My wife and I spent much of the latter part of August in Victoria.
However, just because there were no “On the Waterfront” columns for the past two Sundays doesn’t mean I abandoned my zeal for the waterfront while on vacation.
In addition to driving around the southern part of Vancouver Island, familiarizing myself with the various maritime haunts in Sooke, Sidney and Victoria, we drove to Cowichan Bay, a scant hour’s drive from Victoria, which is a beautiful waterfront community with a large boat marina.
Cowichan Bay has a maritime center and wooden boat society.
The maritime center was closed on the day of our visit, but I had the opportunity to view the extensive displays presented by the Cowichan Wooden Boat Society that are housed in galleries constructed on an old Chevron Oil facility pier that extends about 300 feet into the bay.
I also visited the Maritime Museum of British Columbia that is located in Bastion Square in Victoria.
Three stories and a mezzanine are chockablock full of Canadian maritime artifacts displayed in one of the oldest buildings in Victoria.
Perhaps in another column I will write about my visits and share a few photos.
Back on the Peninsula
I understand that while I was away, there was no shortage of amusing events that occurred along the waterfront as well as visits to Port Angeles Harbor by a couple of interesting vessels.
There was a fellow fashioning together a raft from pallets and Styrofoam for the avowed purpose of going to Neah Bay by sea.
He was discouraged from doing so by the Coast Guard.
One of the vessels I missed out on ogling was Casino Royale, a 163-foot Christensen tri-deck mega-yacht that reportedly cost $125 million to build.
This is the fifth yacht the owner, John Staluppi, a multimillionaire from auto dealerships, has had built.
They all have had a James Bond theme and were likewise named — Octopussy, Moonraker, Thunderball and The World is Not Enough.
Casino Royale cruises at about 12 knots with a top speed of around 18 knots.
This is in sharp contrast to Octopussy, which had a top speed of 53 knots, Moonraker a top speed of 66 knots and The World is Not Enough 68 knots — the latter touted as the fastest yacht of that size in the world.
Apparently the owner has reached that stage in life where he is more appreciative of comfort rather than speed.
The other vessel of note I would like to have seen was the SV Kaisei, a brigantine that anchored in Port Angeles Harbor for about three days.
A photo of the boat by PDN photojournalist Keith Thorpe appeared in the Aug. 22 edition.
Keith reported that the vessel is involved in researching floating wreckage from last year’s Japanese tsunami as well as the North Pacific Gyre, the massive field of plastic debris that floats about 600 miles off the West Coast.
Capt. Charlie Crane, director of sales and marketing for Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive, said the reason that the steel-hull Kaisei came to Port Angeles was because she was having engine trouble.
He said the Yanmar engine had developed a water leak.
Platypus personnel located the parts, made the repairs and the Kaisei was on its way.
More from Platypus
Platypus last Tuesday hauled out Gloria, an 88-foot Admiral Marine Works yacht that was built in Port Townsend in 1986.
According to Capt. Charlie, personnel inspected the through-hull fittings, found two that were not up to snuff and replaced them.
Zincs were replaced, and the bottom was painted.
Capt. Charlie also said that Eric Bert, who installed the teak decking on the swim step and aft cockpit a couple of years ago, will be working on the teak combing later this year when the yacht spends the winter on Seattle’s Lake Union.
Platypus also has Darlin, a 50-foot Ocean Alexander, sitting on the hard.
Capt. Charlie said this darling had the misfortune of running afoul of some rocks that destroyed her propellers.
Personnel will replace the props and cutlass bearings, install zincs and paint the bottom, but it will be two or three more weeks before she is back in the water.
Squadron picnic
This coming Saturday, the North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron, a local unit of the U.S. Power Squadron, devoted to safe boating through education, civic service and having fun on the water, is holding its annual picnic.
The picnic will be held at the Port Angeles Yacht Club, 1305 Marine Drive at the west end of Port Angeles Boat Haven.
The public is invited to attend.
The festivities include a fire extinguisher demonstration, a boat safety ring toss and a silent auction of gently used nautical items.
Additionally, attendees are encouraged to bring their out-of-date safety flares and gain some firsthand experience in their use while in a safe environment.
The picnic, for which reservations are required, begins at
1 p.m.
Lunch will be available for $7.
For further information or to make reservations, phone Sandy Thomas at 360-683-8801 or send an email to sandythomas@olypen.com.
Westport reunion
Port Angeles Boat Haven looked like it was hosting a rendezvous for Westport yachts last week.
In addition to Solution, a familiar guest in the Boat Haven, there is JoPaJu, a Westport 112 that is having engine work done on her, plus a new 40-meter that was brought over from Westport earlier in the week as well as two Pacific Mariner 85s.
Alas, all the vessels sans Solution will be off to Victoria by the middle of the week to be loaded aboard a YachtPath transport ship for delivery to Florida.
One of the Pacific Mariner 85s will be on display at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show at the end of October.
The other three yachts are bound for destinations unknown.
Port Angeles Harbor watch
Early Tuesday morning, Cosco Yokohama came into Port Angeles and anchored in the harbor’s most easterly anchorage.
The Liberian-flagged container ship is 980 feet long with a 138-foot beam and holds 7,500 shipping containers.
She was under way for Yokohama from Seattle when she experienced engine trouble.
I understand that she was able to resolve the mechanical issue, but the Coast Guard diverted her to Port Angeles and received clearance from the agency to resume her voyage Saturday.
Tesoro on Tuesday bunkered Simushir, a 440-foot Russian-flagged cargo ship that headed to Everett once she was loaded with fuel.
It’s interesting to note that the vessel’s name was changed to Munteborg effective Friday.
This is the third time since April 11 that she has had her name changed to Munteborg.
During that time, she also has been named Simushir twice and Munte once.
It’s enough to make a fella scratch his head in puzzlement.
On Saturday, Tesoro refueled Overseas Visayas, a 748-foot petroleum-products tanker that came down from the refinery at Cherry Point.
Tesoro also bunkered Alaskan Frontier, a 941-foot crude oil tanker.
Tesoro today will provide bunkers to Yasa Seyhan, a 600-foot, Turkish-flagged petroleum-products carrier.
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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 Sundays.
