Just Pulled In: Coal Harbor Marina - Part II

Not sure if homesick is the right emotion but it does bring back some memories! I sailed on that boat with John Mozel when he had it built ... and haven't worked with a better boat handler or navigator since. We towed oil barges up the west coast of the island and every little hole up every inlet on the inside. Those were trips I will never forget to places that are unforgettable on their own. I was on that boat with John when I got a job offer that changed the course of my nautical career. I had no idea the boat was still around and seeing it sure touched a soft spot. Sigh.

Nice looking tug.
Sister to the Jervis Crown.

I can't keep up, I thought I'd heard a couple months ago that they weren't going to use cruise ships for police security. There are certainly a lot around, I was talking to an RCMP Officer from Montreal the other day, he was part of a group that had been brought in to help.

Apparently there is at least one Norwegian ship that's been chartered and is coming up from LA leaving late next week. We're looking into whether we can get on that.

I don't have a picture handy, but they took out the metal garbage cans on Robson Street and replaced them with metal hoops that now hold clear plastic garbage bags. I assume that's to remove the threat of a bomb in a metal enclosure.

I don't know if False Creek east of the Cambie bridge is off limits yet, every time I've gone by in the last couple of days I've seen at least one Police Boat.

Oh well, at least if there is an explosion, it will only be clear plastic flying everywhere......... along with the schrapnel. I know, post a guard at each container, that's the answer....24x7

We have our Yacht at the Plaza of Nations, directly across from the Olympic Village, we are considered a red zone for security, no cars parked, all visitors checked etc, to take the boat out we have an rcmp on board and same on return till exiting the secure zone, 150 yards west of us, fully accesible by foot from the main street is a hi rise develpment, this development sits in part about 50 ft from waters edge, the village is across the water, a good swimmer could do it in 10-15 mins maybe less, a midnite crossing with a diversion up the street could level the village easily, I asked the security people about that and they just sort oflooked at me and said, "I doubt that would be possible" lets hope they are right....all around our area are new fences with cameras everywhere, the wiring runs along the fence line , accessible by pedestrians with sharp wire cutters..amazing...sure glad I'm sitting in the Florida sunshine ( well, rain this am) away from that mess.

Paint job in the last pic?

John Mozel

Hi Marmot, I am Debbie . I am the wife of John Mozel. He remembers those times when the boat went in and out all the small holes up every inlet. He said those times were really exciting. You will never forget those times. That was in the early 1970,s. The boat is in great shape, he still owns it and it has been redone inside. Keep in touch. Do you have a real name? He might remember you. Best regards, Debbie Mozel

lloyd b gore

aloha, just on a whim I thought I,d look up a tug I used to work on back in the 80,s..maybe I can fill in a few spaces in her history! I first saw her in 1987-88 ,she was anchored off honolulu airport and experiencing engine trouble.. I was in business as a marine mechanic and so ended up working on numerous problems aboard..the main problem was the main engine had two bad cylinders ..The engine at the time was a 16v detroit diesel if my memory serves me.. I got to know the crew and so heard their story.. it turns out the captain of the tug, his name I think brian had salvaged the tug off the beach somewhere in the northwest off a beach ,, apparently had been towing a barge and went ashore.. from the story told she was on her side and lots of water inside.. To get the pumps to work they had to start the gardner genset.. this entailed tying a rope around the front flywheel to a pulley amidships and 6 men running down the shaft alley pulling the rope and starting the gardner..this I know is possible as I have worked on many gardners and this particular model could be started by hand..apparently after that they were able to salvage the tug..one of the major problems she had in honolulu was the fact that she leaked like a sieve.. apparently had been in a shipyard somewhere but they were unable to stop a shaft log leak which probably plagued her into the future..therefore the pumps had to be run every day otherwise she would have sank..at the time there were two or three crew and their polynesian girlfriends and lots of money...as the repairs came to an end there were large offers of money to me to go with them back fishing, but I had the feeling something was up and noticed ashore people watching the tug with binoculars, found out later was the FBI..well after loading up with about 40,ooodollars of diesel. off she went ..WITHOUT ME!! later found out she was tracked by sattelite to vietnam where she loaded marijuana and the they lost it till it showed up off vancouver island, and you probably know the rest...I felt bad for them in that they actually were very nice people, and I hope that even though what they did was illegal that their sentences were not too severe, especially the girls that probably had no real part in the whole affair...a beautiful tug and I,m glad to hear that she is still afloat and working... joined up to tell you alll this and hope to be able to contribute more.. Maize and I own a beautiful 1955 wood schooner that we keep in honolulu and hope soon to bring back to my home town of vancouver, mahalo derrick

Hi Debbie. Yes he will remember me, he owes me $5 I sent him for postage to mail a sea service letter to the CG for a deck license that he never sent back a few years ago! Tell him I got it anyway and have even recovered from the financial loss.

What a small world this is! I am now playing with yachts in Lauderdale but will never forget the good times we had on the Cindy Mozel and tell John I have yet to meet a boathandler with the skills he showed every day in every condition the coast had to offer, inside or out. Ask if he remembers that one horrible winter night we all spent in lifejackets in the wheelhouse off the West Coast of the Island with the Rigor in tow. John really should write a book about his life on the coast.

Thank you Derrick, that did fill in some blank spots. I had heard parts of that period but not the Honolulu events. It's a good thing you stayed home. I was at a conference a few months ago and met one of my old colleagues from those days who still lives in Vancouver and he was able to fill in a few more blank spots concerning the events. Maybe it's time to start outlining that story, it's a real sea story that has all the elements to make it a great read. Did you take any pictures when you were on the boat?

Thanks again for sharing your part of that story!

aloha, sorry no pics,I was up to my elbows with pistons and rods..nowdays with digital cameras its so much easier!!!