Boat owner left with a sinking feeling

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- It’s been a rough two weeks for Gregory Harold.

Sinking his boat was one thing. But facing possible criminal charges

for causing fuel to spill in the harbor means the new year hasn’t been

too happy for the 43-year-old Newport Beach fisherman.

Harold accidentally sunk his boat after turning on the engine to

charge the batteries on Dec. 15.

Leaving the 28-foot-long “Bonnie Jean” -- named after his late mother

-- unattended, Harold hadn’t realized that a hose came lose and pumped

water in the boat.

By the time officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol

Department had arrived at the mooring just west of the Balboa Pavilion,

Harold’s boat had already hit the ground 15 feet down.

Losing his source of income isn’t all Harold will have to deal with.

Since Harold estimates about 35 gallons of diesel spilled into the harbor

as a result of his negligence, he may face criminal charges after harbor

patrol investigators hand over their findings to the District Attorney’s

office.

“It looks like I’m gonna get in trouble,” Harold said Tuesday, adding

that he felt ashamed for causing the fuel spill.

A fisherman in Newport Beach for 28 years, Harold said that on top of

the $1,600 it had cost him to get the boat lifted out of the water, he’ll

need to come up with at least another $3,000 to get the 11-year-old ship to work again.

“And that’s without much electronics,” he said.

Harbor Patrol officials said after the company Harold had called to

raise the boat didn’t get on the case right away, six department officers

had tried to lift the “Bonnie Jean” to avoid problems during the

Christmas Boat parade, which started Dec. 17.

“They used 11,000 pounds of lift bags and couldn’t get it off the

bottom,” said Capt. Marty Kasules, the Sheriff’s harbor master.

Kasules said the company finally brought in a crane the following

Monday and pulled the boat out of the harbor.

After harbor patrol investigators finish their report and forward it

to the District Attorney’s office, it will be up to prosecutors to decide

whether to press charges, Kasules said.