What exactly is that thing floating in Budd Inlet’s West Bay?
If you’ve looked out into Budd Inlet’s West Bay in the last few days, you might be asking: What is that huge thing floating out there?
It turns out it’s a former Navy barge that has been turned into a commercial diving platform, said Neil Falkenburg, the longtime general manager of West Bay Marina.
The barge is more than 100 feet long and 40 feet wide and currently is flanked by a power boat and small crane barge, he said.
The vessel was still in Budd Inlet as of Monday, he said.
The marina hosted the vessel for about three months, then its owner, a Port Angeles man who works in the commercial diving business, said he was planning to leave to return to Port Angeles, so the marina gave him a move out date of April 1, Falkenburg said.
Meanwhile, the man’s former boat slip was promised to a new tenant, which means the barge had to move out into open water, he said.
The former Navy barge is not at anchor, but is being held in place by what Falkenburg called “spud piles,” pilings that can be driven into the shallow sea bed to hold it in place.
The commercial diving platform was used by the Nisqually Tribe before it was sold to the Port Angeles man, Falkenburg said.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
