Story and photos by Neil Farrell

In a time-honored tradition, U.S. Coast Guard Station Morro Bay conducted a change of command ceremony last week, saying good-bye to Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate Cory Wadley and welcoming Chief Boatswain’s Mate Joseph Nilles (shown here).
Capt. Jennifer Williams, sector commander and captain of the port of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles and Long Beach, officiated the ceremony for one of the smallest stations under a command that stretches from San Clemente to north of Morro Bay.
Capt. Williams commended Chief Wadley for running a tight ship in Morro Bay, his leadership with the men and commitment to their community, including a program he and the crew have done installing solar panels on some 130 homes in Hollister, Calif., donating more than 1,000 volunteer hours.
Since Chief Wadley took over the station in August 2012, the crew conducted 233 search and rescue missions, saved 48 lives and $2.6 million in property, conducted 410 boardings enforcing maritime laws and federal fishing regulations, and assisted in 15 smuggling cases that resulted in 78 arrests and the seizure of some 25,000 pounds of marijuana.
Chief Wadley will take over command of Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Station Quillayute River, in La Push, Wash. Wadley said it was a similar station to Morro Bay in size and mission, with a breaking river bar, but surrounded by plush forestlands, and it gets lots of rain — on average 99.89 inches a year.
(If that sounds familiar to readers, it could be because La Push and the Native American “Quileute Tribe” were featured in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series of books and movies.)
Wadley thanked the local Auxiliary, harbor patrol officers, Morro Bay Harbor Director Eric Endersby and Steve McGrath in Port San Luis, the fire and police departments, and his family — wife Jessica and son Steve.
To the crew he said, “I may hold the title, as Chief Nilles does, but the crew runs the station. I didn’t want to tell you that until today,” he quipped. “It’s not successful because of me, it’s successful because of you.”
A native of Temperance, Mich., Chief Nilles is a 22-year veteran of the Coast Guard who enlisted in July 1993 right out of high school. He first served on the Cutter Sundew in Duluth Minn., and in 1996, he was transferred to a station in Neah Bay, Wash., where he started his motor lifeboat and surfman training.
He’s served at Station Chetco River, Harbor, Ore., Bodega Bay, Calif., and was most recently the XPO of Station Umpqua River, Winchester Bay, Ore. He brings his family, wife Erin and a 7-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter to Morro Bay.
Station Morro Bay has a crew of 23, and two, 47-foot motor lifeboats. Its main missions are search & rescue, maritime law enforcement and patrolling a 1-mile safety zone around the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, among other duties. The Coast Guard has maintained a continuous presence in Morro Bay since 1949.