I had come back to the Pacific Northwest to attend a family memorial but stayed longer to experience coastal Washington, specifically the harbor town of Westport, where my sister Alyce recently moved. Westport is both a surfer hangout, tourist attraction,and working fishing town.
At just 2,110 people, it certainly has enough beaches to go around. We managed to visit a half dozen in the area. Two surfers offered to take our picture (above) at the favored surfing beach. Here we found a hundred sand dollars, many very much alive. Just across the way was another beach, more protected, with thousands of shells of the Saxidomus Gigantea, otherwise known as the butter clam.
Westport has a protected harbor once used for whaling and now sport and commercial fishing, which includes lobsters and oysters too. And because boats and ships can founder and capsize, Westport is also an outpost for the Coast Guard.
The old Coast Guard headquarters is now a museum. We took a look. Built in 1940, it saw a lot of service during WWII when the enemy could potentially enter the harbor with a submarine.
Here you see some fit sailors ready to defend the coast.
I also learned about "SPARS", the Coast Guard unit reserved for women.
And then there was the "faking box" which keeps rope from tangling when shot out of cannon, to reach a foundering ship in a straight line. Upstairs were more goodies, including stuffed baby alligators enjoying drinks and cigarettes and a 126 lb. taxidermed salmon.
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