Amberjacks annual spring migration to saltwater

[Amberjack]

Amberjack winters under cover in Portage Bay, Seattle. Its protected water close to where I live and allows me to keep the boat in commission and work on winter projects. Every spring, usually April 1 the boat moves from fresh water to summer salt water moorage which eliminates the 2-3 hour trip through the ship channel and locks when we want to use the boat. The ship channel all the way through into Lake Washington just around the corner is International Waters.

Amberjack's winter digs at Seattle Yacht Club. Normally moored undercover the boat is at the work float for a spring wax job. These are beautiful boats!




Heading West we transit Lake Union in the middle of the city. Looking South is South Lake Union a tech hub developed by Paul Allen (I miss the guy) and Amazon's turf.



Looking North is Lake Union Drydock, a busy industrial boatyard, the first of several I'll show this trip. Just ahead under the bridge is a tech world beach head on the north end of the lake, the Google, Tableau and Adobe campus. Most of the freshwater waterfront is zoned for maritime related activities and Seattle has a surprisingly large industrial maritime base. A large part of the Alaska fleet winters and has their service/modifications done here. Other than a smaller hub in Anacortes Washington I'm not aware of any other port on the Northwest coast with this capability. The city doesn't like them because they're messy and noisy but so far hasn't been able to change the zoning to push them out.


Through the ship canal heading West, Lake Union Tug & Barge an ocean tug/barge business. Interesting operation, they build their own tugs out in the open right in front of the blue roofed building. In the photo you can see a couple stacks of spare propellers.



Foss Tug & Barge shipyard. Usually this place is packed with ocean tugs being serviced, theirs and others. This is very quiet. I think they're trying to move out of the city.





Fisherman's Terminal where most of the fleet work gets done. I've hauled out my boat across the channel and come back to it the next day to find it covered with paint and metal grit blown over from ship work at FT.




Ballard Oil fuel dock, home of the $1.27/gal diesel fuel!



Hiram Chittenden Locks aka the Ballard Locks. Lake Washington is 22' above sea level, we locked through at high tide so the drip was minimal. At serious low tide the drop can be 30' and its like being in a concrete canyon with seriously rough walls.





Into Salmon Bay (salt water again!!! Amberjack is a saltwater boat). The tug is heading north, we're following to clear the channel.



Turning West into Puget Sound we're looking at the Olympic Mountains. Despite the clouds it was a beautiful day.



Around the corner and a couple miles to the south we're into Elliott Bay and Seattle. Mt Rainier is just visible in the background center right.



better view of Seattle

A a

More fish processors opposite the marina. Also a cruise ship dock. Good luck with that this year.



Elliott Bay Marina, our summer digs.

[mike ohlstein]

Nice. If the diesel here is $1.27, I'll be in the canyon every weekend.....

[Seapalm]

Thanks for the tour! It’s neat to see a totally different environment on the waterfront.

[Carl]

Thanks for the tour! It’s neat to see a totally different environment on the waterfront.

...not too many mountains nor much snow in Florida huh??



Looks like a nice way to get the season started, how many times have you made that trip?

[Mark]

That does look like a nice trip. Looks involved too. Glad you made it safely.

When I think of fresh water boats, think of bass boats, aluminum runabouts, etc. Look at those ships. Great Lakes would have them too but just never been exposed to fresh water that way.

Mark

[Amberjack]

Carl--I bet a hundred times starting when I was in college and dating my wife. I lived on Bainbridge Island so it was a trip across Puget Sound, maybe 9 miles, then up through the locks etc in the family's 16' outboard lobster skiff. Shortly that boat upgraded to my 18' inboard Poulsbo boat rigged as a small commercial salmon troller (called a "kelper"). You can bet that was a lot of trips, all single handed. Lines in one hand, other hand on the wheel and operate the shift lever for the Atomic gas engine with my foot. I was young, it was easy. Since then in our Shain Trimmership 50' bridge deck moored in the lake when we wanted to get to saltwater. Then in our 52' sailboat, took delivery in the lake, but moored in saltwater (the 4 drawbridges were a pain for a 50' high boat), now the B31 spring to salt/fall return to fresh migration. Easily 100+ times.

Mark--That's why I posted the photos, from shoreside you really don't see it. The Alaska fleet largely overwinters in Seattle and formed the early core of the maritime service industry. Freshwater is easier on the equipment, Alaska has a scarcity of secure moorage, winter weather makes it difficult to get much work done so the infrastructure to modify/repair the ships just hasn't developed up there. Down here they are chopping and welding, grinding and painting on those ships all along the ship canal. Seattle established Fisherman's Terminal in 1914 to support the Seattle based halibut and salmon fleet and it grew from there to include gigantic ship like catcher/processors. There is also a huge volume of tug & barge traffic staged and shipped out of Seattle to Alaska and Hawaii. Wouldn't happen in Seattle again but zoning restrictions and the tremendous revenue from the barge business and Alaska fishery keep it around.

[Captain Decent]

Nice! Elliot bay marina is for the high rollers.

I’m down in chinook landing in Tacoma. Just splashed her last weekend myself. Would be out this weekend but alas the downpour. Mines on a trailer so we went to pt defiance which has been improved substantially.

I don’t like dealing with the locks usually but it is fun once in a while.

[jackryan]

Amberjack,

Thanks for the pics, looks like a beautiful area for boating. Can you tell me about your windscreen on the flybridge? It appears to be a little larger and doesn't angle back as much as the original wind screen. Was your wind screen custom made up in your area?

JR

[Amberjack]

Amberjack,

Thanks for the pics, looks like a beautiful area for boating. Can you tell me about your windscreen on the flybridge? It appears to be a little larger and doesn't angle back as much as the original wind screen. Was your wind screen custom made up in your area?

JR

Jack you are right on both counts. With the old original wind screen the wind hit me right in the face so I spent a couple days driving around Lake Washington with cardboard mockups mounted to the front of the original screen. The final configuration has a steeper angle of rise and extends about three inches higher so the wind just touches the top of my head. I dismounted the whole contraption and took it to a plastic fabrication company in Tacoma who created the new wind screen which fits perfectly for about $325. They were a real "can do" company and the price was reasonable but I doubt they are still around. If you like I can look up my old invoice for their contact information.

[jackryan]

Thanks for the response. I the boat looks amazing without an wind screen at all, and thats how I have my boat now, but you are right about the wind hitting you in the face. If the company that fabricated it still had a templet, I would be interested. If it's not too much trouble, it would be great to have their contact information.

Thanks,

JR

[Amberjack]

Jack--It was Kel-Tech Plastics 3510 South Pine St Tacoma WA although I looked online and they closed recently. Don't know if permanently or due to CV-19. Doubtful if they still have a pattern after all these years but you never know.

IF you decide to move ahead with a new windscreen and IF you find a plastic fabricator willing to work with you I'd be willing to make a few sectional templates showing the rise and angle of my windscreen at 3-4 points around the bridge. Using those along with images of mine someone could probably make a close duplicate if they were invested in the project.

[jackryan]

Doug,

Thanks so much for running down that information for me. I'll let you know if I end up going that direction. I actually have an original wind screen that I was going to install on my boat. The problem is that I have 2 aluminum pipe supports from my half tower that support the radio box that prevent installation of the original wind screen. That's one of the reasons that your wind screen caught my eye--I do think because yours angles more straight up instead of angling back, like the original wind screen does, something like yours might just work with my set up.

I do have a couple of questions for you regarding your wind screen:

1) How is your wind screen attached? It looks very clean. Would you mind posting a close up of one of the attachment points?

2) Where did you get the metal hardware at the trailing edge of your windscreen? It looks very similar to the hardware on the original wind screen.

Many Thanks,

JR

[Amberjack]

Jack--I reused the original hardware. Attachments are copper eye loop bolts and the trailing edge hardware is original Bertram windscreen attachments. I'll be on the boat next couple days and will take pictures of the entire windscreen.

[jackryan]

Thanks Doug, I appreciate it! I'm curious as to how far back your windscreen goes near the centerline. It appears to go nearly straight up or even forward a little. If so, that would work with my set up.

JR

[Amberjack]

I'm curious as to how far back your windscreen goes near the centerline. It appears to go nearly straight up or even forward a little. If so, that would work with my set up.

JR

Jack-The windscreen does angle back, perhaps a 25-30 degree angle from vertical. Images attached from our first overnight Thursday.

[jackryan]

Wow,

Doug, thanks so much for the detailed pictures of your wind screen and the mounting system! I'm thinking that's almost exactly what I need for my boat. I took my old wind screen off, then faired and painted the mounting holes.

My windscreen, although functional, was a really ugly, industrial looking addition to my boat. It was made from a heavy aluminum pipe frame with dark smoke color plexiglass. I really think my boat looks amazing now without a windscreen, but I did a two day trip to the Chandelier Islands for some surf fishing and snapper fishing this past weekend, and it was annoying to have the breeze blowing in my face constantly.

Now that I understand the mounting system you have and the general shape of the windscreen, I can have a productive discussion with the guy that fabricates boat windshields/windscreens in my area.

Thanks again for the effort to get the pictures taken and posted here!

John