Reporting by Anna Royal
Graphics by Angela Young
Nestled in the shores of Morro Bay sits the Morro Bay Harbor, home to the many boaters, workers, and sea life in the area. The harbor is kept safe by a group of dedicated professionals with a passion for the environment. Like many industries and occupations, harbor patrol is male dominated, and there is little representation for women in the field. Morro Bay local, Becka Kelly, is a female leader and manager that is redefining her industry. Kelly is the Morro Bay Harbor Patrol Supervisor, a broad role that encompasses multiple essential responsibilities and leadership duties.
“I oversee harbor patrol staff and our operation mission. We do boating safety, vessel assist, some enforcement, facilities management and hosting transient boaters coming up and down the coast,” she said.
Kelly grew up with a love and respect for the ocean. She enjoyed surfing and boating in Morro Bay and the surrounding waters. Inspired by her love for the ocean, Kelly received a degree in Biology at University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis in Marine Biology. Upon graduating college, Kelly had the opportunity to work on several different boats in Hawaii, Alaska, Australia, and Mexico for six years. She then found the perfect job combining her love for the water and boating working in the Morro Bay harbor.
“I noticed the role of the harbor patrol did a lot of community involvement but had an emphasis on ocean and water safety, and I thought [it seemed] like a good fit to be able to give back to my own community.”
Kelly is now in her 24th year of service in harbor patrol at Morro Bay Harbor. Kelly says that she enjoys her job because of the wide variety of tasks that pose diverse day-to-day challenges. She loves spending her workday outside on the water all while helping her community. However, her career comes with its own challenges, especially as a female leader in a primarily male workforce.
“It definitely has been tough at times…There have been many many times where I’m just the only female in the room… There is this voice in the back of my head or pressure that is like ‘Oh, can she do it?’ ‘Can she pull this off?’ ‘Is she capable?’”
Even before becoming Supervisor, Kelly experienced sexism while working as a Harbor Patrol Officer.
“I’ve had people earlier in my career when I would go to tow a broken-down boat and they would be like, ‘wait you're not the captain,’ and I would yell back, ‘I'm the only one here, I'm going to tow your boat in.’ So it is a little bit more of a feeling of proving yourself, that you belong, you are fine to be there too.”
Kelly says that as a woman, she has had to put in extra time and effort to prove to her male peers that she is just as physically and technically capable as them on the job.
“I spent a long time perfecting my [boat] driving skills and had to ensure that I was always strong enough physically to do the job. I had a role model in the fire department who let me know to make sure you are always physically capable so that can’t be ever used against you.”
As a female industry leader, Kelly points out the benefits women can bring to the workplace as managers and directors of male-dominated workforces.
“I think [women] see things through a whole different set of eyes, sometimes I feel like because of our [different level of] physical strength we are looking at a bigger picture mentally and a more balanced approach to solving a problem.”
Kelly emphasized that regardless of the prejudiced treatment she has faced for the past twenty years in her career, she encourages women to persist and refuse to let mistreatment become a barrier to their success.
“Continue to pursue your dreams and what really interests you and to not let any of those negative or exclusionary vibes get in your way. I definitely think it's something to really believe in yourself and to know that we [women] belong there too.”