Mike Juneau looked out at his stuck boat on the sand in Corona del Mar, watching as water flowed under it.
“Oh, it’s rocking!” he said, every time the 27-foot boat Salubrious made a slight move.
Juneau learned his boat had washed ashore Wednesday morning after his neighbor – a pastor who lives in a nearby boat moored off Big Corona – called him with the news.
“I said ‘funny.’ I came out here, and there it sits,” he said. “That’s my house right there.”
Juneau had to wait for the tides to come up at about 6 p.m. before the boat could be pulled back to sea. Newport Beach lifeguards set up a bridle, and the Harbor Patrol slowly pulled it out with their boat.
“We were very glad to help the guy out,” said Newport Beach lifeguard Cpt. Josh van Egmond. “It was his house, and I think that’s why we went the extra mile to help him out. He had nothing else but that boat.”
When the boat was pulled off the sand, Juneau dropped to one knee and said a prayer. Then he ran up to van Egmond to give him a bear hug.

Juneau – known as “peg leg” around town because he lost a leg 28 years ago – bought the boat for $100 during a Harbor Department boat action held about a year ago. The former pedicab driver lives among nine other boats sitting off shore south of the harbor entrance.

“It’s peaceful, it’s relaxing. No neighbors. And you can come and go as you please,” he said.
Last night’s winds were anything but relaxing. They were clocking at about 23 miles per hour, and likely what broke his line.
The bad luck didn’t stop there. He took out a dinghy earlier today, and tried to tie a line to the boat to pull it out. The boat he was on flipped over, and he lost $420 in his pocket – the remainder of his money, which he was supposed to use to help his 17-year-old daughter buy a prom dress.
“It’s somewhere out on the beach,” he said, scanning the sand with his eyes.
Fellow boater Wayne Fultz of Costa Mesa came out to help, handing him a list of local salvage companies to call, and the exact measurements of the expected high tide tonight.
“That’s how it is, that’s how people are here. They’re beautiful,” he said.
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