Chad Crozier is a great example of a homegrown entrepreneur on the North Olympic Peninsula.
I visited Chad at his shop on Edgewood Drive in Port Angeles last week to chat with him about his latest projects.
Chad owns Crozier Craft, which is one of the three aluminum boat fabricating companies on the North Olympic Peninsula — the other two being Armstrong Marine and Lee Shore Boats, both in the Port Angeles area.
Chad spent his youth in Joyce and then headed east to attend Spokane Community College to take advantage of the welding and fabricating program.
After the completion of his studies, Chad returned to the Peninsula and worked in a welding shop in Sequim.
Fate intervenes in many of our lives that causes seemingly trivial events to have a major impact on our futures.
Such was the case with Chad when he went to Armstrong Marine in 2001 to meet with a fellow about a motorcycle Chad had for sale.
While he was there, he met Josh Armstrong, who was getting his fledgling business off the ground.
This casual meeting ended up being an impromptu job interview, and shortly after that, Chad went to work for Armstrong Marine as a welder and fabricator.
Chad began Crozier Craft in the fall of 2008, and since then has built nine monohull boats ranging from 16 feet to 28 feet.
The first boat was Klatawa, a 28-foot multipurpose craft that is used by a member of the Lower Elwha tribe in the geoduck and crab fisheries.
The company’s next project was a 25-foot boat that was used for set netting in Neah Bay named Xulxalt’sa.
Crozier Craft also has carved out a niche in the marketplace for building one-off pieces of equipment and custom tanks.
The company’s flexibility is also evident in its current projects, which are retrofitting and refurbishing vessels for owners whose commercial requirements have changed and for those who purchase boats that need to be completely outfitted for a different use.
Xulxalt’sa is an excellent example of the company’s nimble business model.
Crozier Craft is currently enclosing the house, installing a mast and fabricating trolling polls for the vessel that is being converted from a set netter to a boat that will be used to hand-troll for salmon.
Chad and his crew are also retrofitting Honesty, a 25-year-old composite boat that was built by Radon Boats.
The 32-footer has an aluminum house that was built by another company in years gone by. That is being refurbished, including the installation of new doors and windows fabricated by Diamond Sea Glaze in Langley, B.C.
The former Viking Mist — also a composite Radon Craft and something of a landmark for a decade or more as it sat at Pete Hanson’s shop on U.S. Highway 101 — has been at Crozier Craft for quite awhile and is slowly being refit.
According to Chad, after the boat arrived, she was gutted and Crozier has since fabricated and installed new fuel tanks, a pilot house and bulwarks.
Chad started his business in the throes of the current economic downturn and has a steady-as-she-goes attitude about what the future may bring.
As he looks forward at each successive tomorrow, he is enthusiastic about the next project that he is asked to participate in, whatever it may be.
And no, he did not sell his motorcycle.
Look to the sky
Navigating by the stars dates from prehistoric times, and dare I say is even practiced to this day by certain animals.
In today’s world, navigation is more a function of technology. Yet should this technology fail, mariners still have the stars to steer by.
There is a standard roster of 57 stars used by navigators worldwide that is chosen for their ease of identification and wide spacing that can be used for navigation.
How many of these stars can you locate and identify?
Perhaps the Wooden Boat Wednesday event slated for Jan. 18 at the Northwest Maritime Center and Wooden Boat Foundation in Port Townsend might provide insight into this and other questions surrounding the night sky.
Mark B. Peterson, a cartographer, astronomer and planetarium designer, is presenting a program titled “Stargazing & Star Hopping” in the Wooden Boat Chandlery that is tailored for the novice who would like to learn to recognize and identify objects in the sky above.
Mark, a Port Townsend resident, will provide attendees with a basic understanding of why the sky appears as it does using a nontechnical approach for identifying our Northwestern latitude constellations and planets.
Mark developed a star finder which he feels is an essential tool for beginning and advanced stargazers alike and dubbed it Planisphere; Star & Constellation Finder.
It is simply a movable disk that rotates to line up by month, day and time of year to reveal exactly how the sky appears at any given time during the year.
Stars, nebulae, clusters and galaxies will be discussed as well as the appropriate selection of binoculars and telescopes.
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.
Out in Port Angeles Harbor
On New Year’s Day in Port Angeles Harbor, Tesoro bunkered Amarylis, an 899-foot tanker that is under way for Panama and is due there Jan. 15.
On Monday, Tesoro provided bunkers to the Crowley-owned articulated tug and barge, Vision.
She is one of 10 of the 650 class of barges and was launched in the late summer of 2011.
When coupled together for operation, the tug and barge duo is 689 feet long and has a cargo capacity of more than 7½ million gallons of petroleum products.
Tesoro on Thursday refueled Pacific Logger, a 577-foot cargo ship that is flagged in Hong Kong.
She came into port Wednesday to have her load topped off with about 1.5 million board feet of logs that are headed for the Asian market.
On Saturday, Tesoro provided bunkers to the Crowley-owned articulated tug and barge Sound Reliance.
She is one of four of the smaller 550 class of barges with an overall length of 587 feet and cargo capacity of just over 6.5 million gallons of petroleum products.
Today, Tesoro is scheduled to refuel the 623-foot bulk cargo ship Kang Chang that is flagged in Hong Kong.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the waterfront.
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.
