planning and environmental and regulatory compliance activities, and received the Company’s Mielke award for Outstanding Community Services in 1996.  He enjoys woodworking, gardening and other outdoor activities including hiking the diverse environments of San Mateo County’s shorlines, forests and hills.

 

Commissioner Edmundo Larenas

Position: Commissioner
Term: 2018-2022
Phone: 650-730-3810
Email Address: [email protected]
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1449, El Granada, CA  94018

Commissioner Larenas was re-elected to his seat on the Harbor Board of Commissioners in November of 2018.

Commissioner Larenas was elected as Secretary of the Harbor Board of Commissioners at the Board Meeting of January 17, 2018.

Edmundo Larenas was re-elected to a four year seat on the San Mateo County Harbor Commission November 6, 2018.  Commissioner Larenas was elected originally for a two year seat on the Commission November 2016.

Commissioner Larenas was voted to the position of Treasurer at the SMCHD Board Meeting of January 18, 2017.

 

Coastside Buzz
Author: Coastside Buzz

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