PORT TOWNSEND — The boating season has begun.
Yacht clubs in Port Townsend and Sequim celebrated opening day on Saturday with boat parades and other activities.
In Port Townsend, about 40 boaters joined in the parade while more than 200 people observed them pass by as the temperature hovered in the high 60s.
The event was sponsored by the Port Townsend Yacht Club with TowBoatUS, formerly known as Vessel Assist.
They provided food and entertainment at the end of the parade.
About 25 percent of this year’s participants had sailboats, with the remainder motor-driven.
They began outside the Boat Haven and traveled about one mile up the shoreline to the Northwest Maritime Center, where they passed in front of the pier, which served as a reviewing stand.
Former Yacht Club Commodore Marilynne Gates supplied commentary and history about each craft as the boats passed by the pier.
The parade began minutes after the 12:30 p.m. sailing of the M/V Kennewick state ferry as it headed for Coupeville, and ended about 40 minutes later.
Participants passed in front of the schooner Adventuress, which was anchored in Port Townsend Bay a few hundred feet from shore.
The boats varied in size, with the 85-foot schooner Martha the largest and the Puffin, a 25-foot ranger tug the smallest.
Sequim open house
At John Wayne Marina, 80 people signed up for free rides on sailboats while about 40 were given complementary rides in kayaks, during the Sequim Bay Yacht Club’s open house Saturday, said past Commodore James Jones.
About 15 boats participated in a boat parade accompanied by the bagpiping of Thomas McCurdy.
McCurdy’s bagpiping also preceded the raising of the U.S. flag and the yacht club’s flag before boats were blessed for the season and a last-call ceremony named those members of the club who had died in the past year.
Some 80 club members and guests had a pot-luck supper to round out the afternoon.
In addition to opening day, it was a halibut fishing day, James said.
“The marina was packed with fishermen so we had boats galore,” he said.
“It was really a day.”
The Port Angeles Yacht Club had an open house April 24 and its first cruise April 16.
Boating season lasts approximately from May to October.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
