![The blue offshore-supply vessel Harvey Supporter services the Polar Pioneer in Port Angeles Harbor. [Click on arrow upper right to see other vessels discussed in this column.] (David G. Sellars/for Peninsula Daily News)](https://giftsnap.shop/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/news_305109965_AR_0_0.jpg)
The buzz along the Port Angeles waterfront continues to revolve around the Polar Pioneer drilling rig.
Visually, all that seems to have changed from last week is that there are two offshore-supply vessels, Harvey Supporter and Sisuaq, that appear to be attending the rig.
During the normal course of business when the rig is on station and drilling for oil, these vessels would be used to transport stores, supplies and equipment to it.
Each of the 292-foot-long vessels also carries 636,976 gallons of drill water, 14,350 cubic feet of bulk mud and 17,191 gallons of potable water.
Now that Seattle politics has appeared to block the Polar Pioneer’s transfer to Elliott Bay, the big rig and its support vessels may be in Port Angeles for several more weeks.
And that means passengers aboard a huge Holland America cruise ship will have an extra added attraction this coming Saturday.
Read on.
ms Statendam returns
For the second straight year, the ms Statendam will tie up at the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 1 North.
The 719-foot ship will make a stop in Port Angeles as she repositions herself for the Alaskan summer cruise ship season.
According to the Holland America website, Statendam will depart from San Diego on Thursday and arrive in Port Angeles at noon Saturday.
Then she’ll depart at 11 p.m. for Vancouver, B.C.
The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Friday put out the call for volunteers to help make the Statendam passengers’ visit to Port Angeles even more memorable.
Positions include assisting cruise passengers by welcoming them, answering any questions and assisting with the loading and unloading of the tour/shuttle buses.
Some volunteers handle shuttle ticket sales.
If you’d like to volunteer, email the chamber’s executive director, Russ Veenema, at russ@portangeles.org.
Barging in on Platypus
Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, steel-boat manufacturer and yacht-repair facility on Port Angeles’ Marine Drive, has a raft of Navy barges.
I mentioned in last Sunday’s column two large barges: one (YC1070) that was stowed in a satellite building, and the other (YFN1217) placed on the hard and this past week enveloped by a temporary structure some might call a circus tent — I wouldn’t.
Also last week, Platypus hauled out three more Navy barges from Bremerton, all of which will be sandblasted and given a couple of coats of epoxy paint to preserve them for a few more generations of sailors.
Also hauled out was a 16-foot aluminum Moose boat upon which Platypus will be initiating corrosion control processes and painting from the rub rail down.
This boat is the first of eight such vessels used for security at the Navy’s Kitsap-Bangor base that the Port Angeles company will be refurbishing soon.
On the civilian side, Platypus has a 25-foot SAFE boat it is priming and painting for the manufacturer, SAFE Boats International LLC of Tacoma.
I understand this is the fourth of eight such boats that Platypus will paint before they are exported.
New boat launched
I stopped at Lee Shore Boats on Edgewood Drive in west Port Angeles last week and spoke with company President Eric Schneider.
He said Lee Shore recently launched a 28-foot deep “V” monohull geoduck boat that was built for Cody Smithson.
The boat is powered by twin 225-horsepower outboard motors.
A machinery space was incorporated belowdecks for a diesel-powered hydraulic motor that operates the air compressor that I’d think is a critical component for divers.
Log loading
Astoria Bay, a 610-foot cargo ship, moored to Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 3 last week and is taking on a load of debarked logs destined for China that were harvested off Merrill & Ring’s private landholdings in Western Washington.
The vessel was formerly Dry Beam.
In late January 2012, Dry Beam was hit by a rogue wave about 300 miles northwest of Vancouver Island.
The wave, thought to be nearly 50 feet high, struck the ship on the port side, causing a shift of the deck cargo toward the starboard side.
The weight shift overloaded the stanchions that keep the topside log load in check. They gave way, and a number of logs fell overboard, simultaneously destroying many of the stanchions.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy and the Canadian Coast Guard cutter J.P. Tully responded to the ship’s mayday call and escorted her to Ogden Point in Victoria Harbour.
Barge cranes offloaded the remaining deck cargo and stowed it on the dock.
When Dry Beam was deemed seaworthy, she got underway for Kashima, Japan, where her remaining cargo was offloaded and repairs undertaken.
Before returning to service, she was acquired by a new ownership group and renamed Astoria Bay.
Here’s hoping she has a safer journey after departing from Port Angeles.
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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’s waterfronts and boat yards.
Items and questions involving boating, marina and industrial activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.
