Sunday, May 17, 2009

Watcher of Ships (Continued)

No sea lion, in fact, nothing at all going on at the docks where the recreational fishermen come in; no trailers waiting, no boats fishing off the Hook, no halibut being cleaned on the dock, no eagles hanging around for scraps, nothing. So yesterday's dim sunset sea lion will have to do:

Sea Lion at the docks on Ediz Hook, May 16, 2009... (Click for larger image.)

Instead of small boat action, big boats. The tankers Stavanger Viking and Polar Adventure were anchored in the harbor. The pilot boat Juan de Fuca went out to Viking. Viking began to pull in her anchor; it took a long time. Just before the anchor came out of the water and was pulled up snug at the bow, the tug Crowley Response came out, got into position, and as soon as the anchor was secure began pushing Viking around to face outward. They steamed toward the Strait together.

Stavanger Viking and Crowley Response (Click for larger image.)

Meanwhile, Norwegian Pearl and Holland America Westerdam arrived off the Hook, with the tanker Polar Endeavor behind them. A fellow watcher told me he used to work on the Pearl, it's a wonderful ship, he said. He had me take a picture of him with Pearl in the background, so he could send it to his friends on the crew and tell them they had sailed right by his house.

The second pilot boat, Puget Sound, has still not come back from repair, so Juan de Fuca was very busy for a while. Ran to and fro out on the Strait picking pilots off all four of the outbound ships.

Juan de Fuca coming in to dock (Click for larger image.)
Pilots returning, Polar Adventure in the background. (Click for larger image.)

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