Boaters in Washington need to have their Washington State Boater Education Card with them when operating a boat 15 horsepower or greater. Boat operators born before January 1,1955 are exempt but may choose to get a card if they plan to boat in Canada or Oregon since both require mandatory education.
There are several ways to take the exam, but probably the most convenient is The BoatUS online course. It’s free and you can proceed at your own pace.
Shilshole Prepares, the emergency preparedness arm of your Shilshole Liveaboard Assoc., has just updated their Earthquake Readiness Guide for boaters. Please take a moment to read through it and think about what you and your family would do when a disaster strikes our marina…
You can always find it, and other resources, under the Shilshole Prepares tab on the front page of this site.
Here’s another example of how we, as boaters, should be prepared for the unexpected. Last weekend, there was a fire with extensive damage to the south end electrical vault. This shut down power to A-E docks. The Port was quick to react to get generators to the marina as backup and notify those of us affected (thank you Darrel).
What is your plan? A power outage, a landslide blocking entrances, an oil spill from the train, a tsunami…all are unexpected, and all will affect your boat-whether you are liveaboard or not. Take a few moments to think about how this would affect you and your family and please review some resources that we have at Shilshole Prepares.
Yet, another sewage spill in Eagle Harbor! Second this month! Many boaters visit Eagle Harbor, with their pets. The Kitsap Public Health District has issued a no-contact advisory for the Eagle Harbor and Wing Point areas as a result of the spill.
https://www.bainbridgereview.com/news/2nd-sewage-spill-on-bi-this-month/
https://www.bainbridgereview.com/news/another-sewage-spill-in-eagle-harbor/
Last weekend’s volcano explosion in Tonga 5700 miles away and our subsequent tsunami alert here is a reminder to us boaters of our exposure to a potential tsunami event in Puget Sound. The Tonga tsunami affected Santa Cruz harbor and forced the evacuation of 115 liveaboards at the Berkely Marina. This was a 6–8-hour window to evacuate. What if it was closer? See the WA State DNR simulation…
Do you have a plan in place? If you have time, deep water is your best bet. Otherwise evacuate to higher ground and take what you can-the marina and/or your boat could be heavily damaged.
See more information on emergency preparedness on our Shilshole Prepares page.
This past Wednesday was our quarterly Dock Captain meeting with the Port where we have an opportunity to hear the latest updates from the Port regarding security, construction, proposed changes, and any other issues concerning Shilshole Marina.
A heads up to all…the security chains will be installed regularly on the north and south entrances between 7pm and 6am (approximately) every night. Please use the entrances closest to the admin building during these times.
Every dock at Shilshole has a liveaboard tenant that has been designated “Dock Captain”. This person is in good standing with the Port and acts a liaison between their respective docks and the Port/Marina staff.
The dock captain is required to be familiar with the Shilshole Handbook and Required Best Management Practices and is your go-to person with questions about hazmat waste disposal, pumpout, marina rules, etc. They also walk your dock to check on boats during inclement weather. They are not dock police!
Their name and contact information are posted on the gate’s inside bulletin board, and if you haven’t done so already, please introduce yourself to them!
A big thank you to the Port of Seattle for attacking the first snowfall right away by using snowblowers and deicer on the main docks and plows to scrape and sand the parking lot. It makes it much safer to get around.
But shame on them for not offering shovels for boaters to clear their finger piers! For the past 20 years, shovels have been available to check out from the office so boaters, who don’t store gardening tools on their boat, can clear their pier and help their neighbors. Fortunately, no has fallen in the water yet at these temps due to snow covered docks.
Thank you to all of our neighbors that helped clear their docks with the tools you had.
…from your Shilshole Liveaboard Assoc.
Shilshole Blog 
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