I found Thursday’s Port of Port Angeles commissioners’ meeting quite interesting.
Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility, and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles made a quality presentation to the commissioners.
Platypus’ activities always provide lots of material for this column, and here’s more: Company officials told the commissioners they want to purchase 5 acres of waterfront property that abuts their current facility.
In case you missed the PDN report Friday (catch up on it online at http://tinyurl.com/pdn-platy), Platypus wants to invest approximately $5 million in site improvements to existing buildings and infrastructure, construct a new building and pave a portion of the property that is a bit of a mud bog in winter and dry and dusty during the summer months.
Judson Linaberry, Platypus president, and Marty Marchant, director of sales and marketing, stressed that the sale would allow the company to double in size, which would add an additional 75 full-time employees to the current 70-employee workforce.
It’s worth noting that Platypus pays an average annual wage of $48,000, which by any measure is good for the North Olympic Peninsula.
Stay tuned.
‘Shave and a haircut’
Earlier in the week, Platypus hauled out Pacific Grace for a “shave and a haircut.”
After the commercial fishing vessel’s bottom was cleaned and a new coat of bottom paint applied, technicians in the electronics department installed a new transducer for the fish finder on the 50-foot vessel that hails from Gig Harbor.
Platypus also hauled out Shemya, a 59-foot commercial fishing vessel from Kodiak, Alaska.
Personnel on Thursday and Friday were enveloping the vessel in a plastic tent in preparation for no small amount of painting.
Weather and tides
Two knowledgeable individuals will give mariners the opportunity in Port Townsend this week to learn more about the natural forces that affect boaters on the water.
Dave Wilkinson, who has a master’s degree in atmospheric science from Oregon State University and is a member of the American Meteorological Society, will discuss “Marine Weather: Understanding the Wind” at this week’s Wooden Boat Wednesday session at the Northwest Maritime Center.
Dave, who teaches courses at the maritime center, ought to know: His sailing experiences in Mexico, the Caribbean and New Zealand — as well as the Pacific Northwest — will help illustrate key weather concepts in his presentation.
Wooden Boat Wednesday is a free event that begins at noon and typically lasts for 90 minutes at the beautiful Northwest Maritime Center,
431 Water St. in Port Townsend.
The night before, Port Townsend’s Point Wilson Sail and Power Squadron will host speaker Mitch Poling, who will discuss “Get There Fast: Ride the Currents to the San Juans and Gulf Islands.”
Mitch, also a journeyman sailor, will talk about using tidal currents of up to 5 knots to add speed — and avoid the doldrums — in our local waters.
He will show how to use information from the Current Atlas for the Juan de Fuca Strait to the Strait of Georgia to find where and how fast the currents are, then Washburne’s Tables 2015 to determine times.
Like Wednesday’s noon talk, Mitch’s program is free and will start at 7 p.m. at the Port Townsend Yacht Club, 2503 Washington St.
Order complete
Joe Beck of Lee Shore Boats, the aluminum-boat manufacturer on Edgewood Drive in Port Angeles, called to tell me that the last two of 20 work boats the company built for a South American multinational corporation have been put in the water.
Lee Shore will be shipping them to the customer next week.
Port Angeles Harbor watch
Tesoro Petroleum on Monday provided bunkers to Sea Iris, a 633-foot, Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo ship anchored in Port Angeles Harbor.
On Tuesday, Tesoro bunkered the 655-foot bulk cargo ship West Treasure, which also is registered in Panama.
Tesoro on Wednesday refueled Reliance II, a 600-foot petroleum-products tanker that is flagged in Singapore.
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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.
Items and questions involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.
