Barb's Weblog

Its been so long since I made an entry, I couldn't seem to get into blogger for weeks...then just got too busy to bother with figuring out why.

Right after Edmonds Arts Festival on fathers day weekend, there was an exciting event on the island. Nichols brothers boat builders launched their enormous new paddle wheeler, The Empress of the North. We had gotten aboard for a tour of it earlier and were eagerly awaiting the launch. It was an amazing process to launch her, all 360 feet long. Special rails had been designed and built to slide her from the yard to the bay, and at 1" a minute it was a long process begun to time the actual slide into the water at an unusually high tide, as her draft is only a foot of less than that highest water time.

We went over in the morning and watched from the beach. She had begun her 1 inch a minute slide at 4am after a day of 'worst case scenario' meetings and a couple long days and nights of getting ready. When we got there she was beginning to get across the road and all looked pretty safe. We sat on the beach after the daily dog walk, and ate barbeque chicken from a local chef, and the crowds had begun to flow in to the area. It was very festive and excited people were happily watching and chatting. One couple had brought in their lawn chairs, ice chests and were determined to see the entire event! This was shaping up to be the most exciting day!

I went back about 2 and she was fully on the slope and the tide was beginning to get higher. Tugs sat waiting offshore to help guide her out to the barge Verlane where she would rest before her trip to the boat yard in Everett. I watched for a bit, but the slow pace was sedate enough and the crowds were growing. The guys at Nichols were doing all they could to keep it all on time and safe. She slowly slowly moved on, its almost an imperceptible distance to cover in a minute, so after a bit I went back to work. Took mom to mexican dinner at 5 and by 6 we drove back to the harbor. It was insane! We arrived to see her stern buried deep in the mud and frantic tugs trying to free her! At 4:30 a braking mechanism had failed and she plunged 80 yards in a few seconds, 2 men were injured and divers had to be called to check her hull and bottom and had found the high tech new props firmly rooted in the gray slime that is Holmes Harbor's bottom!

Hundreds of cars lined every road. We parked with a couple hundred friends on the high road and settled in to wait and watch. Traffic totally snarled and the police eventually rousted all of us, criminals that we are, and Haole dropped mom (shes 84) and I off at the old Freeland Hall,
where we found a comfortable grassy hill to watch from. At its peak there were a reported 3000 people watching! They lined the beaches and roads around the entire back bay, the barbeque man was smoking up a storm and the worry and anticipation were thick. The tugs treid and tried and the tide moved up and she was stuck deep.

In the far distance I had seen a big shape moving in the bay, way bigger than any vessel you'd ever see in there. We had all thought that the middle sized tug and the big tug with the Empress were lots of power, but when the absolutely enormous sea tug arrived, they were suddenly dwarfed and looked more like bathtub toys. The sea tug had to have been nearly 100 feet long when compared to the ship! The littlest tug ran quickly from port to starboard nudging and pushing and the monster tug and its mid sized helper began to pull. The crowd was so full of anticipation and the minutes past and the tide rose and nothing happened. The fear was mounting and the concern was evident on every islander's face. The high tide was at about 8:30 and the crowd continued to grow, everybody adding their energy to the difficult task. She refused to budge and time was slipping by and the highest tide of the season would be missed!

Eventually the enormous tug simply hauled her out while the 2 other tugs guided and she bobbed up free of mud and rails and big chunks of broken launch machinery, all designed to float free of the ship. All of the nervous Nichol's crew in their little work boats, which had been hovering for hours trying to help immediately kicked into high gear and men swarmed aboard and began to check for damage. She was beautiful and colorful and smoothly riding the slowly turning tide and after a wave of deafening cheers rose from one side of the bay to the other (it was sort of like "the wave" in a big stadium) people began to head off in all directions to find cars and head home. The only damage was apparently scratched paint! Glad the mud is thick and soft!

We waited for Haole to walk the half mile to where he'd had to park mom's old station wagon, and it had been such a blast. Mom rarely gets out to do anything interesting as she usually refuses to do anything but clean house and shop, but I know she had a terrific lot of fun, and she had felt great being part of a big excited group of people, kids and dogs, even a few folks on horseback watching from their enhanced vantage points.

On the news the launch got only a tiny bit of coverage, mainly about the 2 slightly hurt guys as one has come to expect from the media. None of the festive happy and supportive atmosphere was newsworthy I guess, after all it was only the most exciting thing South Whidbey had participated in for YEARS! Here are some great views of the process and our pretty little bay where we walk with Boot several times a week and dig clams. I went over the morning after the launch and saw the bent rail system and big wallow-y holes in the mud (it was very low tide) and watched with Boot for a bit as the crane and men and semi truck carefully disassembled the rails and took them back inside the boatyard.




The Empress was gone and the whole area seemed sort of sad and lonely and terribly empty after the long months of her being the slowly expanding object in the yard, it had eventually simply towered over rthe gates and fences and looked rather like an enormouuse building laying on its side. We had gone by nearly daily and seen the ship take shape from sheet metal to finished painted stacks that mimic the little flames all around the antique ships she was modeled after. Boy I missed her for a days! Now she is replaced by the Navy's new XCraft, a prototype ship with reported stealth capabilities. At our tour of the Empress the Navy had reps there to talk to us about the XCraft, and showed us plans, models, even let us climp up the ladders and walk on her broad decks, that will be able to handle 2 helicopters take-off and landing. Shes very space age and if the contract for more is awarded to Nichols, they will be the major source of work for a lot of South Whidbey. The prototype had been brought out from under cover, I noticed when I went by last nite on the way home from the Freeland Cafe. Looked small compared to the Empress, but also looked very cool.

Choochokam, Langley's festival of the Arts was last weekend, and tho sales were terrifically down for me (like 500%), it was wonderfully fun. I had great help, but the tanker fire on I-% had kept nearly all the tourists off the road, and it made attendance really low. Islanders were there to mainly party, and the music was the best I'd heard EVER at Choochokam. It was really rockin! Too loud for making sales, but considering there were no buyers it was ok. We ate and visited and dodged the winds and showers and blasting sun, cause we had it all.

Next is Richland's Sidewalk show (actually in the park) so after I put this last show to bed I'll begin backstocking again. We need necklaces again...and spiders and ginkgos...and hairwraps of course! Richland begins a '5 shows in 5 weeks' tour for us, then only 2 weeks off before Boise, the best and biggest show of the year. I am not inspired today, nursing a headache that hit in the night and won't shake loose. Its sunny and pretty today, but I haven't done a thing except prepare a deposit and lay around. This next batch of shows will really squash me flat, I'm sure! But, ya gotta make hay when the sun shines, as they say.

Enjoy!
Barb

5:18 PM — e-mail me your comments