Seattlest Gets Feet Wet

Fishermen's Terminal remains by and large a working marina on what, as the tour showed us, is largely still a working waterfront. With all of this waterfront that we are blessed with, it seems to us that there is a decent balance of recreational, public uses with industrial uses. The shipyards along Ballard-Interbay and North Queen Anne, for example, are countered by the green-space and public paths upstream in Fremont. That's not to say that there isn't tension, especially with the developments in Ballard.

The F/V Baranof Queen heads into port. What we didn't realize was how much of the activity down here is actually connected to the high seas of the North Pacific, the Bering Sea, and Alaska. Said state, according to our tour guides, lacks the sheer infrastructure, machinery, and facilities to service all the vessels operating up there. That's why a significant portion of the Alaska fleet is home-ported right here.

Much as turn of the nineteenth century, AYP-era Seattle was a home base for the Klondike gold rush and maritime activities then, so it remains now.

Of course, the current gold-rush mines different treasure now. Here is the famed F/V Northwestern, owned by the Hansen brothers, made famous by TV's Deadliest Catch. To the left is the F/V Wizard, another Deadliest Catch boat.

We remember some of the hubbub a few years ago when Bering Sea fishing evolved from the wild, derby style free-for-all to a safer system based on quotas. Our guides saw this as a good thing, telling us that they have noticed a lot more of their far-flung friends returning alive after the fishing season.

Notice the new condos in the background looming over the established shipyard and fishing vessels. Can developers scale back their endless, speculative thirst?

Editor (Ret.) Dan scribbles vigorous notes as if he were a real journalist. The tour had five speakers, all of them old salts that ran docks, businesses, or shipyards on the Canal. They were all respectful yet pleasantly opinionated, and not shy about it. All were a breathe of fresh salt air. Anyway, they had so much to say that there was too much to take in. We sort of wish we had been recording.

The only thing cooler than a convenience store is one that is reachable only by water. We moored and stopped in here once while on a friend's boat. It was just like any other small town gas station and convenience store... except cooler because it was on the water. This place is almost as neat as the gas station island near Vancouver's Stanley Park. Still though, everything is cooler from a watery perspective; you get new and different glimpses of the city you may have taken for granted.

Nearby are a whole cluster of houseboats, most not nearly as tacky as this one. We love nautical flair and folderol; however, the hallmark of eclectic decor is to make it look effortless and a little disheveled. This one is neither; its cleanliness and exactness pains us. Were we waterborne bandits, we'd board this vessel and give it a proper make-over.

Now this extreme form of gritty, ugly beauty is the polar opposite of the previous place. This is a fish processing ship. There are no crochet door knob cozies here, only severed fish entrails, heavy lubricating grease, and the broken remains of the polite fiction of reasonable work hours.

Ayy, the sweet smell of tourists and their plunder-able pockets...

...or maybe that was the smell of pumped-out bilge juice and sanitation holding tanks.

The waterfront, just like the high sea, is full of stories. We think we're remembering the story accurately here: The Helena Star was apparently seized by the feds in the 1980s because the owners were running marijuana from BC with the vessel. The feds moored the ship here, where it has stayed ever since. Nobody has claimed it and the owner of the shipyard and slips doesn't quite know what to do with it. And apparently possession is nine-tenths of the law, as they say. Perhaps it'll eventually join the other sunken ship nearby that reportedly serves as an excellent habitat for the fish. If you look carefully, you'll see a tree growing on the deck toward the bow.

Even if this isn't the accurate story, it doesn't matter for nautical stories aren't about accuracy; rather, they are about getting more colorful and fantastical as they are further embellished in their retelling. Like the nautical life, the Port itself has weathered various storms over the years and engaged in an embellished yarn or two. We'll leave that commentary to others. The other day was a gorgeous day to be out on the water and to give an ear to the actual people who make a decent living there. And thank you, Port of Seattle, for that opportunity.