On Valentine’s Day I participated in a ride-along with Communities for a Healthy Bay’s (CHB) Bay Patrol! Yep, an excellent day on the water. Other than Captain Lindsay, there was just one other person aboard that day. Lindsay captain’s a 24-foot aluminum boat around Commencement Bay 2 to 3 times per week, monitoring pollution, trash, derelict boats, and whatever else might be interesting and in need of reporting.

We left the Dock Street building and made our way over to the shoreline along Marine View Drive to take a look at Commencement Bay’s barge anchorage area.

Stopping to pick up a floating bucket along the way:

I’ve been very curious about this area for awhile, reading about the mess that’s been made near the Brown’s Point and Tyee Marinas – basically a breakwater made from derelict and sinking vessels.

Barges in the anchorage:

One of my favorite Foss tugs, Bo Brusco, at work:

The old USCG cutter Comanche is part of the mess along the shoreline, along with a cement hull of some big old boat, and part of the old 520 bridge!

We continued south into the Hylebos waterway. Lindsay had a lot to tell us about ongoing water contamination issues, permit noncompliance, and all sorts of other things that CHB is monitoring.

The burned out Kodiak Enterprise:

Some crazy looking boat (possibly made here by Modutech Marine?):

The LNG plant:

Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel):

The former site of Occidental Chemical, which is a horrible toxic mess that will take decades to clean up:

I had a lot of fun and hope to do it again sometime!