LEE SHORE BOATS, an aluminum-boat manufacturer which has been building boats in Port Townsend for more than 25 years, recently moved its production facilities to Port Angeles.
Eric Schneider, who bought the company last September, said he felt the Port Angeles business climate was more favorable for his business — plus he and his family live in Port Angeles and eliminating the daily commute to Port Townsend gives him more time in the shop.
The company specializes in building mono-hull boats used in the commercial fishing industry including crab fishers, geoduck dive boats and work boats.
Lee Shore also built Integrity, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office 24-foot marine patrol boat that is used to monitor the waterways of the county.
The boat is also used as a platform for the sheriff’s dive rescue and recover team as well as for all water-related search and rescue activities.
Eric and his employees are currently building the fourth boom boat for National Response Corp., or NRC.
The boat is 30 feet long by 10 ½ feet wide and is built as a small landing craft that carries two thousand feet of oil-containment boom.
Three of the boats have already been delivered.
One is currently in the Gulf of Mexico working on the BP oil spill and the other two are in Alameda, Calif.
Eric spent a number of years as a boilermaker, working on tankers for the topside ship repair companies, Washington Marine Repair and Straits Marine and Industrial on the Port Angeles waterfront.
As is often the case when a career change is made, it has a way of drawing in the family.
For Eric and his family, it was no different.
His once-semiretired parents do the accounting and payroll, and his wife, Dena, is the purchasing agent.
This family affair is working to continue the tradition of building durable, heavy-duty commercial work boats and pleasure craft.
Camouflaged visitors
Friday morning water-watchers were hard-pressed to not have noticed two boats with a camouflage paint scheme heading east at a blazing rate of speed.
These two boats were built by SAFE Boats International in Port Orchard for the Navy and are riverine command boats, or RCB.
The boats were testing their stabilizers in the rough waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Thursday, and Friday morning refueled at the fuel dock at the Boat Haven in Port Angeles.
Each RCB is 49 feet long and powered by twin Scania 850-horsepower diesel engines that are matched to Rolls Royce water-jet drives that can push the boat to speeds exceeding 40 knots.
They are constructed of aluminum and designed to operate as a fast attack boat, patrol boat and special operations support vessel.
The boats have a drop bow system similar to a landing craft that can be used for troop deployment or extraction of injured personnel.
Outfitted with the latest in radio and electronic technology, the RCB has the ability to communicate with other vessels, aircraft and land-based assets.
The vessels are equipped with four individual 50-caliber machine gun mounts — and a centrally located mount from which to launch Hellfire missiles.
They are also equipped to deploy mines as well as fire mortars from a gyro-stabilized, twin-barrel 12-centimeter mortar.
Well-traveled lead mechanic
Last year, Platypus Marine Inc., the full-service shipyard in Port Angeles that maintains and refits yachts and commercial vessels of all sizes and configurations at their facility on Marine Drive, committed resources to developing a small-boat-repair division to enhance their reach to the boating community.
One of Platypus’ larger outbuildings has been dedicated to small boats, and Freeston Walker was hired as the lead mechanic last March.
Freeston was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and started working on car engines when he was 9 years old.
At that age, I was struggling to keep my bike functional!
Early on he wanted to travel.
Living in Florida and watching the maritime activity, he decided boating was the way to see the world.
Freeston developed skills compatible with his vision by working on small-boat engines and diesel equipment while simultaneously taking correspondence courses from West Tech Educational Center in Belle Glade, Fla.
In 1979, Freeston signed on with Windjammer Cruises and circumnavigated the globe as the second mate aboard the motor-sailer, Yankee Trader.
At the conclusion of the voyage, he spent two years at the school to finish his studies.
Once out of the classroom, it was back to traveling and he worked on cargo ships out of West Palm Beach, Fla, making port calls throughout the Caribbean and down to the southernmost reaches of Africa.
A growing family turned Freeston into a landsman, but didn’t keep him from traveling.
He has worked all along the Eastern Seaboard at various repair facilities, and along the way earned the designation of certified marine technician.
With a faltering economy, Freeston found himself out of a job.
Searching the Internet, he found an opportunity at Platypus and brought his skills and experience to Port Angeles.
Freeston is qualified to work on all makes of marine engines and their systems, including Volvo Penta, Merc Cruiser, Evinrude, Honda, Yamaha, Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar.
And I know he can repair bicycles, too — I saw one in his shop.
Yacht on the hard
I spoke on Thursday afternoon with Gregg Nunn of Port Angeles, who just returned from a six-week cruise of the Broughton Islands and Desolation Sound aboard Gold Rush.
The boat, which is now on the hard at the Port Angeles Boat Yard, is 60 feet long and has three staterooms, each with its own head, in addition to the owner’s suite.
The vessel is powered by twin Cummings diesels, and two gensets provide electric power.
Greg bought the boat three years ago and has been rebuilding her.
The overhead in the main deck salon has been replaced, and Greg built and installed new cabinets in the galley as well as a generous seating area on the covered afterdeck.
Greg holds a Coast Guard-issued 100-ton license, but does not charter the boat.
However, he is always looking for people who will share expenses on voyages through the Inside Passage to the Broughton Islands — or anywhere else his newfound friends may want to travel.
His only criteria in selecting traveling companions for a boat trip is that they must be wanting to experience a relaxing, no-pressure type of cruising experience.
Greg and his wife, Terry, have calculated that four guests each paying $150 a day for a 10-day cruise covers expenses and affords plenty of time to visit a number of out-of-the-way coves and marinas.
When Gold Rush is under way, she tows a 16-foot center console tender outfitted with downriggers, which is used to take guests fishing. Kayaks are also carried onboard for guest use.
Gold Rush will be back in the water on Monday or Tuesday and begin her next trek to Vancouver Island on Wednesday — with some friends that Greg and Terry cruised with last summer.
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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 360-417-3736.
His column, On the Waterfront, appears every Sunday.
