The busy waterfront in Port Angeles is certainly an encouraging sight to see.
The log ship Sunny Royal at the Port of Port Angeles T-Pier being loaded with logs from Western Washington lands, tank barges at the terminal being refurbished by Washington Marine Repair, and the newly opened Peninsula Plywood mill humming along at full song after lying dormant for a couple of years are heartening.
Over at City Pier the tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain are moored, awash with visitors and all the while their crews are engaged in some skullduggery by preparing to do battle again this afternoon mid-harbor.
It almost makes one wonder what century he or she has stumbled into.
Load and leave
Sunny Royal came into port on Monday and departed for South Korea on Friday at 6 p.m. loaded to the gunnels with more than 4 million board feet of logs.
On Thursday afternoon, I watched the longshoremen cutting bands on the log bundles that were on top of the load to smooth out the voids.
Most of the day Friday was spent by longshoremen lashing down the logs with heavy chain to minimize load-shifting during the voyage.
Rebirth of boating
The sunbreaks of winter are stretching into the sunny days of spring as the season edges toward summer — and more and more boaters launching their craft after having them in storage for the past few months.
According to BoatUS, an advocacy group for recreational boaters, every spring shortly after being launched, boats sink while safely tied up at the dock.
They have identified the top five reasons why:
■ Missing or damaged hose clamps: These clamps are often removed in the fall to winterize the engine and then forgotten in the spring when the boat is launched.
Tight spaces in engine compartments make it difficult to see some unsecured or deteriorated clamps.
■ Unsecured engine hoses: Over the winter, freezing water can lift hoses off seacocks.
■ Spring rains: Combine heavy rains with leaking ports, deck hatches, cracked or improperly caulked fittings, chain plates and even scuppers clogged by leaves, and your boat could be on the bottom very soon.
■ Broken sea strainer: Glass, plastic and even bronze strainer bowls can be cracked or bent over the winter if they are not properly winterized, allowing water to trickle in when the seawater intake seacock is in the open position.
■ Leaking stuffing box: If equipped, a steady drip from an improperly adjusted stuffing box (the “packing” around the prop shaft) can swamp a boat.
For a more complete guide on preparing your boat for a safe season on the water, visit the BoatUS Web site at http://tinyurl.com/y3wy75e.
Awww, shoot!
On Thursday, May 13, at 10 a.m., the Sequim Bay Yacht Club is sponsoring a Distress Signal Flare Shoot Off at the John Wayne Marina’s south parking area, and the boating community is encouraged to attend.
The Coast Guard will provide operational and safety instruction to boaters on the various pyrotechnic signaling devices that are required to be aboard recreational vessels.
These devices must be Coast Guard approved and be within their marked service life.
The four basic types of pyrotechnic devices that will be demonstrated are handheld red flares; orange smoke, handheld or floating that are for day use only; aerial red meteors, fired from a flare gun or a self-contained launcher; and parachute flares, fired from a flare gun or a self-contained launcher
Although some boats, such as those less than 16 feet long, are exempt during daylight hours, most vessels must carry a minimum of three day and night flares or their equivalent to meet minimum Coast Guard requirements.
For a greater measure of safety, carry a larger number.
Those attending must provide their own signaling devices. It is a good time for boaters to use out-of-date devices as it is otherwise illegal to discharge them in non-distress situations.
Sequim Bay Yacht Club members will assist in the demonstration and clean up debris after the event.
For more information contact Bob Stearns after April 24 at 360-683-8638.
Barging in
Sasanoa, a 332-foot, double-hull tank barge, is nested outboard of the barge Kays Point at the Port of Port Angeles T-Pier.
According to Chandra “Hollywood” McGoff of Washington Marine Repair, the topside ship repair company at the foot of Cedar Street, the barge is having the on-deck equipment house expanded — much like Kays Point before her — as well as new cargo and deep well pumps installed and piping upgrades.
Chandra is a proud mother these days.
Her daughter, Nikki McGoff, a sophomore at Port Angeles High School, is receiving the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award Monday at the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia for her work with the North Olympic Youth Corps as well as with Teen Court.
On Tuesday, Nikki will throw out the first pitch at the Seattle Mariners baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Being outfitted
Hataty, a new Westport 112 is moored to the Westport slip at the Port Angeles Boat Haven.
She was built in the town of Westport (Westport Shipyard, the company, builds only 164-footers in Port Angeles) and will be in port for at least a couple of weeks while she is being outfitted and undergoes sea trials.
Filling up
On Monday, Tesoro Petroleum refueled Commitment, an articulated tug operated by Crowley.
Then Tuesday, Tesoro provided bunkers to Overseas Long Beach, a 576-foot petroleum tanker that is due in her namesake city in California on Monday.
Last Wednesday, Tesoro refueled Alaskan Frontier, a 941-foot double hull tanker that is under way to Valdez, Alaska, for another load of Alaskan crude.
Tesoro also refueled Nord Spirit, a 620-foot bulk cargo ship that is under way for Subic Bay, Philippines.
On Friday, Tesoro refueled British Laurel, a 790-foot petroleum products carrier operated by BP Shipping.
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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. E-mail dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-417-3736.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday.
