I've been parked in my campsite in Port Townsend, WA for almost a month now. My writing chair faces my picture window looking out over Puget Sound. Every ship headed to or from Seattle, Tacoma, Navy yards, or Olympia passes by my window. I've found a site that identifies all the ships that pass here and I've started running out each time I see one to take a picture.
Of course, there are many sailboats as avid sailors take advantage of any clear day, of which there have been only five or six this month. Not all the sailing vessels and pleasure craft are identified on my map because they don't radio in their positions.
From my angle and with the depth of field of my telephoto lens, it often looks like there will be a collision. This time between a fast-moving Navy tug, Shenandoah, and the ferry, Salish. The tug was much faster and long gone before the ferry got there.
Excuse me for thinking that some people just don't have a concept of how cold that water is. I see paddleboards, kayaks, and even a couple guys in wetsuits swimming along the shore.
The US Navy Destroyer Samson is one of the Navy ships I've seen a couple of times. It and the Momsen apparently are on duty patrolling our shores.
The American Seafoods Factory Trawler American Triumph was pretty impressive. This thing comes in with somewhere around 900 tons of fish that are cleaned, packaged, and fast frozen right on the ship. I'd actually like to get a tour of one of these some day. I've seen three come into port in Seattle this month.
Tugboats do a lively business on the Sound. This big barge is being moved along by The Western Ranger and the barge appears to be filled with gravel or sand. That is a lot of tonnage!
Of course, I see a lot of container ships. This one is the MSC Antonella. I have no idea what is in any of those containers. That's one of the things that is missing from the website. No idea what any of the cargo is.
The Ocean Tact is a bulk carrier--of what, we have no idea--flying the Panama flag and on its way from Korea to Olympia. It's an interesting profile but I have no idea what any of that equipment does or what it carries.
This was one of the closest ships I've seen out here. USNS Washington Chambers is a Navy Replenishment Vessel from Pearl Harbor and was headed to the Naval Reserve base on Indian Island, just across Port Townsend Bay. It looked like it was coming right into shore here at the marina! It was met by three tugboats just around the point and guided into port.
And, of course, there is the Coupeville to Port Townsend Ferry that makes a round trip in about an hour and a half starting around 6:00 a.m. This was at Sunrise on Thursday the 26th. Our ferry is the WSF Salish.
So there is an introduction to my new hobby. It keeps me jumping up out of my chair every time I see a ship cross my field of vision, so it's also my major form of exercise. Whether this will last another month as a hobby is uncertain, but I had to get a picture of the sunrise in at least once!
NaNoWriMo is coming to an end tomorrow. I've more than completed my 50k words, but unfortunately they are on two different stories instead of just one. Some of the writing has been like pulling teeth to get it out of my head and onto the page.
BUT... A Place at the Table is now finished and the release date is estimated to be December 22, just so I have a nice Solstice present for myself. I got the last chapter back from the final proofreader and comments back on the paperback layout yesterday. I think it will be a good addition to my collection. I'll talk all about it next week.
Be safe, Be well, and Wear Your Mask!
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