THE SECOND ANNUAL Waterfront Day in Port Angeles is today from noon until 4 p.m.
There have been some changes to the original venues because the powers that be added an additional day of halibut fishing, which coincided with Waterfront Day.
As a consequence, it is likely that the west Boat Haven parking lot will be clogged with boat trailers and their tow vehicles.
Therefore, all activities that were scheduled there have been shifted to the east Boat Haven parking lot.
Vessel safety checks will be done by the Power Squadron near where the sheriff and Coast Guard will have their boats on display.
There will be three food trucks with picnic tables set up close by.
The Port Angeles Yacht Club will have vessels in the water that will be available for touring.
I also understand the Puget Sound Pilots will have one of their pilot boats available for touring — a rare opportunity.
There will be exhibits and demonstrations by the Feiro Marine Life Center and ROV Club, the North Olympic Salmon Coalition and the U.S. Coast Guard.
A complimentary shuttle will be running during the event that will take participants on riding tours of the terminals (docks) and the port’s log yard on Marine Drive.
Brenda Jacobson, an assistant project manager at Platypus Marine, will be the tour guide in the Commander Building.
This is an excellent opportunity to get a first-hand look at some of the projects this well-regarded full-service shipyard, yacht repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer undertakes.
I understand that Westport Yachts made the difficult decision to opt out of this year’s event.
On the hard
Earlier this week, Platypus Marine hauled out a 60-foot U.S. Navy dive boat.
The vessel was recently built by the Marine Group Boat Works of San Diego, Calif., and upon completion was taken to Bremerton.
Apparently, the boat has highly specialized rub rails above and below the waterline, and issues developed with that system that needed resolution, replacement parts were sent to Platypus and the vessel came to its facility for repairs and is now underway for Hawaii.
On Thursday, Platypus hauled out a second 60-foot dive boat by the same manufacturer that will be at its facility for about a week to have a number of new vessel kinks resolved.
Harbor happenings
On Friday morning, Tesoro Petroleum in Port Angeles Harbor bunkered Pacific Tracker, an X-Band Transportable Radar Ship that works with the Missile Defense Agency to protect the United States, our deployed armed forces and allies from hostile ballistic missile attack. The white globes on the vessel house the radar systems.
Pacific Tracker was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and launched in 1965 as Mormacdraco, a cargo ship.
After a number of commercial and quasi-governmental iterations, Cascade Shipyard in Portland, Ore., converted the ship to her current use, and she was put in service in April 2009.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the area’s waterfronts and boat yards.
Items and questions involving boating, marina and industrial activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. News announcements about boating groups, including yacht clubs and squadrons, are welcome as well.
Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.
A Navy dive boat is hauled out by Platypus Marine on Thursday morning. (David G. Sellars/for Peninsula Daily News)