Down at the Port

It seems like every year about this time we are all just a little tired of winter. We had a couple of days of sunshine in mid-February where it got up to a scorching 55 degrees and everyone was outside as though we had all just been released from some sort of isolation unit.

Hey, spring starts this month! And don’t forget that Daylight Savings Time starts earlier this year than ever before. We spring ahead on at 2 a.m. March 9.

A great deal of the activity for the port this winter has centered around the happenings in Olympia during the 2008 legislative session. Our 23rd district representatives, Christine Rolfes and Sherry Appleton, have been busy sponsoring a bill that could permanently give small port districts the authority and funding to create their own ferry districts.

As you know, the Port of Kingston was awarded a grant from the federal Department of Transportation to purchase passenger-only ferryboats and build the infrastructure that could support them. This grant, however, does not provide any funding for the actual operation of boats. The port commissioners do not intend to raise taxes on the residents of the port district to fund the operation of passenger-only ferries. We feel the benefit area for any passenger-only service between Kingston and Seattle is far greater than the boundaries of the port district.

Speaking of ferries, Washington State Ferries sure has had a rough winter. It was good to see a bill passed to get three new, small ferries built to replace the aging steel electric fleet. I think that by the time this legislature is finished, WSF will win the prize for the most bills passed with their name on them.

The Downtown Kingston Association is working to come up with more events in town that will bring people out to enjoy our great little village. This month is the first one of many and appropriate for March: it will be a kite-flying day at Mike Wallace Memorial Park. I am looking forward to it and I think there should be some additional coverage in this publication and the North Kitsap Herald. The event will begin with a parade of kites and there will be prizes for several categories including a kite made from this very newspaper!

We are also working on ways to bring more fun musical events to Mike Wallace Park during the summer. These would be in addition to the county Parks and Recreation Department’s Tunes on Tuesday. By the way, Parks and Recreation is looking for a few more sponsors to help with the expenses for these events. If you are interested in becoming a community sponsor, let me know and I will get you connected to the right people.

Another cool event happening this summer on Aug. 1-2 will be Paddle Kitsap. Apparently, a rather large group of rowers and kayakers will depart Port Gamble and paddle their way to Poulsbo with a stop in Kingston. We hope that our long-awaited kayak facility will be in place by then and we could use this event as our official dedication and ribbon cutting for it. The Kitsap Peninsula Visitors and Convention Bureau and Olympic Outdoor Center are sponsoring this event. For more information, check out the article in this issue of the Community News.

Well, here we are again increasing our vocabulary. This edition’s Nautical Term of the Month is MONKEY’S FIST: A sailor’s knot from the age of sail, a monkey’s fist was used at the end of a “heaving line” to add weight to the end of the rope so that it could be thrown. Heaving lines are used to pass a larger line or cable that could not be thrown on its own due to the weight. Generally a rock, bolt, or other weight was inserted in the middle of the knot before it was tightened. I know a lot of nautical stores where monkey fists are sold as key chain fobs.

Well, here comes spring. Thanks as always for reading this stuff. Keep safe and we will be seeing you down at the port.

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