EDITOR’S NOTE: Maritime columnist David G. Sellars returns to On the Waterfront today after a three-month hiatus to recover from an accident.
He reports his appreciation to the many well-wishers who phoned, emailed and mailed get-well greetings.
A log barge named after the mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan began loading logs onto her deck at the west end of Port Angeles Harbor last week.
The 400-foot-long barge — it can carry upwards of
2 million board feet of logs — is used to transport cargo to various ports throughout the Pacific Northwest.
On her latest foray into Port Angeles, she was accompanied by the 115-foot tug, Triton.
Paul Bunyan was contracted by Simpson Timber Co. to transport approximately 1 million board feet of logs that have been boomed together in the harbor since the latter part of summer.
The logs will be hauled to the Simpson mill in Tacoma, where they will be milled into dimensioned lumber or converted to pulp.
On the move
Lee Shore Boats, the aluminum-boat manufacturer that moved its production facilities to the east side of Port Angeles during the summer of 2010 after a 25-year run in Port Townsend, is on the move again.
Eric Schneider, who purchased the company from Jay Brevik in late 2009, told me that the company recently purchased the buildings at the former site of the Priest Logging Co. on Edgewood Drive in western Port Angeles.
Eric said there are two large metal buildings on the property, and a fair amount of work will be needed to adapt the nearly 14,000 square feet of combined shop space to Lee Shore’s needs.
Eric went on to say that electricians are rewiring the buildings and installing welding outlets and new lighting fixtures throughout the structures.
Additionally, two office spaces and a break room are being constructed, and perimeter fencing will be installed.
To go along with the expansion move, Eric and Joe Beck, Lee Shore’s salesman of the year, recently negotiated to build 20 U.S. Coast Guard-compliant utility boats for a South American multinational corporation.
The mono hull vessels will be 45 feet long with a 15-foot beam and draw a little better than 6 feet.
They will be powered by twin Cummins 610-horse- power engines, and each will be mated to a Hamilton jet pump.
Cruising speed for the boats is estimated to be 24 knots, with a top speed of 32 knots.
In addition to appreciably expanding the workforce at Lee Shore Boats, the new contract — which is expected to take 24 months to complete — also will provide subcontracting opportunities for a number of local companies and individuals.
They’ll include Chuck Wheeler, the retired welding instructor at Peninsula College who will fabricate the handrails and hatches as well as a number of other small aluminum components.
Matt Remine, who operates Peninsula Boat Works, will design and install the majority of the electrical and navigational systems.
Chad Crozier, who operates Crozier Craft, and his crew will fabricate the two-tiered pilot houses at Crozier’s facility on Edgewood Drive, which is conveniently located about 10 blocks west of Lee Shore’s new production complex.
Squadron dinner
The North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron, the Peninsula unit of the U.S. Power Squadron, is an organization dedicated to safe boating through education, civic service and having fun on the water.
The squadron will hold its December holiday dinner Monday night in the Legends Room of the Cedars at Dungeness Golf Club, 1965 Woodcock Road northwest of Sequim.
Recreational boaters who have been contemplating membership in the squadron are welcome to attend.
The social hour for the function begins at 5 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6 p.m. The cost is $19 per person, and reservations may be made by calling Sandy Thomas at 360-683-8801.
Sailing ‘tightwads’
In 2000, Wendy Hinman and her husband, Garth Wilcox, paid off the mortgage on their Seattle home, purchased a 31-foot cutter named Velella, quit their jobs and set sail for Mexico.
It would be seven years and 34,000 miles later before they returned to Seattle.
Along the way, they visited 19 countries, survived typhoons, dodged freighters while under way and made do without refrigeration and — the horror of all
horrors — without the Internet. Gasp!
Wendy wrote a book about their journey titled Tightwads on the Loose: A Seven-Year Pacific Odyssey, and she’ll share firsthand stories this Wednesday as the featured guest at Wooden Boat Wednesday at Port Townsend’s Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation.
She will include a slide show that shines a bright light on the ups and downs of living the cruising dream on a compact 31-footer and a $33-a-day budget.
Wooden Boat Wednesday is a free event that begins promptly at noon and typically lasts for 90 minutes.
Seating is limited and requires advance registration by phoning the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., Port Townsend, at 360-385-3628, ext. 101.
Or send an email to chandlery@nwmaritime.org.
Back in the water
Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive on the Port Angeles waterfront, returned Silverado to the water after seven weeks in the Commander Building.
According to Charlie Crane, director of sales and marketing, personnel constructed a fish-cleaning station on the aft portion of the yacht, varnished the rails, rebuilt the stabilizers and attached new zincs after applying a fresh coat of bottom paint.
Silverado is a 120-foot Willard with a 25-foot beam that was built in 1974 by Willard Boat Works of Costa Mesa, Calif., for Harry See, scion of the See’s Candies Inc. family.
At the time of her construction, she was the largest fiberglass yacht ever built.
The latest visit to Platypus is her third: She also was in the yard in 2009 and 2011, getting custom teak work during the last visit.
[The teak fabrication from Port Angeles and Port Townsend is detailed in the Nov. 26, 2011, On the Waterfront column that can be found at http://tinyurl.com/pdn-teak .]
Port Angeles Harbor watch
Tesoro Petroleum on Monday provided bunkers to Sierra, an 831 foot double-hull crude-oil tanker that was formerly named Kenai.
The Tesoro barge also refueled British Holly, a 787-foot petroleum-products tanker that was bound for Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Tesoro refueled the Crowley-owned articulated tug and barge (ATB) Sound Reliance, a 122-foot pusher tug that is coupled to a barge that carries a payload of approximately 6.5 million gallons of petroleum product.
The Liberian-flagged Aqua Legacy, an 817-foot crude-oil tanker, also was bunkered, then got under way for Vancouver, B.C.
On Thursday, Affinity, a 748-foot petroleum-products tanker that is flagged in Singapore, was refueled by Tesoro Petroleum and is due in Port Hueneme, Calif., early Tuesday morning.
Tesoro on Friday provided bunkers to the ATB Vision, a 129-foot tug that interlocks with the 600-foot tank barge 650-10.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the waterfronts.
Items involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome.
Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202. His column appears Sundays.