IF YOU’RE IN Port Angeles to celebrate Independence Day on Friday, be sure to look to the harbor in the 2 o’clock hour.
The Port Angeles Yacht Club will hold its Independence Day Decorated Boat Parade starting at 2 p.m., when boats assemble water-side of the yacht club building west of Boat Haven.
The parade will cross the harbor and travel parallel to Ediz Hook past the Coast Guard station, then proceed across the harbor to Olympic Medical Center and return along the downtown waterfront to the yacht club.
The parade should be passing by the downtown area at about 2:45 p.m. Numerous boats from the Port Angeles Yacht Club as well as other area boats will be participating.
The best viewing locations will be along Ediz Hook and the downtown waterfront, particularly City Pier.
This is a traditional event in Port Angeles, and the public is encouraged to come and view the various boats decorated in celebration of the Fourth of July.
A big kiwi
The MV Kahu refueled at the fuel dock in the Port Angeles Boat Haven.
The vessel is best characterized as an expedition yacht. She is a converted Moa class patrol boat from the New Zealand Navy.
Her conversion from a military vessel to a yacht was done by Fitzroy Yachts in Plymouth, New Zealand, a venture that I understand is owned by the vessel’s owner.
Once Kahu was full of fuel, she got underway to explore the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island.
Outbound logs
Jamaica Bay, a 590-foot bulk cargo ship that had been moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 3 for the prior week taking on a load of debarked logs, left port Wednesday.
The logs were harvested from private lands in Western Washington.
Jamaica Bay sailed with a cargo of approximately 5.7 million board feet of logs bound for Tianjin, China.
Samoa ferry launched
Armstrong Marine, the aluminum-boat manufacturer whose headquarters are just off U.S. Highway 101 midway between Port Angeles and Sequim, launched Segaula on Thursday.
She’s a 39-foot catamaran that was built to provide ferry service in the Manu’a Islands group in American Samoa.
The vessel will hold up to 40 passengers and is powered by four 225-horsepower Mercury outboard motors.
Elwha boat
Chad Crozier of Crozier Craft, whose production facility is on U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles, launched a sweet little crab boat last week that was built for Robert Elofson of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
The aluminum boat is 2 inches shy of 26 feet long and is powered by a 315 Yanmar diesel engine mated to a Mercruiser Bravo 2 outdrive.
I understand that the boat will be used for crabbing and shrimping.
New contract
Driving back to town from Crozier Craft, I stopped by Lee Shore Boats and had a brief chat with Joe Beck, Lee Shore’s reigning salesman of the year.
He told me the company was just awarded the contract to build a 26-foot patrol boat for the Island County Sheriff’s Office.
Joe said the mono-hull vessel will have a walk-around wheelhouse, port and starboard air collars on the hull, and will be powered by a pair of 225-horsepower Honda outboard motors.
The Salmon King
Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, hauled out Salmon King (sounds like a Disney movie).
She now sits on the hard behind the Commander Building.
Salmon King is a commercial fishing vessel that hails from Victoria.
According to Brad Hale, who works in Platypus’ sales and marketing department, the 50-foot vessel came to Port Angeles for a shave and a haircut.
For landlubbers, that means that the bottom is getting a cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.
Platypus also hauled out Lady A, a 70-foot Mcqueen owned by Judson Linaberry, the president of Platypus Marine.
The wooden vessel is out of the water for a time to have some structural maintenance issues attended to.
Platypus has Stella Maris on the hard for a couple of days.
She is a 34-foot MJ down-easter picnic boat that was shipped to Port Angeles from Florida.
Her current owner had Platypus Marine detail the boat and work on a minor punch list to get the boat ready for a short cruise to Desolation Sound for a family vacation during the summer.
On Friday morning, Platypus put Wave Walker back in the water.
She is a 70-foot catamaran that Raymond and Cathy Walker have been working on in conjunction with Platypus Marine since July 2012.
I understand the Walkers are taking a shakedown cruise to Alaska.
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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.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears Sundays.
