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At least that many people, if not more, did just that Saturday as part of Harbor Days, an annual maritime event in its 38th year in which tugs from throughout the region tie up at Percival Landing for a weekend of tug tours and races. The races take place from noon-4 p.m. today.
About 20 tugs returned to Percival Landing after the boardwalk had been closed for about a year for renovations. Some are working tugs, and some have been converted them into pleasure craft.
Virgil Fritts, 78, was busy Saturday answering questions about the Cayou, a 45-foot working tug owned by his nephew Paul Fritts of Port Orchard. The boat works between Olympia and the San Juan Islands on jobs such as pile driving and installing docks and ramps.
“Any kind of marine construction,” Virgil Fritts said about the Cayou. It carries 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel, 100 gallons of freshwater and it gets one mile to the gallon, he said. The Cayou, which has attended Harbor Days for 10 years, is a past two-time winner of the races for its class, Fritts said. It also used to sail the shallow waters of the Willamette River in Oregon, he said.
Small boats, too, were on display, including a sailing dinghy known as the Minto, a boat that got its start in Gig Harbor and has been built in the Northwest since 1965.
Olympia boat builder Kurt Hammes of Rich Passage builds the boats and was on hand to answer questions about the 9-foot sailing craft. Rich Passage was one of several vendors at Percival Landing for Harbor Days. Others were selling food and arts and crafts.
About 1,500 Mintos have been built in its history and some can be seen sailing at Boston Harbor.
Michael Kyle of Pleasanton, Calif., reunited with some high school friends aboard the Wallace Foss of Seattle, a former 65-foot working Foss tug converted into a pleasure craft, he said. The boat is moored at Lake Union, near the Ballard locks, and it took one day to get to Olympia.
“This place is incredible,” said Kyle about the gathering for Harbor Days. The Wallace Foss, which also will race today, was built in 1897 and was a working tug until 1972.
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
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