Puget Sound Pilots brought the Panamanian-flagged expedition yacht, Alucia, into Port Angeles Harbor and took her to a berth at the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 1 South.
The 183-foot vessel with an interesting pedigree defies a single label.
She is an oceanographic research vessel, a superyacht and a submersible mother ship all rolled into one.
Alucia was built in 1974 by the French government and in association with Jacques Cousteau as Nadir, the support vessel for Nautile, the French research submersible that was used in the mid-1980s to retrieve artifacts from the Titanic.
In 2009, she went through a complete refit. Among other things, a new submersible hangar was constructed as were a sun deck and a helicopter pad.
The vessel carries three submersibles onboard, two of which can reach a depth of 3,280 feet and one that can go 2,000 feet below the water’s surface.
Three tenders support divers and exploratory activity in the water, and there are two laboratories onboard for use by the scientific community.
Alucia is owned by Ocean Quest, a privately held company that works with members of the scientific community, governments, private individuals, filmmakers and commercial users who want to explore the ocean’s depths for their own purposes — from scientific exploration to hunting for sunken ships and their treasures.
Earlier this year, Alucia, discovered the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the ocean on June 1, 2009, on a flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris.
The search for the downed airliner took nearly two years, and Alucia was successful where three other search teams had come up empty.
What’s she doing in Port Angeles?
Capt. Charlie Crane, director of sales and marketing for Platypus Marine Inc., said Alucia is scheduled to leave for Alaska on Monday.
In the meantime, local personnel helped the crew load $30,000 worth of stores that was delivered to the yacht, and that Platypus has craftspeople aboard making modifications to the galley, installing hardware in some of the staterooms and making minor repairs at the direction of Alucia’s captain.
Consider yourself warned
Local Coast Guard units along with marine law enforcement officers from local and state boating agencies will be out in force this coming Independence Day weekend for Operation Dry Water, an annual campaign that aims to reduce boating under the influence — BUI — of alcohol or drugs,
Actually, the campaign is already under way.
Each year, the Coast Guard launches Operation Dry Water on the weekend before the long holiday weekend to raise awareness among boating enthusiasts that it’s unsafe, as well as illegal, to operate a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
In excess of 17 percent of boating fatalities result from alcohol use, according to Coast Guard statistics.
Enforcement personnel have a new tool in their arsenal to verify the sobriety of boat operators.
Until recently, boat operators suspected of BUI were taken ashore so that a field sobriety test could be administered on solid ground.
Now a seated field sobriety test, developed by the Southern California Research Institute, has been validated for marine use that was that takes equilibrium out of the equation and uses the finger to nose test, a palm pat, hand coordination exercises and the gaze and horizontal Nystagmus test.
Operating a recreational vessel with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher lands the boater afoul of federal and state laws.
That could mean an arrest, the Coast Guard warned.
At the very least, the boater’s voyage will be terminated and his or her vessel impounded.
In addition to the cost to reclaim the vessel, other penalties can include fines, loss of boating privileges and possibly even the loss of car-driving privileges.
Right-side up
Thanks and a tip of the bosun’s cap to Dick Donovan of Oak Harbor, who wrote to ask a great question about the tug Capt. Frank Moody that was mentioned last week’s column.
To refresh memories, the newly built tug at Port Hadlock is 76 feet long with a 32-foot beam — and draws 3 feet 6 inches of water.
Paraphrasing the question, Dick asked what keeps the vessel from tipping over.
In the parlance of professional tugboaters, it is because the vessel is beamy; that is, the ratio of its width to its length creates a platform that is nearly half as wide as the tug’s length.
That large footprint is what keeps it from turning over.
Picture a sheet of plywood and a 2-by-4 floating independently of each other in the water.
If you were to place an ice chest full of sandwiches and soda pop onto the 2-by-4, it would tip over.
But the plywood would support the weight of the chest and remain upright.
Summer workshops
Scott Jones, the boat shop manager at the Northwest Maritime Center and Wooden Boat Foundation in Port Townsend, has put together a series of summer workshops tailored to the novice craftsman seeking a hands-on learning experience on the various aspects of building small wooden boats.
The workshops will be held every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the boat shop at the maritime center beginning July 2 and concluding Sept. 3
Those attending the first workshop this coming Saturday will learn how to use steam to bend oak frames for carvel planking without breaking the wood.
Topics for future workshops include how to caulk carvel planking, lapstrake planking, selecting and applying maritime finishes and choosing the proper wood for your boat’s project.
Scott, an alumnus of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, said in the week prior to each Saturday’s workshop that instructors will host free demonstrations in the boat shop from Tuesday through Friday at 1 p.m. of some of the skills that will be taught in the upcoming class.
The cost of each workshop is $30. To register or for more information, phone Scott at 360-385-3628, ext. 123, or send him an email to scott@nwmaritime.org.
Rush job
Late Tuesday night, Alaskan Navigator moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 1 North.
Chandra “Hollywood” McGoff of Washington Marine Repair, the topside repair company at the foot of Cedar Street, said personnel fabricated and installed gutter bars on the 941-foot crude oil tanker.
Hollywood also noted that Washington Marine had a dozen welders working in two shifts of 12 hours each to complete that task and to repair some piping before the ship’s departure time of 4 p.m. Friday.
At the filler-up
Tesoro Petroleum, out in Port Angeles Harbor on Tuesday, bunkered Kiwi Trader, the 577-foot log ship at Terminal 3 that is taking on a load of logs bound for China.
On Wednesday, Tesoro refueled Genmar George T, an 899-foot tanker that is flagged in the Marshall Islands, as well as the Crowley-owned articulated tug and barge, Commitment.
Tesoro on Thursday provided bunkers to American Progress, a petroleum products carrier that hails from Norfolk, Va., and on Friday, Ron Winterfeld, the captain of the tug Brian S, maneuvered the fueling barge alongside Overseas Nikiski to deliver a load of fuel.
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David G. Sellars is a Port Angeles resident and former Navy boatswain’s mate who enjoys boats, ships and strolling the waterfront.
Items involving boating, port activities and the North Olympic Peninsula waterfronts are always welcome. Email dgsellars@hotmail.com or phone him at 360-808-3202.
