I recently spent a bit of time with Jason Minnoch, who works in the sales department at Armstrong Marine, the aluminum-boat fabricator on U.S. Highway 101 about midway between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Armstrong’s 14,000-square-foot shop was bustling with projects, but there was one boat in particular that I had seen at the Port Angeles Boat Haven in late April that caught my eye.
I went to Armstrong’s plant to talk to Jason about it.
When I first saw the boat, Rochelle B, she was in the parking lot of the Boat Haven in two pieces.
The oversized hull, which is 44 feet long with a 16-foot beam, was sitting on a lowboy trailer that was used by Associated Boat Transport of Marysville to take her from Armstrong’s facility to the Boat Haven.
The wheelhouse was sitting on another trailer that was hooked to an Armstrong truck for the ride into town.
The hull was removed from the lowboy trailer and blocked in place at the Port Angeles boatyard by the yard’s personnel, and the wheelhouse was removed from its trailer and hoisted onto the deck of the boat.
Then Armstrong’s personnel spent the following few days attaching the wheelhouse and attendant mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment.
Rochelle B joins a growing fleet that her owners use to take guests on whale-watching tours and dinner cruises out of Juneau, Alaska, from May to September.
The owners were in Port Angeles earlier this month to become acquainted with their newest and largest boat, which is powered by four 300-horseÂpower Yamaha engines, accommodates 43 passengers and is operated by three crew members.
Corey Armstrong and Matt Remine left Port Angeles on May 11 bound for Juneau to deliver the boat by way of the Inside Passage.
They arrived two days later in time for Mother’s Day brunch.
More sailings
The MV Coho vehicle and passenger ferry that runs between Port Angeles and Victoria’s Inner Harbour started its spring schedule Thursday with the addition of extra sailings.
The Coho now departs Port Angeles at 8:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. daily.
Return trips from Victoria will leave the Belleville Street terminal at 10:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The departure times from Port Angeles of 8:15 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. are a change from previous schedules and will remain in effect until Sept. 23 to accommodate the personnel of Canadian Border Services.
During her more than 53 years of stellar service, the Coho has transported more than 22 million passengers and 6 million vehicles.
Every year, the ferry transports about 400,000 passengers and 120,000 vehicles, which creates an economic impact to Victoria, Port Angeles and their surrounding communities exceeding $160 million, according to Black Ball Line, the Coho’s owner.
New work, new name
Earlier this month, Platypus Marine hauled out Boondoggle, a 57-foot Bayliner that was owned by Sequim resident John Lewis.
She was out of the water for a few days to have new zincs installed and an inspection survey done prior to her sale to another Sequim resident, Bernie Fryer, who changed the name to Off Season.
If Bernie’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he is a graduate of Port Angeles High School who was named All-American his junior and senior years in football and basketball.
He then went on to star in basketball at Brigham Young University and after graduation was drafted by the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association in 1972.
Bernie made his debut in the sport in 1973 with the Portland Trailblazers and retired as a member of the New Orleans Jazz after the 1975 season.
He then went on to become a referee in the NBA for more than 30 years.
Bernie left the NBA in October 2011 as director of officiating.
Rhapsody task
Tesoro Petroleum on Monday bunkered Maersk Cameron, a 600-foot petroleum-products carrier with a 112-foot beam that is flagged in the United Kingdom.
On Tuesday, Tesoro refueled Brian S, a 98-foot tug owned by Olympic Tug and Barge that is used primarily to push the refueling barge around the harbor in Port Angeles to provide bunker fuel to ships.
But the big tug had a big job looming.
On Thursday, Ron Winterfeld and his crew aboard the Brian S headed off to Pier 91 in Seattle, bunker barge in tow, to provide fuel to the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas.
Rhapsody of the Seas straddled the months of March and April in a shipyard in Singapore undergoing a $54 million renovation that took only 30 days to complete — albeit with no small assist from more than 800 of the region’s workers.
The ship received a host of new dining and entertainment venues as well as new furniture and carpeting throughout. All the staterooms were renovated.
Technology was not overlooked during the renovation, with the installation of Wi-Fi throughout the ship, flat-panel televisions in all staterooms and an outdoor LED movie screen on the pool deck.
The 915-foot cruise ship and her 2,000 passengers will be a recurring sight in the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the next few months as she makes weekly cruises to Alaska from either Vancouver, B.C., or Seattle.
Meanwhile, Ron and the crew returned to Port Angeles on Saturday, bunker barge still in tow, carrying 714,000 gallons of bunker fuel and 46,000 gallons of diesel fuel to be pumped into Tesoro’s Port Angeles storage tanks for future distribution.
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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.
