PORT HADLOCK —The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is adding a new service and training program after it signed an agreement with the Port of Port Townsend to build a pump out sled for a utility boat.
The school said in a press release that an agreement was signed last month to add to the existing functionality of the port’s utility boat by adding a removable “pump out sled” to its deck, which will allow the boat to provide seasonal pump out service to area mariners.
The sled itself will be built by the students at the school, with work set to begin in the coming weeks, according to Betsy Daivs, executive director of the school.
“We’re really excited to have this opportunity for our students to work on something that will be really useful in the Port of Port Townsend,” Davis said Friday.
Davis said port officials want to be able to use the pump out sled when there are a lot of visiting mariners, but the sled will be built to be removable so the utility boat can still be put to other uses.
When not in use, the pump out sled can be removed from the boat and stored at the port, she said.
The school was hired as a contractor to oversee and complete the project after leaders of the port saw first-hand the success of the recent zero-emissions, Clean Bay project built by the Boat School for the Port Ludlow Marina, the release said.
Details of the agreement include the construction and installation of the portable pump out “sled” which will be added to the deck of the port’s existing utility boat on a seasonal basis. The sled would contain the necessary 250-gallon waste tank, high-capacity pump, hoses, batteries and charging equipment.
In addition to repurposing an existing boat, the Port of Port Townsend will help to limit the carbon footprint of the project by installing a remote-controlled electric pump powered by rechargeable batteries.
“We had planned a gasoline pump, but after taking Clean Bay for a spin and pumping out a vessel, the electric system with solar charging and remote control made so much more sense from an operations standpoint,” said Eron Berg, executive director of the port, in the release.
In addition to the pump out sled, the school’s Marine Systems Programs led by Lead Instructor Kevin Ritz also will install a new 115 horse-power outboard engine to the boat, a 9.9 kicker engine, appropriate fenders to protect serviced vessels, new hydraulic steering and control systems, solar panels with a charging station for the pump, a cathodic protection plan and anti–fouling coatings.
The battery-powered pump will be capable of handling up to 3,600 gallons of waste between charges and can pump at 40 gallons per minute. The battery banks will be able to be recharged overnight and augmented by a solar charging system during the day.
The project, which is paid for by a Clean Vessel Act Grant awarded to the Port by the Washington State Parks Boating Program, provides an opportunity to offer the Boat School’s Prothero Internship program to a Marine Systems graduate.
Berg said the grant was for more than $200,000 and paid for pump out equipment and several years worth of operating costs. The grant covers only about 75 percent of the program, Berg said.
“The reason we’re so interested is because we want to make it easier for mariners to get their tanks pumped,” Berg said, so that the waste can be properly treated.
The Prothero Internship, named for Boat School co-founder Bob Prothero, is a paid position that allows a Boat School graduate to spend additional time at the school, honing their skills in an environment that offers increasingly more challenging work, at a faster pace, and with more independence – essentially mirroring an apprenticeship program.
The interns “learn on the job” and add to the educational environment of the students and the teaching efficiency of the three Marine Systems instructors.
