Hood Canal Bridge Construction

Most folk driving to and from the Olympic peninsula know well that the Hood Canal Bridge will be closed later this year between May and June. Boaters may not be so aware, unless you subscribe to the USCG Local Notice to Mariners.

The recent LNM 2/09 had this to say:

Kiewit-General Construction Company will be working on the Hood Canal Floating Bridge East Half Replacement Project from Jan to Oct 09. Specific projects include:

Temporary Skiff Docks established at the west and east bridge approaches with the anchors marked with white or yellow buoys showing Fl Y. Vessels are requested to remain 500 ft clear of the docks.

Two mooring buoys established near the northwest corner of the bridge and one buoy established near the southwest corner of the bridge. These buoys are white in color showing Flashing Yellow. At times three barges may be tied up to each mooring. Vessels are requested to remain 1500 ft clear of the moorings.

Demolition and construction operations of temporary structures will be taking place in the vicinity of Lofall and South Point Docks. The barge anchors will be marked with white or yellow buoys showing Flashing  Yellow. Mariners are requested to remain 500 ft clear.

Several barges and buoys will be temporarily moored in the southwest corner of Port Gamble Bay and a 925 ft pontoon will temporarily be moored adjacent to the pontoon currently moored in the bay. Anchor locations are marked with white buoys showing Flashing White. Vessels are requested to remain 500 ft clear.

Various vessels may be present during the construction project including DB Portland and Tug Red Bluff. Vessels present can be contacted on VHF-FM Channels 14 and 16 during working hours. For additional information, contact Kiewit-General Construction Company at (253) 439-6155.

And if you haven't, you can easily subscribe for your free weekly Local Notice to Mariners, Of course, you simply forgot to do this last go-around earlier, didn't you? Of course. 

A Really Big Show (Boat Show, that is!)

I'm told that I'm dating myself when I mention the Ed Sullivan Show on TV (analog, of course). But, not only being the longest running variety show on TV (1948-1971), he introduced us to the Beattles, Elvis, broke the race barrier with many Black performers, and locked me in for a solid hour at 8:00 PM every Sunday evening on CBS, with my arms crossed, of course, to simply enjoy entertainment.  A former boxer, sports writer, theater critic, TV personality and then columnist, Sullivan crossed many people, groups and his own network as he worked to provide America's stage. He was one of Walter Winchell's big rivals, eventually outdistancing him in popularity.

No Ed Sullivan today, but we do have our local "really big show", the Great Seattle Boat Show, the largest boat show on the West Coast, which runs from Friday, January 23rd through Sunday, February 1st at two locations, the Quest Field Event Center and the south end of Lake Union.

At the south Lake Union afloat venue, sponsored by the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA), you'll find not only 300-plus  sport/fishing cruisers, sailboats, catamarans, tugs, trawlers and yachts for sale (taking up over 116,000 square feet of moorage), but also the queen of the Nordhavn fleet, making her first public debut in an open setting, the Nordhaven 86-foot yacht. A brand new model, recently offloaded the container ship, she'll be without all the bells and whistles her owners have chosen. Still, according to Bonnie Bergquist, NYBA manager, visitors on board will instantly recognize the magnificent craftsmanship and details that make her Nordhavn’s most crowning achievement to date.

Then jump on the free Seattle Street Car (ever ridden it?) to Quest Field event center, scene of the other show venue, and managed by the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA).

In addition to lots of boats, electronics and manufacturer displays, seminars and the boat show university, you'll also see the famous raft, the Junk, constructed from 15,000 plastic bottles, derelict sailboat masts and fishing nets, a solar generator, a wind turbine, and the fuselage of a Cessna aircraft. She sailed during the summer of 2008 for 88 days and 2,600 miles (surviving four hurricanes) through plastic impacted water from California to Hawaii. According to Michael Campbell, NMTA president, the show has partnered with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance to bring the Junk  to the Seattle Boat Show with the goal of educating the Seattle community about the effects of plastic pollution in the marine environment.

I said a few days ago,  if you haven't got your tickets yet, go online or check with your broker or dealer. One ticket gets you into both the indoor (Quest Field Event Center) and the afloat (south Lake Union) shows, plus the streetcar shuttle between.

This blog is getting blatantly commercial, but boat shows do that to us. Please excuse the push, enjoy the show - - ashore and afloat, get back into the rhythm of boats and boating, and dream again about that next cruise!

Bon voyage!

 

Seattle Boat Show Update

The Great Seattle Boat Show is getting some great last minute traction as it heads towards its opening day next Friday, January 23rd!

George Harris, of the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA), tells me that "In general I would say our members, exhibitors and public were delaying spending decisions. Now we've had significantly more last minute activity of all types than usual. This is also the case with the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA). The indoor portion of the boat show is full with a waiting list."

That's good news. No, great news for both exhibitor and public.

The Olympic Boat story continues to evolve. As I wrote three days ago, Olympic Boat Centers, the former anchor exhibit at the event center no longer exist. But like a phoenix rising, a new company has emerged: Lake Union Bayliner, which will be part of the NMTA's number one promotion this year, will be occupying essentially the same space and location of the old Olympic Boat Centers at the show, according to the NMTA. So those of us attending the indoor show can expect to see Meridians, Bayliners, Trophys and Maxums like in years past, explained Harris.

Lake Union Bayliner is very brand new (not even a web page yet), a spin-off company from Lake Union Sea Ray, which moved to its new digs on Fairview Ave. East, just south of the University Bridge, last year.

The national scene is not all that good. The Cleveland show, which starts today, is allowing its exhibitors to sell pre-owned boats for the first time in its history. Next month's Atlantic City show will feature an "affordability pavilion" of boats that can be financed for $250-$300 or less per month. This weekend's  Daytona Beach show has been cancelled. The Kansas City show scaled back its footprint. Closer to home, the Everett Boat Show, scheduled for early March, has been suspended, perhaps to later this year.

From all reports the Great Seattle Boat Show could well beat these odds and again provide, indoor and afloat, a great show to match its title.

Don't miss it!

And if you haven't got your tickets yet, go online or check with your broker or dealer. One ticket gets you into both the indoor (Quest Field Event Center) and the afloat (south Lake Union) shows, plus the shuttle between.

The Boat Show, The Boat Show, The Great Seattle Boat Show!

As my stepdaughter said recently, she was sorry that she ever complained about the snow as she tries to dry out from the rain. The Northwest was hammered these past few weeks, first with more than usual snow fall, and then by serious flooding. Earlier last week about the only way you could get to the Seattle area was either by boat, plane, or via British Columbia by car. All three major east-west passes were closed and I-5 was flooded out to the south around Centralia. The trains were not running, either. High-water, mud slides, and continual avalanches were the stuff of news reports

For my wife and me, two of the harbingers of spring (and hopefully, slightly dryer and milder weather) have announced themselves. The annual Flower & Garden Show at Seattle's Convention Center runs February 18th for five days. The second is the Great Seattle Boat Show, which starts January 23rd and runs through February 1st. I hope they keep their theme song this year; it's one of those that keeps running mindlessly through your head every time you hear their commercial.

The Boat Show is a collaborative venture by two groups, Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (NYBA) and Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA), and has two venues: outside and afloat on south Lake Union and indoors at the Quest Field Event Center, with free shuttle connecting. The show is advertised as the largest show on the west coast, trumping the San Diego show which ended this past weekend. (In the interests of full disclosure, I am a member of the NYBA.)

These are anything but the best of times for the boat sales industry, and even with boat financing being available, it is tight. Almost daily the various boating industry news outlets report more and more manufacturing company layoffs and production cut-backs. Nationally, new boat sales have fallen over 25% in 2008 compared to the previous year, with net dealer profit falling by 56.2 % for the same period. A clue as to what is happening across the industry is the National Marine Manufacturers Association (the NWMA is not a member) this year broadening its policy of limiting exhibiting previous year boat models from 20% to 50% to help dealers sell off existing inventory. All this means an extremely good time to buy a boat, if you can swing it. 

I suspect that this year's show will present some challenges. In previous years the Olympic Boat Centers have been an anchor exhibitor at the event center. Now Olympic Boats no longer exists, although other brokers have picked up some Bayliner products.

While the Quest Field show is primarily run by the NMTA, the afloat show at south Lake Union is a Northwest Yacht Brokers Association event. Here you'll find boats of many vintages, sail and power, new and older, and there should be some exceptionally good deals. Don't be afraid to talk to the brokers about boating in general and in specifics. You'll find a lot of knowledge there to help you find the boat you're really thinking about. And don't miss visiting my friends on the Ray Rairdon Yacht Sales boats on the east (of the exhibitors' tent) dock, and, as Stuart Anderson says in his TV ads, "Tell them Mike sent you."

Besides walking the docks (they bring in lots and lots of extra docking for the event, and I've often wondered where all these live between shows) and kibitzing with old friends - - I'm not seriously in the market for a new-to-me boat, we also enjoy heading down to Quest Field. To be honest, I'm more interested in the many, many product displays and exhibits than climbing, sans shoes, the boats on display. For me it must be something like the Las Vegas computer trade show - - Comdex, without Microsoft's Steve Ballmer exuberating.

Also worth checking out at Quest Field event center are some of the seminars. Jo Bailey with Carl Nyberg, good friends and now Kitsap penninsula neighbors, are a must. If the term Gunkholing in the San Juan Islands (or . . . in South Puget Sound, or . . . in the Gulf Islands) doesn't mean anything to you, then you've missed some of the best cruising resources for the northwest and the delightful writing of these two veteran cruisers. You'll probably also find Jo and Carl book-sighing at the Captain's Nautical Supply display.

Another seminar presenter well worth catching is Lynne Reister, a marine surveyor and friend who I understand is scheduled to do three seminars: Buying a Boat, Preparing a Boat to Sell, and What to Expect of a Surveyor. Knowing Lynne, all of these should be very worthwhile. 

Nigel Caldwell, well known for his classics Marine Diesel Engines and Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, is scheduled to give three 3-hour courses on diesel, DC electrics, and new boat technologies at the boat show university. Though there's a $39 cost per course, any of the three should be excellent.

The complete seminar and boat show university course schedule is on line. 

One ticket, which you can get at any boat broker (some even have free passes) or on-line, covers both shows, plus the shuttle and some extra goodies.

Garden Show mentioned on a boating blog?

You bet, especially if you've ever seen my wife June's great garden on our back forty - - I mean, our aft deck.

See you at the Great Seattle Boat Show. And then, if you have an aft deck that needs some color and life, at the garden show.

Another Weather Site, Probably

This past December 21st, I posted some weather sites. A reader just suggested one more, the University of Washington  Probability Forecast. This was developed by the UW Applied Physics Laboratory on the basis of research conducted at the UW departments of Atmospheric Science and of Psychology.

With the difficulties forecasting in this geographic area, this site makes a lot of sense. Also, it's a fun site.

You can key it to any zipcode (location), presumably anywhere in Washington State or Oregon. 

Suggest you bookmark it now so you'll have it handy when you start cruising later this year, or even if you're doing some great frost-bite cruising right now!

New Rescue Device

An article  in yesterday's Santa Rosa CA PressDemocrat forwarded to me by a retired USMC major (who just happens to be my brother-in-law) alerted me to a new rescue product on the market: The Mustang Survival Rescue Stick. The article, with some minor editing by me, tells the story.

Mendocino Coast deputies are being armed with a new device to help them save people from drowning. About the size of a dog-throwing stick, the contraption opens into a horseshoe-shaped life vest when it hits the water.

"The aptly named "rescue stick" is compact and has a handle, allowing would-be rescuers to throw the device farther and with greater accuracy than other lifesaving flotation devices," said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman. "And, at just 14 inches long and weighing about 1 pound, it takes up very little room in a squad car."

"Had coast deputies been carrying rescue sticks Nov. 29, they might have been able to save a San Francisco physics professor who plunged 20 feet from the Mendocino Headlands bluffs into the churning ocean," he said.

"When our deputy arrived, the gentleman's head and arms were still above the water, and he was waving," Allman said.

But he was 100 feet from land and there were 14-foot swells.

"You couldn't send someone in or they're going to drown too," Allman said.

Search-and-rescue teams, including a Coast Guard cutter and helicopter crew, attempted to rescue the man, but they lost sight of him as he slipped under the water.

Allman said he hopes the new device will reduce the number of drowning deaths in his jurisdiction.

Mustang Survival, manufacturer of the rescue stick, says it can be thrown up to 100 feet -- twice as far as a ring buoy or rope bag -- with accuracy.

It does not include a rope to pull the victim to safety. It's intended to keep potential drowning victims afloat until rescuers can reach them.

In July 2007, the device was lauded by the National Marine Manufacturers Association for its innovation.

Several will be given to coastal state parks patrol officers, and Allman envisions the sticks being stored -- much like fire extinguishers -- at shops located near the Mendocino bluffs, from which a number of people have fallen over the years.

Seattle's Fisheries Supply's catalogue lists the device, describing it as being able to be thrown three times further than a typical rope bag or life-ring - - up to 150 feet!

Downsides? With no attached line, once you throw the stick it is gone. Probably best to have two or three sticks on hand. Also, the rescue stick has not yet been officially approved by the USCG. 

However, it is certainly a good investment in safety, well worth seriously considering.

And to my source, Semper Fideles!