No, I’m not here in Las Vegas for some sort of important navigation technology trade show/conference. I’m just here with my wife for a little birthday getaway, “sans kids”.

But just ’cause I’m stuck out here in the desert, that doesn’t mean I won’t find lots of nautical subject matter to share with my readers. For instance, Captain Richard Rodriguez over at BitterEnd will be happy to hear that I’ve been wearing my “Knotty” hat all over town…

And even though there isn’t any navigable water for hundreds of miles in every direction, there is still plenty to remind us of things nautical: Slot machines!

And finally, to ensure that this post addresses Navagear’s crucial “gear and gadgets” mandate, check this bit of product brand placement, at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Las Vegas. How much did Garmin pay to mount radomes on all these fishing boat/dining booths, eh?

I’ve written about my fascination with small submarines before. Well, at the Boats Afloat Show here in Seattle, I got to climb around inside a real, working mini sub.

This is the U.S. Submarines S-101, a two-person diesel electric submarine. It’s for sale; just reduced to $480k. There’s a PDF info sheet you can look at. It’s 32 feet long, it weighs 4.2 tons, and can operate as deep as 300 ft for over 8 hours.

That may not seem like a long time, but keep in mind there’s no head aboard. “How long can you hold it?”, asks U.S. Subs Vice President Ellis Adams.

Also, it’s a bit cramped in there. I doubt most sane people would want to spend more than a couple hours inside without taking a break to stand up and stretch. Here are some more of my photos…I think you’ll see what I mean.

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Following up on last week’s trip aboard the USCGC Eagle, here’s a photograph taken by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle, who you may be familiar with from the District 13 Podcasts, which she hosts. The latest episode is devoted to Eagle, and I recommend it.

Anyway, I just love this picture, and it’s currently my desktop wallpaper. It features an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter, the barque Eagle, of course, and the Seattle skyline.

I’m gonna do it again. I’m going to reveal that I’m a hopeless, shameless fan-boy when it comes to the United States Coast Guard. If you throw a square-rigged sailing ship into the mix, I’m absolutely defeated. I have no defense against this sort of thing.

If traditional sailing ships hold even a little bit of attraction for you, perhaps you’ll spend a few minutes looking at a selection of photographs I took today.

First, here’s a picture from the Coast Guard website. If you look very carefully, you can actually see me. But you’ve got to know where to look. More on that later.

(Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle, U.S. Coast Guard)

Here’s Eagle’s Captain, Chris Sinnett.

I’m not sure this is the right term, but I would call this the “quarter deck”, where all the important stuff happens:

But important stuff happens everywhere aboard a large sailing vessel. These cadets are sanding a companion ladder. It’s a steel ship, but it’s got plenty of woodwork to maintain.

This gives me an idea, though. I mean, gosh, with four or five of these cadets at my disposal, I’m pretty sure I could tidy up my own boat, Two Lucky Fish, in short order!

Then I went belowdecks where the officers’ quarters are. I took some shots of the “fancy bits”. Trust me, it ain’t all like this. Mostly, the Eagle’s interior looks like, well, like the interior of a steel warship. But there are some portions that express a bit more grandeur and formality.

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After being ferried out of the Port of Edmonds marina aboard a TANB (Trailerable Aid-to-Navigation Boat), a small group of visitors (part of a much larger group), climbed up the side of US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

Once on deck, we were officially greeted by Cadet First Class Craig Johnson.

We got a tour; thanks to our guides, cadets Ted Borny and Carl Luxhoj. Here are some pictures I took.

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Hey, what do you know, I’m a famous photo-journalist!

Well, I had some pictures published, anyway. In Monday’s edition of the Peninsula Daily News, to be precise.

Editor and publisher John C. Brewer saw the photos I posted a couple weeks back, and asked if he could use them for the paper.

“Yeah, sure, as long as you mention Navagear.com!” I admit it, I love publicity. Anyway, thanks for giving my pictures such a great layout, John.

I wish I could say it was MY day aboard the tugboat Marshall Foss, but no…it was Todd Lappin’s. Check out his blog post, complete with lots of great pictures, over at Telstar Logistics.

Yeah, I’m a sucker for tugboats, in case you couldn’t tell:
Ship-Spotting, Tacoma Style
Tugboat Racing In Seattle!
My New Favorite Blog

Here are some photographs I took last week, exploring the industrial waterways of Tacoma. All these images are available in their original, 1600 x 1200 size. Email me if you’d like any of them.

First, we watched Crowley tugs Tioga and Guide, with help from Weddell Foss, turn MOL Proficiency at the end of Blair Waterway.

By the way, those are Evergeen’s enormous cranes in the background.

Tioga’s work is done; Weddell Foss still has a line to the bow.

And Guide remains tied up astern.

Away they go…

Meanwhile, next door in the Hylebos Waterway, we made a fascinating discovery. It’s the formerly lovely Kalakala, looking quite a bit worse for wear.

By the way, that URL on the bridge deck, http://www.ebay.com/kalakala, doesn’t seem to work anymore. You’d think the people who maintain this retired ferryboat could keep their hyperlinks up to date!

Later, back in Foss Waterway, I spotted Crowley tugs Guide and Tioga, all moored and put away for the afternoon, having earned their keep for the day.

Let me first admit that I know very very little about fishing. Really.

Still, my daughters wanted fishing gear for Christmas, so Santa did his best, and they got fishing gear. Here’s Arwen fishing down in Ballard. It was cold that day, can you tell?

We’re going to learn more about fishing, I promise. In case you’re wondering, we didn’t catch anything this day. Are there any fish in the ship canal? I assume so. Salmon swim through there regularly, I know that. Did I mention I don’t know anything about fishing?

Just a picture I took the other evening. Click to see it full size. Is it any wonder I like hanging out at the boat, even in winter?