Tag Archives: boat

Putting Your Boat in the Water

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While walking along the shore in Edmonds, we passed the marina and the loading area for the boats.  They had a boat lift for the smaller boats to be taken off trailers and put in the water.  A guy brought his boat along just as we got there so I had to watch the process.  The two guys running the lifts clearly knew what they were doing but the guy insisted on explaining it all to them.  They handled it with good grace.

The lift had a track system that turned through ninety degrees.  There were two lifts in parallel if the demand was there.  The trailer was driven into position and the lifting straps were brought around.  They were then passed under the boat and it was lifted up.  Once it was clear of everything, the whole assembly motored along the rails, around the corner and out over the dock.  It was then a simple process to lower it down into the water and then move it away.

This was fine for boats of a certain size.  If you wanted to put anything larger into the water, a far larger rig was required but that wasn’t needed while we were there so I didn’t get to watch it.  In my younger days living in Cowes, I got to see those lifts at work a lot.

Vancouver Police RIB

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The floatplanes may have been my main focus when I was at Brockton Point in Stanley Park but they certainly weren’t the only activity in the harbor.  Plenty of boat traffic was on the move.  The Vancouver Police were also on patrol.  They had a RIB that they were zipping about on.  I watched them head out towards Lion’s Gate Bridge without getting a shot but, when they returned, I figured they deserved my attention.  A speeding RIB is a cool way to travel and this one looked like it had enough power for plenty of speed!

Some Small Pleasure Craft

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Two small boats came through the locks while we were there.  One was just over 50m in length while the other was much smaller and just under 50m in length.  Both of these boats looked like they might be quite comfortable.  They were also both flagged in the Caribbean.  A quick Google search on each showed that they were available for charter.  Both seemed to have plenty of people on board but they looked like they might have been the crew rather than the guests as they seemed all business as they handled these tiny boats through the lock.  If I decide to get a boat at some point, I might be tempted by either of these.  I do prefer one over the other but I suppose I could make do with the less preferable one if the price were right.

The Commercial Craft Have Precedence

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I learned something new about boat traffic while at the locks in Ballard.  There is a clear rule structure about which types of boats get precedence when traversing the locks.  Priority goes to government boats and emergency services.  Then scheduled commercial boats followed by unscheduled commercial boats before you start to get to the pleasure craft that make up a big chunk of the traffic.  One of the boats had tried to enter the lock and they got a loud verbal warning that they had jumped the traffic lights and that a commercial craft was going ahead of them.

After hearing this, I chatted with one of the lock staff and he explained the way in which things are prioritized.  The boat that first demonstrated this was a fishing vessel that went through the smaller lock and was a pretty snug fit (although the crew didn’t seem to even pause when running it in to the lock).  The other commercial vessel that came in was substantially larger.  It was directed to the main lock while the smaller traffic continued to use the smaller one.  Seeing such large vessels come through and the change in perspective from when they were below you as they entered to being so much higher when they left was quite impressive.

Hiram M Chittenden Locks

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Just north of the center of Seattle is Ballard.  Aside from being an interesting area with shops, bars and restaurants, it is also home to a set of locks that connect the salt waters of Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington’s fresh waters.  The locks are the busiest in the US with a steady stream of traffic.  On the weekend, this is heavily dominated by pleasure craft but commercial vessels are also a big feature.  Indeed, while we were there, we found out that there is a hierarchy of which types of vessel get to go through first, even if some of the owners of the small pleasure craft were not up to speed on the rules!

The locks are named after the man who was instrumental in the early phases of their construction.  Aside from leading a big construction project, he also was quite visionary in other areas but that will be the topic of another post soon.  There are actually two locks.  One is a small lock that suits pleasure craft or small commercial vessels.  The other is far broader and longer and can be operated with a middle set of gates if less vessels are coming through.  It can also take a lot of smaller boats wedged together like a giant game of Tetris when demand is high such as is the case on warm holiday weekends.

The locks are open to the public along with a small botanic garden.  You can cross over the top of the gates (although these are rather narrow and can get congested when people decide to stop and hang around rather than keep moving).  There is plenty of space along the sides of the locks to watch the boats as they come in and as they rapidly rise or fall when the water levels are adjusted.  We obviously weren’t the only ones to find it a relaxing spot to hang out for a while.

They Both Float, But…

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This is the cruise ship that our family had been traveling on when they arrived in Vancouver.  It was heading back out the same day and we watched it leave port and head out.  As it was turning to head back to the open sea, one of the local Otter floatplanes was making its approach to land (or whatever the correct word is when it is water rather than land).  It passed in front of the ship.  Both vessels are comfortable in the water but one is on a rather different scale than the other.

The Constellation in the Inner Harbor

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The USS Constellation is the last sail powered warship built for the US Navy.  She is now preserved in the harbor in Baltimore.  I saw her a few times from a distance while I was in Baltimore but I didn’t get a chance to take a shot until I was walking back from a reception.  By that time it was dark and, since I only had my phone with me, that had to suffice.  The phone on the camera has a wide angle lens so, even though we were quite close, the ship is a little small in the original shot.  However, she still looks pretty impressive.  I imagine she would have looked even better when under sail!

Ferry After Sundown

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Growing up on an island must bring a special affinity for ferries because, whenever I see them, it brings a spark of interest as to what people are going to or from.  I lived on the seafront for a portion of my teenage years and the ferries would pass our window each day as they headed to the mainland.  Ferry travel at night was often a thing because it would be either the beginning or end of a longer journey.  Something about the lights on a ferry at night seems very welcoming to me.

We had a terrace overlooking Puget Sound that we were able to hang out on in the evenings and the regular ferry traffic across the sound caught my attention.  It is dark out on the water but the lights from the passenger decks and the lighting on the open car deck beneath shine out across the water.  Seeing it from a slightly elevated position on the shore helps as well.  Seeing this just makes me feel good.  I guess decades away from living on an island hasn’t changed some things deep inside.

What a Great View of the Sound!

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The house at Bloedel Reserve sits up on the hill with the grounds landscaped to provide an unobstructed view down to the sound below.  You can imagine the tranquility of sitting on the terrace in the evening, sipping a cocktail and looking out at the water.  Unfortunately, at the time of our visit, a large barge was moored a short distance out in the water.  I’m sure the view is beautiful but, with a barge plonked in the middle of things, somehow the delightful nature of the scene is a little compromised!