The Port Townsend Pocket Yachters organized a gathering of small boats last Saturday at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. There was boat talk aplenty and no shortage of marine beauties.
John Steinbeck's boat
If you’re familiar with the work of writer John Steinbeck, you may know “The Log from the Sea of Cortez,” a book he wrote with marine biologist Ed Ricketts after a research voyage they made in 1940. Steinbeck and Ricketts chartered the Western Flyer out of Monterey, California for six weeks and the Log is a narrative of the experience. After a long and interesting history, the Western Flyer has arrived in the Port Townsend shipyard, unquestionably worse for wear.
The Western Flyer is a 76-foot wooden purse seiner built in Tacoma in 1937. Over the years it worked as a fishing trawler in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and as a survey vessel along the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Eventually renamed the Gemini, the boat finally ended up in Washington’s Swinomish Slough where it sat idle beginning in 1997.
A real estate developer who owns several buildings in Steinbeck’s hometown, Salinas, California, bought the Western Flyer in 2010 intending to restore and return it to Salinas, to display inside a restaurant and boutique hotel. The boat ran out of patience last year. In September it sank in 30 feet of water. A crew raised it, pumped out the water, and put a temporary patch where planks had given way. In November it sank again.
Coated with barnacles and sea life inside and out it was hauled to Port Townsend earlier this month. Estimated restoration is $700,000 and a nonprofit group hopes to raise funds for the work. As you can see, they have their work cut out for them.
Bill’s Snow Cones
Last week we camped at a beautiful, historic state park – Fort Flagler, on Marrowstone Island. Surrounded by other campers and a hearty dose of nature, we didn’t expect to encounter this roving van of serendipity as we walked to the beach: Bill’s Snow Cones.
He couldn’t be accused of cutting a low profile amongst the RVs, trailers, and tents.
Bill is a self-appointed snow cone goodwill ambassador. He goes where his mood and his tricked out Volkswagen van take him and he cheers the people he meets, one snow cone at a time. Gratis. Two free cherry snow cones and a raft of snow cone stories later, we walked away happy. Thank you, Bill.
Still wondering
Martha Lane Lavender is a certified organic lavender farm. They offer lavender ice cream, cookies, and lemonade for sale during the Lavender Festival. But, well, this bench caught my eye. And so did the still in the background. I’m sure it’s innocent, just for distilling lavender. But the people in this shot were engaged in such an animated conversation I couldn’t interrupt with questions. And it’s tacky to ask about free samples, isn’t it?
In pursuit of purple
Sequim, the “Lavender Capital of North America,” is celebrating our purpleness this weekend with the annual Lavender Faire and Festival. Our weather has been perfect and the timing is right: the fields are in peak form and they look great.
We had time yesterday to take in just a couple of the many farms that have opened their doors to visitors. My camera favored Oliver’s Lavender Farm, shown here.
Lavender grows well in many areas of Sequim. It likes loose, sandy soil and not too much moisture. Though soils vary throughout this region (my garden is favored with a choice blend of clay and concrete), many places have the “just right” conditions for lavender. Plant it there and watch it take off.
Most of our lavender growers enhance the view with garden features and plantings that would make a brown thumb ache with envy. But it’s also an inspiration to take ideas home.
There are lavender plants virtually everywhere, ready for the home gardener. Or baskets and clippers to pick some fresh to take along. Or bundles of dried lavender. Or any imaginable lavender-based lotion or potion.
The Marina
Although the wind was cold it was a beautiful evening last week when the Lady Washington was in Sequim. Here’s a view of the John Wayne Marina where she berthed. And if this is the first time you’ve heard of it, yes, it’s named for the actor. He rather liked to go boating here and his family donated the land for the marina (they hope to further develop the area one day).
A grassy bluff next to the marina provides a great view of Sequim Bay with Diamond Point in the background. There are benches and tables for those who might want to settle in and have a picnic.
Lady Washington came to town
The tall ship Lady Washington visited Sequim last week in her only Olympic Peninsula visit this summer. She berthed at the John Wayne Marina for several days and gave residents a treat with an evening sail one evening, shown above, and a mock sea battle with the Hawaiian Chieftain the next afternoon.
Lady Washington and the Chieftain are run as part of a maritime history program operated by Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority. You can see young crew members aloft, unfurling sails as the ship got underway. It was a very windy evening. We weren’t sure the sail would take place, but out they went.
The original Lady Washington was the first American-flagged ship to visit Japan in 1791.
The Hawaiian Chieftain stayed at some distance while we watched. You can catch a glimpse of her on the right side, above.