BOATING SEASON IS in full swing, and with the recreational crab season opening up next week, even more boaters will be on the water setting and retrieving crab pots.
One of the many downsides of a slowing economy is the tendency of boaters not to be as attentive to maintaining their safety gear.
Here are recommendations from the Coast Guard and the organization BoatUS to ensure safe days on the water:
• Safe and responsible boaters wear life jackets.
This is not just a mantra — they can save your life.
There were 55 recreational boating deaths in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana last year.
Life jackets were not worn in 41 of these tragedies.
How many of the fatalities would have been avoided if life jackets had been worn?
Make certain you have enough life jackets to fit everyone onboard — and that they are in good condition.
Inflatable life jackets need to be opened, inspected, manually inflated and have their CO2 cartridges checked and replaced as necessary.
• If you don’t have a VHF radio onboard your boat, you’re taking an unnecessary risk, the Coast Guard says.
Depending on a cellphone for potential emergencies is foolhardy because they won’t summon the closest potential rescuers — your fellow boaters or anglers.
That’s where a VHF radio, available for as little as $100, comes in.
If you have a handheld VHF, be certain the battery is charged.
“Digital Selective Calling” VHF radios need to be registered and an MMSI number issued to the boat to gain all of their superior safety benefits — such as a one-button mayday feature.
• Unlike a car, a boat never stops moving, even in an emergency.
Having an anchor and line in good condition with the bitter end firmly secured to the boat will prevent drifting — and give you time to think things through and make it easier for others to find you.
• Inventory and review all safety gear.
That includes signaling devices, fire extinguishers, GPS and updated charts.
It’s also a good idea to brief your guests and crew on where the important items are located — such as fire extinguishers — and how to use the VHF radio.
There are Coast Guard Auxiliary units across Clallam and Jefferson counties that are happy to provide a free vessel safety check.
Go to www.Safetyseal.net to find an examiner near you, and take the “virtual” vessel safety check while you’re at it.
Seawall work
Haul-outs at the Port Angeles Boat Yard came to a standstill last week.
Port of Port Angeles personnel are rebuilding the anchoring system that reinforces the sheet piling that comprises the seawall at the haul-out dock.
Much of the site that consists of the dock — an area roughly 40 feet square — was excavated to a depth of about four feet.
An additional three feet of material was excavated parallel to the wall, about 35 feet away from the sheet piling.
Into this space, 20 yards of concrete were formed into a reinforced block that is 31 feet long and 4 feet square.
Eyebolts protruding from the block and those affixed to the pilings will have galvanized steel cables attached to secure the seawall to an underground anchor that weighs in excess of 75,000 pounds (not surprisingly, it is known as a “deadman”).
Once the cables are attached and tightened down, the excavated dirt will be returned and compacted and a new overlay of macadam will be put in place.
By the looks of the progress made so far, it appears that the Boat Haven’s 70-ton TraveLift will be back in business sometime next week.
Ferry inspected
Platypus Marine hauled out Victoria Express II on Tuesday.
The 104-foot passenger ferry that provides service to Victoria and Friday Harbor was out of the water for a short time so that owner Jack Harmon’s personnel could inspect the running gear.
Elsewhere at Platypus Marine Inc. at the corner of Marine Drive and Cedar Street, Pintail, a 38-foot aluminum boat operated by Marine Spill Response Corp as an offshore response vessel, is in the Commander building.
According to Capt. Charlie Crane of Platypus, personnel will be repairing the struts, sandblasting and painting the bottom.
Because of the Pintail’s shallow draft, MSRC uses the 36-foot boat to deploy containment boom as well as a skimmer to collect oil from spills along the coast line.
She can hold approximately 300 gallons of recovered oil, which is transferred to either the WS Park Responder or an oil spill response barge for storage and processing.
Logs ahoy
Sun Ruby, a 580-foot log ship that hails from Hong Kong, left port Friday at 7 p.m. with approximately 1.5 million board feet of logs that were harvested in Washington topping off her load.
She came into port Tuesday laden with more than 2 million board feet of logs that were loaded onto her in British Columbia.
Sun Ruby is now well on her way to South Korea, and the scuttlebutt among the longshoremen is that another log ship may be coming into Port Angeles this month or July.
Pushing around
On Wednesday, Tesoro Petroleum provided bunkers to ATB Commitment, a 129-foot tug that interlocks with the 600 foot tank barge, 650-6.
Although the Commitment is classified as a towing vessel, in reality she is a pusher tug that does what the word implies — pushing 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 so much higher than that of a typical tug that they resemble little lighthouses as they push their way along their journey.
The Crowley-owned vessels are involved in the coastwise trade transporting petroleum products along the west coast and into Hawaii.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats and strolling the waterfront.
Items involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. E-mail dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-417-3736.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday.
