VERNE BRAGHETTA, WHO heads up the fiberglass department at Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, walked me through the Commander Building last week.
The tour was to bring me up to speed on some of the company’s projects.
It’s always a source of wonderment to me the number of vessels that company personnel shoe-horn into the large turquoise blue building at the corner of Cedar Street and Marine Drive.
Trojan, an 18-foot-by-70-foot barge, occupies the northwest corner of the building.
The barge was originally used by the military during World War II as a mechanized landing craft.
The vessel’s current owner operates a heavy-equipment business out of Craig, Alaska.
Trojan is the means by which he transports his construction equipment to the worksites that often are only accessible by water.
Since all of the mechanicals have been removed, the vessel is a barge in the truest sense of the word because
Trojan is moved to the required worksites by the owner’s network of small workboats.
According to Verne, an ultrasound was done on the barge, and areas of concern had new sheets of steel plating welded into place.
Trojan also will be receiving a fresh coat of paint before she heads north.
Sitting just forward of Trojan is Maximo, a 65-foot fiberglass yacht that was built by LeClercq Marine Yacht
Construction of Seattle.
Verne said in addition to a full paint job, the pretty lady also received a bulbous bow for fuel saving.
Sitting in the northeast portion of the building is Tradition, a Delta 58 that hails from Gig Harbor.
She also will receive a complete paint job after a new set of rub rails is installed.
Sea Lion, an 87-foot Protector-class Coast Guard cutter based in Bellingham, sits forward of Tradition and opposite Maximo.
She will be painted this week and should return to her duty station by the middle of the month.
Sitting on the hard outside in Platypus’ yard is Outbound, a trimaran owned by Phil Aylsworth, a project manager for Platypus.
Verne said the vessel is in for some deck repairs and that the older vessel is going to be refit.
Bigger space
Chad Crozier, the custom aluminum-boat builder and fabricator who has been operating out of cramped facilities on Edgewood Drive in west Port Angeles for the past few years, has moved into spacious shops in an industrial complex, still on the city’s west side.
Chad and his crew just finished building their first boat in the new facility: a 32-foot-by-11-foot mono hull that will be powered by twin 250-horsepower Honda outboard motors with a 9-horsepower kicker.
She is scheduled to be put aboard an Alaska Marine Lines barge Wednesday in Seattle for shipment to Ketchikan, Alaska.
Chad said her owner will use the boat for sportfishing charters, and predominately his clients will be passengers off the cruise ships that visit Ketchikan.
He will not have an opportunity to do any sea trials with the boat before it is shipped north, but he plans to fly to Ketchikan and test the boat as well as his fishing skills.
Pirates, matey!
The North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron will hold its monthly meeting Monday night at the Cedars at Dungeness Golf Club, 1965 Woodcock Road, northwest of Sequim.
All those interested in boating are welcome to attend what promises to be an interesting and unusual talk by retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift of Seattle, a former Navy judge advocate general — that’s lawyer for you landlubbers — on “Yo Ho, a Pirate’s Life for Me.”
Swift, who was a surface warfare officer before studying law, combines his major in history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., with his law degree to discuss the differences among pirates, privateers and buccaneers.
He’ll discuss how these outlaws of the sea helped to fashion both maritime and international law.
The social hour will begin at 5 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.
The buffet is $19 per person, and anyone wishing to purchase dinner tickets can do so by phoning Jim Fletcher at 360-912-1695.
However, it is not necessary to purchase dinner to attend the meeting.
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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 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.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday in the Peninsula Daily News.
