PORT ANGELES — Crowds of visitors showed up Sunday at the inaugural Waterfront Day and left asking for more after a behind-the-scenes look at the city’s port facilities.
The day’s activity included tours, demonstrations, information and display booths, a scavenger hunt and activities for children, all spread across 1.5 miles of waterfront, from the west side of Boat Haven to City Pier. Free shuttle buses also were part of the tour on the Port of Port Angeles’ terminals.
“We had no idea what to expect,” said Holly Hairell, Port of Port Angeles public relations manager and organizer for the event.
Hairell said attendance figures for the day were not yet available Sunday.
The event was sponsored by the Port of Port Angeles and the Port Angeles Yacht Club.
Waterfront Day will probably happen next year, but with changes based on what visitors wanted to see and do, Hairell said.
Visitors arrived at shuttle stops at a steady pace despite the blustery, cool day.
Most of them seemed to be interested mainly in the industrial areas and asked for even more access to some of the biggest businesses at the port, Hairell said.
Platypus Marine opened many of its repair shops for guided tours, and port officials took busloads of visitors onto the port’s commercial piers, where they were able to get close-up views of two large oil-spill response ships and the equipment used to load ships.
Mike Nimmo, the marine terminal manager for the port, said the port is undertaking a terminal upgrade that will allow for more use of cranes to load cargo ships, and explained the kind of activities that take place on the piers.
Some visitors were disappointed that Westport Yachts had only one of its massive work bays open for viewing but offered no tours.
Visitors peered into the repair bay, staring up at the ship towering above them and the even higher ceilings of the protected space.
It would have been nice to be able to see more of what Westport does inside, said Rick De Witt of Sequim, who was on the tour with his wife, Roberta De Witt.
Hairell said she was hoping to work out an agreement with Westport for tours for the 2017 Waterfront Day.
At the west Boat Haven parking lot, displays and presentations from several groups went on throughout the day.
The Port Angeles Yacht Club hosted its annual open house with tours of sailing and power boats.
Two boats at Boat Haven Marina were on the tour: the motor vessel Solitude owned by Randy Volker and a sailboat, 42, owned by Carol Jackson.
Jackson, who showed people into her “overbuilt” 1985 fiberglass hull sailing vessel, said the simply named 42 is a reference to “the meaning of life, the universe and everything” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Betty Longshore, 96, visited the two richly appointed boats, and said she was hoping that there would be tours of a tugboat or pilot boat.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Marine Unit boat was on display, and a marine deputy was available to answer questions about the boat and the marine unit’s activities.
Cadets from the high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps assisted with tours at the marina, monitored shuttle stops and helped port staff pass out information about Waterfront Day.
Children’s activities took place at the easternmost shuttle stop at The Landing mall and at Feiro Marine Life Center.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
