By Terryl Asla
tasla@northkitsapheradld.com
BROWNSVILLE — For Earth Day, volunteer divers from Navy Base Kitsap-Bangor cleaned up under the boat houses on C Dock at the Port of Brownsville Marina. Despite having to work largely by touch — visibility was only about 12 inches — they brought up lots of things that had blown in, or been dropped in, over the years. The three divers were Sonar Technician Senior Chief, Submarines [STSC(SS)] Troy Barnhart, ET1(SS) Daniel Losure, and STS1(SS) Aaron Nicol. The trio are members of a dive club at the base; diving is their hobby, not their navy vocation. They were assisted by STS2(SS) Robert Hares, ITS2(SS) Avistedes Candelaria and ETV2(SS) Ken Zbrowski.
Among their finds:
-Lengths of old fire hose and tires that in years past had been nailed to the docks and finger piers to act as boat fenders. -A barnacle-encrusted 21-foot length of 3-inch pipe “from three or four fire systems ago,” according to Matt Appleton, assistant port manager.
-Coils of water hoses and electrical wire.
-Old siding and tarps from long-ago boat house renovations.
-Items lost more recently: a four-foot t-square and an aluminum level, both in excellent condition.
-And a welcome mat.
As divers brought up their finds, port staff and volunteers from Brownsville Yacht Club and Kitsap Maritime Heritage Foundation carefully removed “critters” — sea urchins, sea cucumbers, star fish, anemones, and mussels — from the jetsam and put them back in the water. Then they loaded the trash into dock carts and hauled it to the dumpster.
Commissioner Bob Kalmbach expressed the port’s thanks to the divers and their assistants. “For these navy folks to volunteer to give up their day off to come here and clean up the bottom of Brownsville marina is just phenomenal,” he said.
Afterwards, in dry clothes and eating pizza at the yacht club, the divers talked about why they chose to tackle the project. “They bribed us with food,” said Senior Chief Troy Barnhart between bites of Hawaiian pizza. “If you want to get navy volunteers, pizza always helps.”
In fact, Barnhart, Hares and Nicol had come to Brownsville back in January when the port and yacht club hosted an educational “Pier Peer” program in cooperation with Kitsap County extension. The extension instructors had a permit for a fish tank, and the Barnhart and Nicol volunteered to bring up samples of sea life for the children and parents to see and touch. “While we were down there, we found an old deck chair and an outboard motor. That’s what gave us the idea of coming back and helping clean up the bottom on Earth Day,” said Barnhart.
