Skip's Corner 08/15/2016

                                           Trail to Juneau (2)

We had to build a special trailer.  
Following are photos taken as the whale made its way from Oregon to Alaska. Semi trailers that we could rent were too high to allow the sculpture to fit under overpasses on its trip to Bellingham, Washington on the coast, the southernmost terminal of the Alaska State Ferry system.

Whale on the road somewhere in Oregon, sent to me by the driver who said they had plenty of curious lookers-on en route.

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Also too high for the whale to fit through the entry portal to board the ferry to Alaska.  By great good fortune we had a business just across the road from the foundry which had the know-how and resources and equipment- frame and axles and hitches and such— to custom build a trailer.  How likely is that in a town about 1/3 the size of TR?  

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Waiting to be loaded on the ferry

​The Chief Mate of the MV Columbia took this shot of the bosun standing next to the whale as it waits its turn to board the ferry in Bellingham for its 900 mile voyage to Juneau.   Ferry Columbia is just visible in the background to the right behind the tree.  ​

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​Ferry arriving at the Auke Bay terminal.  The foundry crew of three guys, owner, welder and patineur will arrive on August 17th to install the whale on its site on the Juneau waterfront.  The internal plumbing, infinity pool and landscaping will have to wait until spring, with a formal dedication to follow. So, for the winter the whale will be breaching from a construction site.

MV Columbia

Whale ahead chase vehicle behind

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​Finally arriving in Alaska, this is a shot of the Whale making the final leg of its journey in the early morning rain from the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal twelve miles to the Juneau Waterfront followed by the red “chase pickup".

                                         KTOO Public Media Juneau
                          Juneau’s 6-ton, 25-foot-tall whale statue has arrived.
                                                        (click link below)

            http://www.ktoo.org/2016/08/08/whale-sculpture-arrives-in-juneau-fins-to-come-tuesday/
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R T WALLEN