Esther Marie, the 46-foot sailboat that has been anchored in the west end of Port Angeles Harbor for most of the past three years, broke free from her moorings last week.
The gale-force winds that were lashing the area at the time blew the boat east until it was spotted in the vicinity of the fish pens off Ediz Hook.
The Coast Guard intercepted the wayward craft, returned her to the west end of the harbor and secured her to the Coast Guard’s buoy.
This is not the first time that Esther Marie, whose hailing port is Juneau, Alaska, roamed free in the harbor. On the night of December 14, 2008, she broke loose from her moorings and was blown onto the rocks at Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles.
Doug Zimmerman of Sequim owns the boat — which is constructed of ferroÂcement and was built by his father in 1973 when the family lived in Alaska.
At the time, Doug had few options available in removing the boat that was slowly beating itself upon the rocks in front of the Red Lion Hotel.
For more than two days, the sailboat was subjected to the pounding waves until Capt. Fred Rodolf, owner of Lu-Lu Belle, a 76-foot Alaskan tour boat, offered to help.
Shortly before 7 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 17, 2008, Capt. Fred brought his boat from her side slip in the Boat Haven and positioned her bow within about 100 feet of the stern of the grounded sailboat.
A line was attached between the boats and Capt. Fred backed Lu-Lu Belle down until it was taut. Maintaining a steady strain on the line, the sailboat, aided by the cresting waves of high tide, slowly floated off the rocks.
Once Esther Marie was back in the water, it was determined there was no significant damage to the hull and she was temporarily moored between two float-guide pilings at City Pier until she was moved out into the harbor — where she has been riding her hook for the last three years.
Lu-Lu Belle’s trials
Capt. Fred has had his own travails this year aboard Lu-Lu Belle.
The 75-foot yacht ran aground May 14 about 50 miles south of Valdez, Alaska, at the Hinchinbrook Entrance to Prince William Sound.
Her composite hull was severely damaged and she was considered a total loss by the insurance company.
Fred purchased the vessel from the insurance company and within a couple of months of his mishap began rebuilding Lu-Lu Belle.
In early October, the yacht was back in the water and Fred expected to be under way for Port Angeles by about the middle of the month — but that was not to be.
I understand that Fred has opted to leave Lu-Lu Belle in Alaska for the winter and he will soon be flying home to Port Angeles.
Safe harbor
Last week’s windy weather forced Norton Bay, a 70 foot tug, and her tow, Macy-Renee, a 192-foot barge, to come into Port Angeles Harbor to await a break in the weather before continuing on their journey south.
According to Jim Campbell of Astoria, Ore., who owns Norton Bay, the tug and barge are on their way to the Sea of Cortez — aka Gulf of California — in Mexico with a load of pile-driving equipment and related machinery that is owned by Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd. of North Vancouver, B.C.
The equipment is needed in Mexico to build an export dock at a newly opened mine.
Jim said the weather along the West Coast has been too rough, but he expected to depart Port Angeles for the 15 day voyage Friday.
Tradition returns
Steve DeBiddle, who is the current commodore of the Port Angeles Yacht Club, has garnered a lot of support for reviving a Christmas tradition that has fallen by the wayside in the past few years — the Christmas season lighted boat parade.
Steve said members of the yacht club as well as the greater Port Angeles Boat Haven community are looking forward to adorning their craft with lights and cruising along the shoreline past the City Pier to Olympic Medical Center, where the parade boats will turn about and go back along the shoreline to the marina.
Steve said four dates are scheduled for the parades, which of necessity are weather-dependent.
The inaugural parade will begin this coming Saturday at 6 p.m. to coincide with the Port Angeles Downtown Association’s Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at 5 p.m.
On Dec. 3, 10 and 17, the parades will start from the marina’s entrance at 5 p.m.
Steve encourages boat owners who would like to partake in re-establishing a tradition that has not graced the waterfront since the middle of the last decade to contact him at 360-477-2406.
North to Alaska
Aleutian Belle, a 58-foot Delta, will be on her way to Kodiak, Alaska, within the next couple of days.
She was put back into the water Thursday after spending nearly a month in Platypus Marine Inc.’s Commander Building to have a custom bulbous bow and a bow thruster installed.
Verne Braghettia and his crew in Platypus’ fiberglass department also increased the size of the rolling chocks, which are now 22 inches deep by 27 feet long.
Platypus Marine is working on Commander, which is also a 58-foot Delta that hails from Petersburg, Alaska, and she is stowed in, of all places, the Commander Building.
According to Capt. Charlie Crane, Platypus’ director of sales and marketing, the commercial fishing vessel will be at Platypus for the next couple of months as personnel install stainless steel railings as well as sandblast and paint the hull, house and mast.
Harbor filler-up
Fueler Tesoro Petroleum again was busy in Port Angeles Harbor.
On Monday, Tesoro provided bunkers to New Irene, a Korean-flagged, 728-foot bulk cargo ship with a 105-foot beam.
On Friday, Tesoro refueled SeaRiver American Progress, a 600-foot petroleum products carrier that hails from Norfolk, Va.
Then Saturday, Tesoro refueled the Crowley-owned articulated tug and barge, Vision.
Today, Tesoro will bunker Alaskan Explorer, a 941-foot crude oil tanker, and Nord Crest, a 656-foot-long bulk cargo ship that made her way to Port Angeles from the marine terminals at the Port of Kalama on the Columbia River.
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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 360-808-3202.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday.