A COMMERCIAL FISHING vessel sitting on the hard at Platypus Marine in Port Angeles is about to get back into the water.
How she got to Platypus is an interesting story.
And there’s a “rest of the story” hook that would make the late broadcaster Paul Harvey proud.
Platypus has had the 88-foot Kristena Rose at its facilities on Marine Drive for the past 10 days.
According to the boat’s owner and captain, Randy Hahn of Neah Bay, the boat was built in Denmark in 1962 and was registered in Canada for more than 40 years.
On the evening of Jan. 3 while Capt. Randy was getting a couple hours of sleep. While the boat was being guided by a crew member, she ran aground near Shipwreck Point between Neah Bay and Sekiu.
Her fate nearly became that for which the rocks are named.
Capt. Randy said he heard the boat hit bottom, and when he got to the wheelhouse, Kristena Rose was already on the wrong side of the kelp line, her stern firmly settled on the rocks.
The following evening, a commercial fishing boat came to the aid of the grounded vessel and pulled her to deeper waters on the incoming high tide.
Kristena Rose was then moored to a dock in Neah Bay and encircled by a containment boom as a precautionary measure in the event the vessel started leaking fuel oil.
Subsequent inspections of the stricken vessel by a commercial diver and the Coast Guard identified damage to the hull, keel and prop.
A temporary fix was made dockside, but the Coast Guard required that the vessel be hauled out of the water for further inspections and necessary repairs.
Coast Guard inspection
Cmdr. Christopher Woodley, chief of the prevention department for Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, said that whenever a vessel is involved in a search and rescue incident, typical Coast Guard posture dictates a post-event inspection.
Items of concern identified by the inspector must be resolved before the vessel can re-enter the water.
Cmdr. Woodley said it wasn’t all that long ago that a vessel’s owner was presumed to have complied with a Coast Guard inspector’s request to rectify items needing corrective action before resuming commercial operations.
However, there was no follow-up by the Coast Guard to verify compliance.
Too often, efforts at resolving the deficiencies were lacking and not up to the standards the Coast Guard deemed sufficient. Ultimately the corps of commanding officers of the Coast Guard sectors, who also serve their respective regions as captain of the port, stepped into the void.
Captain of the port is the title held by the commanding officer of a region’s Coast Guard sector. In our area, the commanding officer of Sector Puget Sound is Capt. Scott J. Ferguson.
The captain of the port has a broad range of responsibilities and duties that include ensuring the safety of ports and marinas and providing for the security and protection of vessels, harbors and waterfront facilities.
Cmdr. Woodley explained that with these edicts in mind, regulations have been developed — with substantial input from those serving as captains of the port — that now allow the Coast Guard to verify compliance with their recommendations.
These regulations are known simply as Captain of the Port Authority.
The damage sustained by Kristena Rose as a result of her foray onto the rocks required the welding of steel plates onto the damaged areas of the keel and hull.
The propeller also needed to be replaced and new seals installed on the shaft.
When these repairs have been completed and the Coast Guard inspector certifies that the boat is in compliance, they will cancel the Captain of the Port Authority and she will be free to get under way.
The rest of the story
Before she was the Kristena Rose, she was the Western Wind, a boat of some notoriety in Port Angeles and Port Townsend.
On Feb. 21, 2001, while in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Western Wind was boarded by the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs Agents. More than 2½ tons of Colombian cocaine were seized.
The then-captain of the boat and his four crew members, all Canadians, were arrested and detained in Seattle for immigration violations stemming from their illegal entry into the United States.
The cocaine was destroyed, Western Wind was confiscated and moored at the Coast Guard station on Ediz Hook.
She was eventually hauled out of the water and stowed on the hard in the area where Westport Shipyard’s building now sits.
The U.S. Customs Service began forfeiture proceedings and a buyer from California ultimately purchased her. He moved the boat to Port Townsend, where time and restoration costs got away from him and the boat was seized by the Port of Port Townsend to satisfy arrearage.
After a period of time, Capt. Randy purchased Western Wind at auction, changed her name to Kristena Rose and gave her a better lease on life.
Capt Randy, who has been commercial fishing for 25 years, said that his goal is to keep making improvements to Kristena Rose so that he can make a comfortable living for his family.
He hopes that one day his boat will live down her notoriety and that her troubled past, which was not of his making, will become a lost chapter in the log book of an otherwise strong and sturdy fishing boat.
And — with apologies to Mr. Harvey — that’s the rest of the story.
Yacht club bridge
Port Angeles Yacht Club has a new bridge for 2011.
Steve DeBiddle is commodore, Bob Morrison is vice commodore and Paul Mowery is rear commodore.
Dave Miller will serve as the secretary, and the perennial favorite to serve as treasurer for the fifth consecutive year is Al Davis.
George Kanekkeberg is the past commodore, and the trustees are Paul Downes, Delores Ketelsen and Paul Flyr.
Sue Zook is the club manager, and Gordon Miller manages the bar.
Out in the harbor
Tesoro Petroleum on Wednesday provided bunkers in Port Angeles Harbor to Overseas Los Angeles, a 600-foot Veteran Class tanker that is owned by Overseas Group and is being leased to BP Shipping.
Tesoro also refueled the 623-foot cargo ship, Ci Yun Shan, which went on her way to Malaysia.
On Saturday, Kavo Alkyon, a 738-foot cargo ship flagged in Greece, made her way to Port Angeles from the Port of Kalama, which is on the Columbia River above Vancouver, Wash.
Today, Tesoro will bunker Overseas Boston, also a 600-foot Veteran Class tanker, which is leased to Tesoro Petroleum by Overseas Group.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the waterfront.
Items involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome.
E-mail dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.