This week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday barges were at the Port of Port Angeles terminal being loaded with wood chips for use in pulp mills in British Columbia.
Two barges were loaded each day. Each of the barges is about 200 feet long and holds at least 2,400 tons of wood chips. Two of the barges were contracted for by Interfor and the other four by Ginkgo Trading LLC.
Recently, I visited the Lee Shore Boats facility on Edgewood Drive and chatted with Joe Beck, the company’s operations manager. He showed me a 54-foot raised pilot-house scow, with an 8 ½ foot landing craft-style bow door their personnel built for the Suquamish Tribes fisheries endeavor. Joe said the large vessel is scheduled to be launched in the middle of July.
Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht repair facility and steel boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, has two U.S. Navy open lighter barges at their facility which will be sandblasted and painted before they are placed back in service towards the end of September at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.
The non-self-propelled barges are 110 feet long with a 31-foot beam, and are designed to transport as much as 250 tons of cargo in rivers, harbors or other protected waters, which is to say they are not suitable for transporting cargo on the open ocean.
Platypus has Thistle Dew stowed in the Commander building. She is a 37-foot Lord Nelson Victory Tug that personnel repainted.
The Lord Nelson Victory Tug is a brand of recreational trawler designed by James Backus and produced by Lord Nelson Yachts Inc. based in Seattle. Delivery of the first 37-foot hull was in 1983. A total of 86 Victory Tugs ranging in length from 37 to 49 feet were built. The tugs are no longer in production, the last one being delivered in 1997.
A California developer has shown an interest in purchasing the John Wayne Marina in Sequim. There are those in support of such an idea and there are those who oppose the notion.
The port commissioners are naturally interested in hearing from those both for and against the proposition to sell John Wayne Marina. To that end they have scheduled a series of meetings for Monday, July 2, at which they will listen to all who have opinions on the topic. The meetings have been dubbed “district listening sessions” and their times and locations are as follows:
District Listening Sessions – July 2, 2018
District 3 Listening Session from 10 a.m. to noon at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 North Forks Ave., Forks.
District 2 Listening Session from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. at the City of Port Angeles City Council Chambers, 321 East Fifth St.
District 1 Listening Session from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Transit Center, 190 West Cedar St., Sequim.
In 1975, iconic film actor, director and producer John Wayne donated acreage at Pitship Point on Sequim Bay to the Port of Port Angeles for the purpose of building a marina. During his lifetime, the “Duke” owned two yachts, Norwester, a 76 foot yacht, and Wild Goose, a 136 foot converted Wold War II mine sweeper. It was during his tenure as the owner of Wild Goose that he developed his fondness for the Pacific Northwest.
For years he spent the summer months cruising the local waters, visiting Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., and steaming up the Inside Passage to Alaska. When he was filming, Wayne made arrangements to fly in to meet with the yacht on weekends. His contribution of the marina property is the legacy of his love for the majesty of the Pacific Northwest.
Tuesday, Tesoro provided bunkers to Europa Bay, a 646-foot Panamanian flagged bulk carrier. Later in the day they bunkered Santa Valentina, a 656-foot Liberian flagged bulk cargo ship.
Wednesday, Tesoro refueled Southampton Star, a 492-foot Bahamian-flagged cargo ship.
Friday, Tesoro had their refueling barge alongside Sti Topaz, a 604-foot crude oil tanker flagged in the Marshall Islands.
_________
David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats andstrolling the area’s waterfronts and boat yards.
Items and questions involving boating, marina and industrial activities and the North Olympic Peninsulawaterfronts are always welcome. News announcements about boating groups, including yacht clubs andsquadrons, are welcome as well.
Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.