Tag Archives: Anacortes

Woods Hole Boat Close to Completion

Since I was already in Anacortes, I headed down to the shipyard to see if anything interesting was going on. On my last visit, a ship from Woods Hole was there and got covered in this post. The same ship is still there but now it is nearing completion. The painting is mostly complete (aside from a while in the side of the hull which still needs to be closed up). The propulsion units (not sure whether they are called thrusters or propellers) have been installed.

It looks like it is going to be finished off before too long. I did see it from a different angle, albeit a more obscured by foreground clutter angle so you can get an impression of the size of the ship. When I showed the pictures to Nancy, she commented on how cool it would be to see them move the ship back to the water. This is definitely true although I doubt I will get the chance.

Second Go At Old Ship Hulls

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In this previous post, I had some shots of a ship hull in Anacortes that had become part of a harbor wall. When I showed this to a colleague of mine, he looked at Google Maps and thought there might be one or two more hulls making up the harbor. Once I saw what he was looking at, I could see what he was thinking. I also couldn’t work out why I didn’t go down to take a closer look when I had been there. A return journey seemed in order.

First I checked out the original hull and the one that is in the best condition. It looked more impressive when down on its level. I didn’t see any sign of a name which was a shame. Then I went to see what the other areas were. Sure enough, behind the first hull is a second one. This one is much more broken down but the timbers are still there making up another part of the harbor wall. I then realized that a third hull was part of the harbor which we hadn’t seen from Google. That is because it is a barge hull and so square which meant it wasn’t conspicuous from the aerial photos.

The last hull was located within a shipyard and, since I didn’t have permission to enter their premises, I didn’t go closer to check it out. A look from the access road above it did seem to confirm that it was indeed another hull. I guess whoever created the harbor figured the easiest way to do so was to sink a few derelict hulls and then build up the land around them (or let nature do that for you). I imagine that has been done elsewhere. Not quite the D-Day Mulberries but something similar.

Guemes Island Ferry

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Since aviation photography has been limited over the last year, I am finding myself photographing passenger ferries a lot. Having photographed some, I now am finding out about different ferry operations in the area and checking them out too. Anacortes is well known for the Washington State Ferries terminal that serves the San Juan Islands and Victoria (when the border is open) but it also has another ferry service. Just across the water from Anacortes is Guemes Island. The only way to get there is via a ferry.

The crossing is not a long one and you can see across to the other terminal with ease. The ferry is a basic boat with a car deck for vehicles and a small structure for the operators. I assume there is some shelter for foot passengers too but I didn’t spot it immediately. With such a short crossing, there are no special facilities.

As you come down the hill, you look along the loading ramp and straight at the other terminal. I saw a bunch of cars lined up to cross. It didn’t appear that they would all get on so I guess they shuttle back and further pretty regularly. It appeared to be half hourly. As they made the crossing, the boat seemed to roll quite a bit. It didn’t look like the smoothest of crossings. I guess the boat is designed to be sufficient for the sheltered waters but I wouldn’t like to be on it in rough weather. Then again, the crossing is short so you could suck it up if it was rolling about. Maybe I will take a trip across some time and explore the island.

It’s Not an Island – It’s a Wreck

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On the road from Anacortes to the ferry terminal, you have the water off to your right. As I glanced over, I realized that, what I thought was a spur of the land, was actually the wreck of a ship. The prow of the hull was the thing that first caught my attention so, when I came back, I stopped off to take a closer look.

The ship is a decent size – it reminded me of the old clipper hulls. It is a wooden hull and the shape of the bow is clearly very dated. It has been there so long that there are trees and plants that are well established on it. That was why I almost missed it. It just looks like part of the land. You could easily miss that it was a ship as I had done every time that I previously came this way. Now it is just part of the harbor wall. More to come on this.

Old Children’s Hospital S-76

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Quite a few years back, I was at Van Nuys when the Children’s Hospital Sikorsky S-76 flew over on final approach. I found out a little while later that this helicopter had been donated by Helinet. I found this while talking to Alan Purwin who ran the company prior to his death. It was a nice looking helicopter which isn’t hard since the S-76, while an old design, is a sleek looking machine.

I made a detour recently to Anacortes airport, purely because I had never been there before. Nothing much was going on but, stored at one end of the airfield was this S-76. It looked exactly the same. The registration had been changed but zooming in on the airframe, I could just make out the outline of the old numbers. Sure enough, it is the same airframe. Clearly, it isn’t looking like it is going anywhere soon but it did provide years of good service.

Woods Hole Boat in the Yard at Anacortes

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Previous visits to Anacortes have included pictures from the shipyard in the town. They seem to always be working on some substantial vessel or other that has been lifted out of the water and moved up the yard to allow access to work on it. When heading to the ferry, we had a little spare time so took a swing through the town. Sure enough, another large vessel was parked next to the road. This one was registered to Woods Hole. It was a long way from home!

Another Boat Out of the Water in Anacortes

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During a vacation trip to Anacortes, prior to moving to Washington, I posted some pictures of a large vessel out on the dockside being worked on. I was quite taken with seeing it so high out of the water. That post is here if you are interested. We were passing through Anacortes again recently and I decided to go back to the same shipyard to see if something else was there. Sure enough, another large vessel was sitting in the yard undergoing work.

Seeing a ship this large out of the water is impressive to me. I got a few photos. It was an interesting shaped hull. I think it had propulsor units of some sort based on rotating vanes rather than traditional propellers. They were a bit hard to see but I think that was what was back there. My friendly marine engineers might step in here and help out.

Big Boat in Anacortes

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We took a ferry from Anacortes as part of our vacation. We had some time in hand so stopped for lunch in the town and then took a wander around afterwards. The center of town is right near the shipyards and they seemed to be pretty busy. What particularly caught my eye was this huge boat that appeared to have undergone a process to stretch it and add some new structure. Seeing something this size sitting up on the ground is impressive when you are level with the bottom of the hull!