Angel Wings, a new 40-meter Westport yacht, was recently brought to Port Angeles from the company’s construction facilities in Westport, Grays Harbor County.
She was first moored in Westport’s slip in the Port Angeles Boat Haven, then Thursday afternoon, she was hauled out and now sits on the hard at Westport Shipyard’s plant on Marine Drive, supported by the slings of the company’s 550-ton TraveLift.
Personnel are putting the finishing touches on the 130-foot composite yacht, and her presence in Port Angeles also gives Eric Bert, who provides shipwright services to the local marine industry, an opportunity to install a custom-built shelving system he fabricated for the yacht.
Eric operates his business, Modern Yacht Joinery, out of his well-equipped shop that sits in the center of the Port Angeles Boat Yard.
Eric said the chef aboard Angel Wings asked him to design and incorporate some complimentary modifications to the shelving within the cabinets that are used to house the dinnerware, glasses and stemware in the salon and galley.
Eric said the chef has his own style of preparing and presenting food, and that the alterations to the production shelving system were necessary to accommodate the style and differing sizes of the dinnerware the chef uses in his craft.
The shelving concept that Eric built is much like a pegboard, but in this instance, the pegboard is horizontal.
Eric built the shelves by laminating together eastern maple and cutting and planing them to size.
He then drilled 8-mm holes through the 1-inch-thick shelves that are spaced 1 inch apart.
Maple dowel stock that is 1¼ inches in diameter is cut into about 6-inch lengths, and a 5/16-inch stainless steel pin is inserted into one end of each of these pieces.
Additionally, the pins are offset so that when inserted into a hole, they act like a cam and rotate off center.
When the chef is stowing the china or selecting and staging dinnerware for a meal, he begins by inserting a peg or two into the bottom of a shelf and then places a stack of plates or bowls against the pegs.
Placing the china against the pegs causes them to rotate on their offset axis, which creates a solid restraint.
Inserting one or more pegs on the opposing side will keep the china in place.
In this way, the chef has infinite adjustment options and can securely stage or stow varying sizes and shapes of dinnerware in jigsaw fashion merely by moving the pegs about and is constrained only by the outer dimensions of the shelf.
The shelving for the stemware and glassware is an adjustable system of pegs and rails that can accommodate the numerous styles of glassware needed according to the libation being served.
End of an era
In 1983, Ed Hosselkus joined the security department of the Port of Port Angeles, and since then he has been a well-regarded fixture on the waterfront.
Ed has an easygoing manner that made him ideally suited to the task of patrolling port facilities and shooing folks away from restricted areas without being offensive.
Ed retired March 31, and on Friday, his friends and co-workers gathered at the Port Angeles Yacht Club on Marine Drive to celebrate his 29-year career.
Whatever Ed’s future holds, be assured it will have to do with his family, his Corvette and the continual pursuit of his accomplished artistic talent.
He will be sincerely missed and fondly remembered.
Out of the water
Sunny Sue, a 36-foot Sabre owned by Steve and Melanie DeBiddle of Port Angeles, was on the hard for a few days in the Port Angeles Boat Yard.
Steve, who is the immediate past commodore of the Port Angeles Yacht Club, said Sunny Sue received her annual checkup that included new zincs, touching up the bottom paint and waxing the hull.
Information source
Wooden Boat Wednesday at Port Townsend’s Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation continues this Wednesday with a presentation by Mark Bunzel.
Mark is the publisher and editor of the Waggoner Cruising Guide, touted by many as the “bible for Northwest cruising.”
He compiled the recent edition by visiting more 175 marinas, coastal towns and anchorages from Puget Sound to Ketchikan, Alaska, as well as the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The annual cruising guide provides information about marinas, marine parks and fuel docks, and VHF radio requirements and protocol. There is also helpful information about customs and immigration issues when crossing the border between the United States and Canada.
For each cruising area, there is a list of charts that are needed, an overview of the area and detailed listings of moorage and fuel facilities.
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, which is located at 431 Water St., Port Townsend, at 360-385-3628, ext. 101.
Or send an email to chandlery@nwmaritime.org.
Hull painted
Platypus Marine Inc. has Escapade sitting in the Commander Building on Marine Drive in Port Angeles until Monday morning, when she is scheduled to be taken out of the turquoise blue building and launched.
She is a Selene 66 that is just a shade under 72 feet long with a beam approaching 19 feet.
According to Capt. Charlie Crane, Platypus’ director of sales and marketing, the yacht came to Platypus to have her hull painted.
Personnel faired (sanded smooth) the hull, and Wednesday night, she was painted a beautiful and luxurious royal blue.
Capt. Charlie said workers also added four new deck drains, worked on the yacht’s bilge system and attended to an owner-generated list of odds and ends.
Sitting next to Escapade in the Commander Building is Kingfish, a 110-foot Christensen.
Personnel are replacing the upper and lower rub-rails.
Capt. Charlie said the rubber for the existing rub-rails is no longer available, which necessitated the removal of the rubber and attendant hardware.
Once that task was completed, personnel had to fill the holes with composite material and smooth the surface.
When the new system arrives, it will be attached to the hull using Plexus structural adhesive and lag bolts.
Her hull will then be given a new coat of paint, and Kingfish will be on her way.
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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, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday.