The Port Angeles Yacht Club held the first Alvin Gross Memorial Log Race in the waters between Sidney and Victoria last weekend.
Although the event dates back to the 1960s, with the death last year of retired dentist, longtime yacht club member and former Commodore Alvin Gross — who won the event an unprecedented 12 times — the club’s membership voted to create a new plaque and rename the event in his memory.
The concept of a predicted log race is similar to that of a road rally for autos.
There are multiple checkpoints and a 15-minute window within which each contestant must finish or be disqualified.
Each participant must use a “fixed throttle” for the event.
Prior to starting out, each boat traverses a measured mile to determine its respective throttle setting for the contest from which the captain of the boat cannot deviate under penalty of disqualification.
This is not a speed contest, but rather a predicted-time contest.
Al Davis, also a former commodore and past winner, has commented that this type of race is all about the navigator and that the boat captain is all but irrelevant.
The winner of the inaugural Alvin Gross event was Steve DeBiddle, aboard Sunny Sue, a 36-foot Sabre. The boat’s prior owner, Chris Zook, was the navigator.
Eldorado, a 35-foot Chris-Craft that Gross had owned for more than 50 years, came in second.
His son, Chuck, was at the helm, and grandson Rick was at the compass.
Pearl, a 45-foot Chris-Craft, with Al Davis as the captain and Dan Davis as his navigator, was in familiar waters when they were disqualified because of Al’s “lead throttle” tendency, causing it to arrive early at one of the checkpoints.
Open house is today
In last week’s column, I confused some folks — myself included — by writing that the open house at the Port Angeles Yacht Club was to be Saturday.
It is today, from noon to 3 p.m. My apologies.
To recap: Club members will be on hand with membership information and to talk about various boating and cruising events in which the club engages throughout the year.
Free Coast Guard vessel safety checks will be available to anyone who arrives at the event towing a boat.
Additional recreational maritime-related activities and associations also will be in attendance, including the United States Power Squadron, Clallam County Family YMCA and the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association.
Change of watch
The North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron, a local unit of the U.S. Power Squadron, is an organization devoted to safe boating through education, civic service and having fun on the water.
The unit held a change-of-watch ceremony last month to usher in a new bridge for this year.
Torben Blichfeld is the squadron commander, and Don Stem will serve as the executive officer.
Jan Jones is the treasurer, Deta Stem is the secretary, Sandy Thomas is the administrative officer and Guy Bear is the education officer.
On Monday, May 14, the squadron will hold its monthly membership meeting in the Legends Room at Cedars at Dungeness northwest of Sequim, to which the public is invited.
Social hour begins at
5 p.m. followed by dinner and a brief meeting prior to a presentation by the featured speaker.
This month’s guest is Nir Barnea, West Coast regional coordinator of the marine debris division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who will talk about the approaching Japanese tsunami debris field.
The cost of dinner is $19 per person. For those who wish to attend only the speaker’s segment at
7 p.m., there is no charge.
In either case, reservations are required and can be made by calling Sandy Thomas at 360-683-8801 or by sending her an email at sandythomas@olypen.com.
Building in place
Personnel at Platypus Marine Inc. used a small army of forklifts last weekend to move the two sections of the Rubb building into place on an 85-foot by 160-foot concrete slab recently constructed at Platypus’ Port Angeles plant at Marine Drive and Cedar Street.
Now comes the building of a 58-foot, steel-hull limit seiner inside the building.
It is anticipated that construction of the boat will begin later this month when steel for the project is slated to arrive.
On Thursday, another one of the satellite buildings at Platypus Marine was the focalpoint for waterfront denizens.
Within its confines was a 110-foot Navy work barge that weighs about 260,000 pounds.
It had to be brought out into the open air so that it could be picked up by the company’s TraveLift and put back in the water.
Nickel Brothers house movers was called upon to perform the task.
However, before Nickel Brothers could get too far along in the process, Platypus personnel had to remove virtually the entire front portion of the building to accommodate the barge’s width.
Nickel Brothers personnel then were able to slide 6 eight-wheeled dollies under the barge.
Each dolly, a wheeled hydraulic jack that can support a 50-ton load, is connected by hose to a large truck that pumps hydraulic oil through the lines, which allows personnel to raise, lower and steer the barge as conditions dictate.
Once the jacks were in place, the slow process of moving the barge out of the building began.
The same truck that contained the mechanical equipment for the hydraulic system also had a large winch and cable that was attached to a chain bridle that connected the two leading dollies.
On the opposite end of the barge, another truck was cabled to the barge and acted as a brake for the 130-ton steel hulk.
The barge was brought out of the building in a series of 1- and 2-foot increments.
After almost every movement of the barge, Nickel Brothers’ foreman had a tape measure out and was assessing in his own mind the upcoming adjustments that were necessary to free the barge from its enclosure.
By late afternoon, the barge was well clear of the building, and the TraveLift hoisted the barge off the dollies.
In the early evening, the barge was put into the water and temporarily tied off to Terminal 1 South, while another barge was plucked out of the water.
Then the refurbished Navy barge, YC-1646, was towed to Everett to be put back into service.
Harbor watch
On Tuesday, Tesoro Petroleum provided bunkers to ATB Vision, a 129-foot tug that interlocks with the 600-foot tank barge, 650-10.
Although ATB Vision is classified as a towing vessel, she is in fact a pusher tug that does what the word implies: She pushes the tank barge as opposed to the more traditional method of towing it with a cable.
ATB vessels are easily distinguishable because their wheelhouse sits higher than that of a typical tug.
The Crowley-owned vessels are involved in the coastal trade, transporting petroleum products along the West Coast and Hawaii.
On Friday, Tesoro bunkered Alaskan Navigator, a 941-foot crude oil tanker, and Overseas Ariadmar, a tanker 597 feet long with a 105-foot beam.
Wrapping up the week, Tesoro on Saturday had its refueling barge alongside the 985-foot crude oil tanker Polar Resolution.
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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.
