It was nearly dusk when I got out on Ediz Hook. As I emerged from the paper mill site, a bald eagle was cruising the log rafts, so all the gulls and all the great blue herons were aloft, as the eagle went back and forth and back and forth. Further out, a tug was just then pushing Kodiak around so her bow faced the harbor entrance.
Immediately she began to pull out, the tug at her side. One of the pilot boats left the dock and followed her out of sight toward the mouth of the harbor, then came back. Kodiak emerged onto the Strait, headed west, out towards the ocean, so perhaps she used a pilot just to get out of the harbor and then dropped him off. Jin Qiang, a cargo vessel, was the other large ship in the harbor. The returning pilot boat ran over to her, but there wasn't enough light to see if she dropped off a pilot or picked one up or was just running around to stay awake... Pilot boat came back and docked. A kayaker paddled by. It got dark.
Whoa. Just found a whole new way to look up ships. marinetraffic.com. A wonderful new toy. But it doesn't want to show me Kodiak, nor does sailwx. OK. Here she is. An Exxon tanker. But not reporting her position to either tracking site.
Ducks? Kinda dark out. But scoters and buffleheads, at least.
PS. It's a good thing the railroad never made it up here. I have enough distraction stalking the ferry in particular, and shipping in general, and my new obsession of trying to catch Kenmore's Cessna Caravans on the airport cams.
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