Big ships tying up to Port of Port Angeles docks dominated the past week in Port Angeles Harbor.
The Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Bunun Ace moored to Terminal 3 last Tuesday.
She will remain dockside until Thursday, May 22, at which time she will get underway for China with approximately 5 million board feet of logs from private lands that are owned by Merrill & Ring in Western Washington.
The previous Sunday, the big blue crude oil tanker Polar Resolution moored to the port’s Terminal 1 North, where she spent much of the week.
During her stay, ballast was readjusted in the bow — which caused the stern to raise out of the water — to allow independent contractors a routine inspection of the vessel’s rudders.
The 854-foot ConocoPhillips tanker departed Port Angeles on Thursday afternoon — just in time for the port to make ready for the mammoth Holland America Line cruise ship ms Oosterdam on Friday morning.
The 935-foot vessel is flagged in the Netherlands and based in Rotterdam.
Interestingly, during the Oosterdam’s visit, dockside log-loading operations aboard the Bunun Ace at neighboring Terminal 3 were suspended for safety’s sake.
On the water side, the Port of Port Angeles ringed the outboard side of the cargo ship with walking sticks to allow longshoreman the opportunity to continue loading.
Operations have resumed after the Oosterdam departed late Friday evening.
Quite a week in the busy port.
At the helm
The North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron recently installed new bridge officers to guide the organization for the coming year.
They are Lupe Teel, Svein Seljeseh and Gordon Bilyard, members at large; Jim Fletcher, executive officer; Tom O’Laughlin, administrative officer; Jan Jones, treasurer; Sandy Thomas, commander; Judy Shanks, secretary; and Guy Bear, education officer.
The North Olympic squadron is focused on boater education and safety. Its 125 members meet the second Monday of the month (except June, July and August) for dinner, business and to hear a speaker of interest to local boaters.
Classes and seminars are offered continuously from September through May. For more information, visit www.calmseas.org.
Back to LaPush
Platypus Marine Inc. on Marine Drive in Port Angeles returned the Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Station Quillayute River’s 47-foot motorized lifeboat to the water.
She has been in the Commander Building of the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer since the end of March.
The vessel’s hydraulic hoses were replaced, and the bottom was sandblasted and repainted.
Memorial race
The Port Angeles Yacht Club held its third annual Alvin Gross Memorial Log Race over the April 25-27 weekend.
The event, named after the late former commodore and yacht club stalwart, started that Saturday morning near Sidney, B.C., and ran for 30.954 miles down Haro Strait to the finish line near Victoria, taking the contestants approximately 3½ hours to complete.
There were 10 turning points and four checkpoints in all.
Not a speed contest, the log race has each team computing its time for the various legs of the course and trying to make its predicted time.
The only instruments or tools available to the skipper are a compass, tachometer and paper charts. The skipper maintains a fixed throttle setting for the entire event.
The navigator is a very important part of the team.
He or she is the one who computes the headings, times and currents, and helps the skipper stay on course.
The designated observer has the only clock aboard and logs the times at each checkpoint.
The skipper and his navigator do not know what their actual times are until the finish line has been crossed.
The contest is scored by comparing the predicted times with the actual observed times, then percentages of error are calculated and the lowest percentage wins.
And now the winners:
■ In first place was Al Davis on his classic Chris-Craft, Pearl. Dan Davis, his son, was navigator.
■ Second place went to Steve DeBiddle on Sunny Sue with his navigator, Chris Zook.
■ Third place went to Chuck Gross, Al Gross’ son, on another classic Chris-Craft, Eldorado, with Rick Gross, Al’s grandson, as navigator.
Tatoosh, with skipper Frank Benson and navigator Bob Brummett, ran a good course but failed to finish properly and unfortunately was disqualified.
Harbor action
Out in Port Angeles Harbor on Monday, Tesoro Petroleum provided bunkers to Alaskan Navigator, a 941-foot oil tanker that then departed for Valdez, Alaska.
On Wednesday, Tesoro bunkered Alaskan Frontier, a sister ship to Alaskan Navigator that is also 941 feet long. When she left Port Angeles, she headed to the BP refinery at Cherry Point.
And for “Star Wars” fans, Tesoro on Friday refueled Millennium Falcon.
This one’s a 417-foot-long roll-on, roll-off cargo ship.
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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 waterfronts.
Items and questions 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 Sundays.
