Honda Point Disaster - Geography of Honda Point

Geography of Honda Point

The area of Honda Point—Point Pedernales is extremely treacherous for central California mariners, in that it features a series of rocky outcroppings (one of which is today named Destroyer Rock) sticking out about one and a quarter miles. Called the Devil's Jaw, this area has been a navigational hazard since the Spanish explorers first came in the 16th century. This area is also near the entrance to the sometimes treacherous Santa Barbara Channel, a popular shipping shortcut for vessels going to and from the ports of southern California. The channel is 12 to 25 miles (19 to 40 km) wide between the coast and the Channel Islands. The problem with the entrance to the channel is that it is one of the windiest places for mariners to go through on the west coast. Often winds and waves are so severe that vessels will ride the storms out at the San Miguel Island's small harbor. Waves ranging up to 30 feet (9.1 m) high have frequently forced the closure of the small harbors at Santa Barbara, Ventura, Port Hueneme and Oxnard.

The entrance to the channel acts like a vortex, sucking the winds and waves of Pacific storm systems into the passage. The most dangerous area is from Point Pedernales eastward, along the stretch of south-facing coast (much of which is now part of Vandenberg Air Force Base's Western Launch and Test Range), to Gaviota Creek, where U.S. Highway 101 meets the coast from the Santa Ynez Valley. Sea vessels can be blown ashore, or with the dense fog that is common on the California coast, ships can simply run aground when they lose track of their location.