At the Port of Seattle's "Ship Canal 101" tour last week (the tour so nice we're posting it twice) they handed out a little quiz that you were supposed to be able to complete by the time the boat returned to the dock. Questions like "What was the name of the woman who founded one of the featured companies over 115 years ago? (Hint: She was the inspiration for the movie Tug Boat Annie)" only scratched at the surface, though. The candid and all-knowing salts narrating the tour actually revealed so much more. Here's what we took away:

-You can tear down the Viaduct when you pry it from the Port's cold, dead fingers. Everyone who narrated a slice of the tour--whether they worked directly for the Port or represented some other facet of the marine industry--went out of their way to make it clear that the Viaduct is necessary to their survival. The marine industry exists in Salmon Bay and at Harbor Island because the Viaduct was built, someone claimed, not the other way around.

-The Port's Manager of Fishing Vessel Services says "sal-mon." Knowledgeable, personal guy. Says "sal-mon." Whether the fact that he says salmon with an "L" sound in it reveals anything or whether it's just an odd thing we can't answer.

-There's a hell of sal-mon run going on right now. The Coho started slipping and squirting out of the water all over the place when the boat we were on approached the locks. This is a prime fish ladder viewing opportunity.

-Paul Allen's catamaran was recently serviced in Salmon Bay. Allen wasn't allowed to build a heli-pad on Lake Washington, so his cat Butterfly serves as his portable one. Yes, we know about the Octopus; the tour narrator distinctly said "Butterfly."

-We're missing out on lots of potential new ferry runs. The King County Ferry District has plans to expand its offerings far beyond the Elliott Bay Water Taxi that it operated this past summer. Potential routes include Kirkland to SLU, Shilshole to Bainbridge, and West Seattle to Vashon. Current state legislation blocks anyone from providing ferry service anywhere near Washington State Ferry runs, though, so until that legislation is removed WSF is going to be stuck with the passenger-only service it doesn't like and isn't good at.

-The Northwestern and the Wizard are currently in town. Sig, however, is rarely seen since he "makes so many damn appearances nowadays."

-Moorage in Seattle is free if your boat is big and dilapidated enough. Seattlest can't find space for our kayak, but apparently if it was 120' long and had ties to drug running we could just float it in Salmon Bay indefinitely. Tom told the story of the Helena Star in his post, but we thought this photo set of the vessel's interior was worth linking, Those photos must have been taken some time ago, though. The sapling shown in the hold is now a full-fledged tree, and that tree is our new Favorite Tree in Seattle.

-Thea Foss founded Foss Maritime and inspired Tug Boat Annie.

Photo courtesy of reverendkomissar (aka Tom).