RANGEMARKER

September 2014
  
The RangeMarker is the newsletter of the Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers, Inc.
PCC Harbormasters
Membership of the PacificCoast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers, Inc. (PCC) is well represented by harbormasters, port managers, marina owners,corporations, firms and institutions of higher education. All of which, support the objectives of the Congress. If you are new to the profession, operate a marine facility or are involved in the marine industry and are looking for valuable and current information, membership in the PCC is your organization. Join today and see what the PCC members are doing in their ports and marinas.
 
For Membership Information please go to our web site at www.pccharbormasters.org

In this issue
PCC OVERVIEW
NEXT CONFERENCE LOCATION
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND VENDORS
WELCOME OUR NEW MEMBERS
THINK ABOUT IT
CAREER TRAINING FOR PORTS AND MARINAS



Register Soon, rooms are filling fast 


Join us for the 40th Semi-Annual membership conference In Campbell River B.C.
September 30th 2014 - October 3, 2014

Register Now by going to the
 Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters & Port Managers web site

Click on the link below

Pacific Coast Congress of Harbor Masters & Port Managers




Hosted by the Campbell River Harbour Authority



The conference and lodging will be held  at the Painters Lodge, a beautiful waterfront setting.

 
Please check the listed links for information on travel
and area information



Activities Information And Greeting  From Our Hostinfofromhost
 
Phyllis Titus
Campbell River B.C
 

Greetings all, this is your formal invitation to come to stunning Campbell River, BC (Canada) for the 40th semi annual membership conference.  

 

Campbell River has many things to offer from world class fishing, amazing spas (for the spouses of course), and snorkeling with salmon up the Campbell River are just a couple of the things that are here for you to enjoy.

 

As you can see from the agenda it is going to be a great conference with amazing topics that affect all of us in one way or another. The conference is being held at the historic Painter's Lodge, although not as historic as the old one that burned to the ground, now that's a great story to be told by the old timers.

 

If you are attending, please let me know if you would like to be in the golf tournament on Tuesday morning or the curling bonspiel on Wednesday night, if you do want to curl please bring "sneakers" (we call them runners) as heels will not work very well on the ice! Helmets and knee pads will be provided for a fee.

 

If anyone has any travel questions, I ([email protected]) can help you find your way to the island either by plane or boat, sorry no trains. It is recommended that you have a current passport, not so much to get into Canada, but to leave Canada, we are not as "strict" eh.

 

You can fly to Vancouver and get a connection to Campbell River on either Pacific Coastal Airlines www.pacific-coastal.com  or Central Mountain Air www.flycma.com , both airlines fly into Campbell River Airport, or if you book directly with Air Canada, that is an option also. There is also Kenmore Air, www.kenmoreair.com that flies from Boeing Field to Nanaimo which then is about 1.5 hour drive. You can also fly directly to Victoria, BC with most airlines and rent a car for the drive up to Campbell River, which is about a 3 hour drive.

As for driving, there are a couple of different ferries to take, there is BC Ferries http://www.bcferries.com/ which sails from Tsawwassen (Vancouver) to Nanaimo and the drive is then about 1.5 hours up island.

The other ferry options are the Coho (Black Ball) www.cohoferry.com from Port Angles to Victoria, it is a great trip! The other option is from Anacortes to Sidney (just outside of Victoria) http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.

You will need your passport or proof of citizenship to enter back into the states if you are driving, but flying you must have a passport.

I also recommend changing your phone plan for travel, as the roaming costs up here are very expensive.

Please let me know if you need any more help with travel arrangements to get here, I can guarantee it is a great trip and worth the drive.

 

On behalf of Campbell River we are very excited to be hosting this conference and hope that everyone can make it, believe me it will not be boring. I look forward to seeing you all at the conference. 

 

 





Letter from our President
letterfrompres

 

 

 

Together We Are Strong

 

What makes PCC valuable to its members? I say it is the members and the wealth of knowledge and experience each member brings to the organization. Coming together at the semi-annual fall conference in Campbell River, BC, is a great opportunity to learn from other industry professionals who share the same issues and successes.  

 

As always the training and education committee has put together an outstanding agenda, but this conference offers much more.

 

As the end of another busy season approaches, it's also a great time to kick back and relax a little. You owe it to yourself to take a couple extra days to explore Vancouver Island, one of the most beautiful places on the west coast. Our host, Harbormaster Phyllis Titus, has gone beyond the call of duty to plan exciting conference activities with a special Canadian touch. Curling anyone? Phyllis is going to show us how it's done. Before the conference, join us for the incredibly fun PCC golf tournament, beginners are welcome, no handicap too large! How about fishing? People come from all over the planet for the world class salmon fishing at Campbell River. This year's return is breaking records, so sign up for the PCC fishing trip. There's so much to do I can't even begin to scratch the surface, but I will say, you don't want to "miss the boat" for this conference.

 

The conference date is fast approaching but it's not too late to make your reservations to attend. Your presence is what makes the PCC strong!

 

Lon A. White

President, PCCHPA

Port & Harbor Director

Kodiak, Alaska

 

 


 Professional Services and Vendors

 

Please visit our vendors for products and professional services. As members their contribution is invaluable to our industry in both product quality, services and information. They represent a wide variety of products from computer software, construction, engineering, products and more.

Click below for a full list and links to our vendors:

 



Remote Monitoring System at Swantown Marina
Olympia, Waremotemonitoring

 

August 2014

MarineSync's has just completed a successful trial of the RUM - Remote Utility Monitoring system at Swantown Marina in Olympia, Washington. Cheryl Maynard, marina manager, took advantage of MarineSync's 90-day RUM trial to establish a proof of concept and prove reliability to the port. The trial included hardware, service and support, upgrading approximately 5 pedestals for wireless metering.

Installation was overseen by Rick Faiferlick, Maintenance Technician, averaging about 20 minutes per pedestal for installation. Considering the size of Swantown Marina and the inclement weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest, RUM was a viable solution to solve many of the recurring and labor intensive operational needs.

The trial was a success and the port approved a full marina deployment throughout all 700+ slips. Installation is currently underway with the project scheduled to be completed in early fall 2014. The marinas office staff is especially excited about integrating meter readings directly into their billing and management software. This process will ultimately simplify monthly invoicing, guarantee accuracy and ensure bills get out on time.

The 90-day risk-free trial is offered by MarineSync to all marinas considering Remote Utility Monitoring & Control. RUM provides wireless meter reading capabilities, ground fault detection, remote power control and LED lighting control. RUM can be retrofitted to any existing pedestal.

For more information on starting your trial, contact Cheryl Woodard at [email protected] or call 888-988-7962.

 

Swantown Marina

         

 

         
Marine Sync Photo 
                                                                                               

   

 

 



Preparing For Permitsprparingforpermits

 

 

As we all know, much of the work of small ports is dependent on regulatory approval by local, and state agencies as well as the Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies. Securing a maintenance dredging permit is a multi-agency permitting process that involves review at all of these levels of government. Many Ports require maintenance dredging only on an infrequent periodic basis and thus are not experts in the permitting processes. But there are on-going changes to laws and regulations that govern this process.

 

Marinas need to be dredged to insure that their economic viability is maintained. However, as Port Districts look to obtaining new permits, they are finding new requirements that may not have been in place during the previous permitting cycle.  Samples previously taken may no longer be valid and endangered species listings change over time. Agency personnel change as does the interpretation of regulations by the permitting authorities. Port Districts, particularly smaller marine facilities are often surprised by the additional work that is required to obtain a permit.

 

From a consultant's point of view, it is important that Port Districts appreciate this constantly changing environment. These changes incur additional work, and increased time frames and budgets for obtaining permits over previous cycles. The governance of port districts is by appointed or elected commissioners, generally business leaders in their local economies. They are often surprised by these increases and port budgets are impacted. As a result, priorities have to be rearranged and constituencies are oftentimes disappointed.

 

Avoiding these surprises is important part of an expert consultant's charge. The team should look to maintaining smooth district operations. Schedules and budgets must allow for agency interactions and review. The use of consultants with an understanding of both the agency relationships and Port District limitations go a long way to easing the permitting process. This knowledge and skill avoids last minute rush efforts, disappointments and special budget adjustments.

 

Christian Steinbrecher, P.E., COPRI, M. ASCE

Columbia River Port Engineers

www.CaRPEngrs.com

503-297-4827; [email protected]

In the water, on the bank and upland improvements;

Working for the success of Ports, their tenants and users

 

 



Port of Toledo Got The Moneytoledomoney



A 500 ton lift has been approved for the Port of Toledo - a total game changer for the facility and likely to become a big family wage job creator.

Port of Toledo officials got a copy of Santa's list long before he left his headquarters in Salem - Santa, that is, in the form of the Oregon Department of Transportation. It was well established by several Oregon Connect Five review teams that Toledo's request for a 550 ton boat lift, to lift boats out of the water to work on them - NINE at a time on the ground - was a favorite around the state. And today that grand assumption that Toledo would get the nearly $4.7 million along with other boatyard improvements came true. The ODOT Commission officially awarded the Port of Toledo the money. It was the third highest amount awarded in this latest round of Connect Oregon Funds, made possible by the Oregon Lottery.

So the celebration was on even though one was surprised. But the joy, the excitement and the downright GLEE gripped the port office and many citizens of Toledo, knowing that the money was in the mail.

 

The next step is for the port to begin all the paperwork required to actually spend the money by ordering the lift. It will take many months to assemble. Once delivered, the manufacturer will train staff on how to run it. And that takes more time. As you can see from the photo, it is several orders of magnitude larger than the port's current lift. Port Shoemake says it'll enable the port to handle about 99% of the entire West Coast and Alaskan fishing fleet and that means a lot of new fishing boat work for the Port of Toledo - up to 100 family wage jobs on the horizon. And that's nearly a third of the jobs at the GP Mill across the river from the Yaquina Boat Works.

 

 

 

 


 
Welcome aboard our New Members!
 
Port Products LLC
Bill Moses
Website

Marsh Anderson, LLC
Bob Wise
Website

Bergerson Construction, Inc.
Gregory A. Morrill
Website

University of WashingtonDepartment of Design and Planning
Prof. Christine Bae
Website



  
  


Boat Fire
boatfire
False Creek Fishermen's Wharf


 

  

  

What was supposed to be a day of mourning for our veterans ended with one of our harbour users mourning the loss of his boat. It was a fairly quiet November 11 at the False Creek Fishermen's Wharf until the phone rang in the early afternoon from some frightened boaters calling to say that one of our boats was on fire.

Our senior employee on shift responded quickly. He was able to call 911, the vessel owner, and myself within the first few minutes of being notified about the fire. He then proceeded up to the main driveway to meet the Fire Department and give them a briefing about the fire and its location. I arrived a few minutes later and noticed the Fire Department already running a fire hose from the street down to one of their trucks parked at the top of the dock. I wondered why they chose to run so much line and waste time when we already have multiple fire hydrants onsite a lot closer than the ones on the street but by that time, it was too late.

When I got myself down to the front lines, the training that I received from John Lewis of Sea Fire Training became very relevant and I sprang into action. With all of the onlookers exceedingly close to the boat, my first concern was obviously safety and I was thinking to myself "Is the boat going to blow up?" Knowing your boats in the harbour is very important for reasons such as this, I knew that the boat was a gasoline boat and I also know that boaters do one of two things with their fuel tanks in the winter months; they either empty them or they fill them right up to prevent condensation building up and creating water in the fuel. More times than not they choose the latter, so my first question to the owner of the boat on fire was "how much fuel do you have on board?" The owner replied "I'm near full, I've got about 800L or so..." Before he even finished his sentence I directed everyone to move further away. During this time the Fire Department was finally dragging the fire hose all the way down the 500' dock. When I mentioned that we have a dry line system already in place they continued to run line down the dock for a few more minutes until they finally decided to use the fire prevention system that we already have in place. While they were making their connections I decided to increase the firewall protection by moving vessels that were close to the burning boat farther away because as everyone knows, once a fire has jumped from one boat to another it creates a chain reaction and has the potential destroy anything in its path. After we created the void space around the burning boat we backed off and left the rest up to the Fire Department.

I understand that Fire Fighters need to be cool, calm and collected but I found them to be moving at a snails' pace. Once the fire broke through a window and started coming out the side of the boat they then seemed to be motivated to put the fire out and once they actually boarded the vessel it only took a matter of seconds before it was extinguished.

In the end, although we had a fire, it ended up being contained and really that's all that you can hope for. You can't always prevent that fire from happening but it's definitely gratifying knowing that you were able to not only save the surrounding boats and infrastructure but were also able to prevent it from creating mass destruction. I can't stress enough the importance of being trained in Marine Fire Fighting as it could be the difference in saving someone's life or your Harbour. If you have the opportunity to get your local Fire Department down to your docks for some training or more importantly at least have them familiarize themselves with your site can make the difference in the outcome of an emergency situation.I feel that my training was well worth the investment and I'll be encouraging the rest of my staff to take the course!

 

 

Mike Loy - Harbour Manager

False Creek Harbour Authority - Fishermen's Wharf

 


 



 

Just For Funjustforfun



  

 


 

An old sea captain was sitting on a bench near the wharf when a young man walked up and sat down. The young man had spiked hair and each spike was a different color.... green, red, orange, blue, and yellow.

The young man noticed that the captain was staring at him.

"What's the matter old timer-never done anything wild in your life?"

The old captain snorted. "Got drunk once and married a parrot. I was just wondering if you were my son!"

 

 
 


Port of Toledo vs Newport

Cardboard Boat Racetoledovsnewport



 

The idea for a cardboard boat race-off between the managers of the Ports of Toledo and Newport, came from Newport Port Commissioner David Jincks last month. If he had any thoughts that Newport's new young and vibrant port manager would leave Toledo's middle-aged Bud Shoemake in his wake, it all fell in on him almost immediately after the starting horn blasted.

  

 

 

As part of the Toledo Wooden Boat Show, the hand-built containerboard (thick cardboard) boat races have become very, very popular. And that put Jincks up to arranging the race between the two port managers. The losing team caters a scrumptious pizza party at the winning team's next commission meeting.

Well, to make a long story short, it wasn't 15 seconds after the starting horn that Toledo's Shoemake was already pulling out well ahead of his rival. And it stayed that way throughout the race. As Shoemake rounded the half-way buoy, just beyond the port boathouse, Greenwood was barely half-way there. For a moment or two Shoemake seemed to slow down a little, as if to politely taunt Greenwood of Newport who is several decades his junior.

Shoemake quickly resumed his long paddle strokes, pushing his lengthy water-line containerboard canoe through the water with the greatest of ease. His craft was named the Sharon B in honor of former Toledo Mayor Sharon Branstetter who Shoemake knew well and worked with to promote economic growth in Toledo.

When Kevin Greenwood finally finished the race at a very distant second place, both men shook hands and the Newport Commissioner David Jincks detached the propeller from Greenwood's craft...and awarded it as a trophy for Shoemake's exemplary seamanship. Greenwood said his port will live up to the responsibility for providing a yummy pizza dinner at the Port of Toledo's next commissioner's meeting.

There were speculative discussions of course about carrying this inter-port rivalry forward perhaps as a permanent fixture of future Toledo Wooden Boat Shows. Both ports think the idea is a great one. So with minimal fanfare Greenwood bequeathed the Paisly II's cardboard replica of a propeller with congratulatory messages written on it, signed by Port of Newport Commissioners.

You can bet that next year's Port of Newport craft will more closely mirror the long-water-line design of Shoemake's boat. The rivalry is established. A tradition is in the making. Destiny beckons.

 


 



THINK ABOUT IT   

 

 

"It's difficult to appreciate the value of others when your own self assessment is over valued."

 

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a person's character, give them power"

  

 "Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is."

 

 

 

 



"Career Training for Ports and Marinas
uas logoPcc Logo
                                                      
  

About 8 years ago, the Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers began to discuss ways that they could increase the knowledge, skills and professionalism of employees of their harbours.  The president at that time, Ray Majeski, was the harbormaster in Sitka, Alaska so he turned to the local campus, University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka to investigate training opportunities for harbor employees.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect.  The Sitka Campus was applying for a grant which provided the opportunity to develop online courses at a non-academic level.  The courses were developed in close partnership with the Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers, the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators, the Harbour Authority Association of British Columbia, and Washington Sea Grant.  Drawing from these professional organizations, UAS partnered content experts with instructional designers.  The content experts were expert in the fields of Oil Spill Prevention, Fire Safety for Marinas, and other topics related to Harbor Management.  The instructional designers were expert in how to develop an engaging effective online course, but relied completely on the professionals to provide the content.  An education committee from PCC provided the initial direction for UAS to take and ensured that the result would be the kind of quality that would truly support the industry.

Ten courses now comprise the Career Training for Ports and Marinas program. PCC provides certificates at 3 levels.  Complete any 3 courses of your choice for Level 1 Certification, another 3 courses of your choices for Level 2 Certification, and the last 4 courses for Level 3 certification. The courses are:

1.      Marine Structures and Materials

2.      Facility Safety

3.      Oil Spills: Prevention, Preparedness and Response

4.      Fire Safety for Ports and Marinas

5.      Customer Service for Ports and Marinas

6.      Marina Utilities: Electrical Systems

7.      Marina Utilities: Water and Sanitary Sewer

8.      Hazardous Materials and Waste: Risks and Controls

9.      Harbor Operations and Planning

10.  Harbor Administration

All of the courses are offered online.  They take approximately 12-15 hours of actual work, but students are given 3 months to complete them.  Clear navigation instructions and tutorials are provided when students begin, so that even if they've never taken an online course before, they quickly learn how easy it is.  Content material is provided through text and pictures or audio lectures accompanied by notes; there are interactive self-check activities, and sometimes a short written account of an actual walk-about the harbor.  Students are in touch with the instructors for the courses by email.  Instructors are Shannon Kinsella, Ray Majeski, Larry Boyer, Alan Sorum, Eric Olsson, John Lewis and David Garrett.  All instructors are professionals in the field of harbor management.

Check out the UAS website to learn more about each course and about the instructors or to register for a course.  They cost $195 per course.  
 
 

Cheryl Maynard, Executive Secretary at 800.236.0748  

or 

 click here to send an email

 

RangeMarker Editor 
Cliff Maynard 
The Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters
120 State Avenue, PMB 231, Olympia, WA 98501
Toll-Free: 800-236-0748 Fax: 800-236-0748
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] 
 
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