TSA TWIC card issued within two weeks

by Tim Flanagan on July 2, 2009

TimsTWIC I picked up my TSA Transportation Worker Identification Credential yesterday, just two weeks after completing the enrollment procedure. Quick and painless.

Parting words of advice from the staff at the TWIC Enrollment Center: “Don’t poke any holes in it, lose it, or forget your PIN number.” Um…OK, I think I got it.

{ 0 comments }

Coast Guard responds to spill in Neah Bay, Wash.

by Tim Flanagan on July 2, 2009

In this photo released by the Coast Guard, the fishing vessel Neptune sits below the surface after it sunk dockside at Mackinaw Marina in Neah Bay, Wash., July 1, 2009. (Coast Guard photo/Station Neah Bay) In this photo released by the Coast Guard, the fishing vessel Neptune sits below the surface after it sunk dockside at Mackinaw Marina in Neah Bay, Wash., July 1, 2009. (Coast Guard photo/Station Neah Bay)

SEATTLE - The Coast Guard responded to a report of a spill at the Mackinaw Marina in Neah Bay, Wash., Wednesday night.

Coast Guard Station Neah Bay, Wash., received a report at approximately 9:25 p.m., from the owner/operator of the fishing vessel Neptune that his boat had sunk dockside at the Mackinaw Marina.

A 25-foot small response boat crew from Station Neah Bay, Wash., was launched to investigate. There were no reports of pollution at that time.

At approximately 6:30 a.m., today, personnel from Station Neah Bay reported evidence of a sheen and are in the process of containing the sheen with boom.

The amount and type of substance creating the sheen is unknown at this time.

Members of the Incident Management Division from Coast Guard Sector Seattle are working with the Wash. Dept. of Ecology and local officials to investigate the spill.

{ 0 comments }

Booms will emanate from Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor Thursday

July 2, 2009

The Kitsap Sun has this brief announcement:

Navy technicians will dispose of ordnance from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.
People on base and nearby neighbors will hear loud explosions during that time. For more information, call the Naval Base Kitsap public information office at (360) 627-4030.

Read the full article →

Paddler’s paradise: South Sound offers quiet and beauty

July 2, 2009

Tan Vinh has this story in the Seattle Times. The photo is by Ken Lambert.
During summer, when every Seattleite and their visiting mother-in-law seems to embrace the great Northwest outdoors, you can often hear the day-trippers in the parking lots and on the trails before you even spot them.
The stampede of feet rattling along [...]

Read the full article →

Brush fire burns on Jetty Island

July 2, 2009

The story from KIRO-TV:

EVERETT, Wash. — Firefighters in Snohomish County continue to battle a stubborn fire on Jetty Island off the Everett waterfront.
The fire began on the first day of Jetty Island Days, in which the island was opened to visitors.
The fire lit up the night sky in red Wednesday [...]

Read the full article →

Massive cruise ship condominium to visit Friday Harbor

July 1, 2009

The story comes to us from Captain Richard Rodriguez’s BitterEnd blog. He calls it a sign of the coming apocalypse.

MV The World will make a call here in Friday Harbor on Monday and Tuesday next week.
Info via Wikipedia:
The World flies a Bahamas flag and has a gross tonnage of 43,524 tons. The vessel [...]

Read the full article →

Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival: free cruises, tall ships and boat-building fun

July 1, 2009

Deborah Bach has this preview over at Three Sheets Northwest:
They’ve been made of grass, cardboard and even popcorn. Sometimes they float; occasionally they don’t.
Organizers of the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival are never sure what type of inspired creations might emerge during the Quick and Daring competition, a longtime festival favorite.
Teams of two [...]

Read the full article →

Port of Bremerton hires former Kitsap Sun editor

July 1, 2009

The story comes to us from—where else?—the Kitsap Sun:
The Port of Bremerton has hired Scott Ware, the former editor of the Kitsap Sun, to help build public trust shattered when port commissioners quietly passed an unpopular property-tax increase to build the new Bremerton Marina.
Ware was hired on a six-month, $40,000 contract. His title will [...]

Read the full article →

Port of Tacoma rethinks NYK Line terminal site

July 1, 2009

Kelly Kearsley has the story in the Tacoma News Tribune:
NYK Line is still promising to be at the Port of Tacoma by 2012 – but exactly where is now the question.
The port and NYK announced two years ago that the port would build the Tokyo-based shipping line a container terminal on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula. [...]

Read the full article →

Northwest ports unveil clean air strategy report

July 1, 2009

Press release from the Port of Seattle. The report under discussion is available here.
SEATTLE - The Port of Seattle, along with the ports of Tacoma and Vancouver, BC, released their first annual Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy Implementation Report.
This regional partnership was developed to reduce maritime and port-related diesel and greenhouse gas emissions in [...]

Read the full article →

Abandoned fishing-net removal aided by $4.6 million

July 1, 2009

Michelle Ma has the story in the Seattle Times:
Nearly all of the abandoned fishing nets in Puget Sound that kill marine animals and damage habitat will be removed with the help of $4.6 million in federal stimulus money.
The net-removal efforts are among six projects in the state that will receive $16.5 million for marine [...]

Read the full article →

Navy won’t confirm USS Nimitz is coming to Everett

July 1, 2009

Jerry Cornfield and Elaine Helm have the story in the Everett Herald:
EVERETT — It’s clear the USS Nimitz will be moored in Bremerton in a year and a half.
Whether the aircraft carrier winds up at Naval Station Everett in 2013 was a bit hazy Tuesday.
U.S. Navy officials would not confirm [...]

Read the full article →

Washington to benefit from marine and coastal restoration fund signed by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke

June 30, 2009

Mark Yuasa has the story in his blog at the Seattle Times:
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has earmarked funds to 50 habitat restoration projects along coastal and Great Lake states, including six in Washington that will repair damaged wetlands, clean marine habitat, clear debris in Puget Sound and restore fish passages blocked by dams.
The funding [...]

Read the full article →

Six classics yachts between 90 and 133 feet at Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival

June 30, 2009

It’s a press release from the Center for Wooden Boats:
SEATTLE – The 101-foot oak-hulled sailing schooner W.N. Ragland, owned for over 35 years by rock-n-roll artist Neil Young, will make her first Northwest public appearance over the July Fourth weekend at the annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival at Seattle’s Center for Wooden Boats.  The [...]

Read the full article →

Naval Station Everett opens to visitors on Friday

June 30, 2009

Gale Fiege has the story in the Everett Herald:

EVERETT — For the first time in two years, Naval Station Everett plans to swing wide its gates for a public open house to celebrate Independence Day.
The free open house is set for 2 to 7 p.m. Friday at the base, 2000 W. Marine Drive, [...]

Read the full article →

USS Abraham Lincoln to leave Everett in 2013

June 30, 2009

Elaine Helm and Krista J. Kapralos have the story in the Everett Herald:
EVERETT — The only aircraft carrier ever to call Everett home will leave in 2013 and likely be replaced by another ship in the same class.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled for mid-life refueling of its nuclear reactors. That job is expected to [...]

Read the full article →

Bremerton will have two aircraft carriers

June 29, 2009

The story appears in the Kitsap Sun:
BREMERTON — The Navy informed U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks last week that the homeport of the USS Nimitz will shift from San Diego to Bremerton in December 2010 while the carrier undergoes a 16-month maintenance period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Following the repairs on the Nimitz, Dicks, D-Belfair, [...]

Read the full article →

Seattle crew prepares for grueling 2,200-mile Transpac challenge

June 29, 2009

Marty McOmber has the story at Three Sheets Northwest:
The boats have gotten bigger, faster and downright futuristic, at least the ones that have a shot at taking home the big trophy.
But one thing hasn’t changed in the more than 100 years since the Transpacific Race to Hawaii started—the grueling course. It’s approximately 2,225 nautical miles [...]

Read the full article →

Extremely "green" strawberries travel to Seattle via sailboat

June 29, 2009

Diane Urbani de la Paz has the story in the Peninsula Daily News:

[Dave Reid of Seattle, who with his Sail Transport Co. delivers produce without petroleum, loads strawberries and other Peninsula-grown produce onto his sailboat Friday morning. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News]
SEQUIM — Let us follow a strawberry, [...]

Read the full article →

Merchant Mariner Credential application process: Quick, nearly pain-free!

June 28, 2009

Last week, I wrote about my “quick and painless” experience enrolling for my Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). I was somewhat astonished that it all went so smoothly.
So imagine my further astonishment when, by Friday of that same week, I had completed all the paperwork and submitted my application for a Merchant Mariner Credential!
Heck, [...]

Read the full article →