I was reading the other day that all the hype about Vitamin D might be a bunch of hooey.

I’m not buying it. When the sun shines some experts say that it showers us with Vitamin D. I can tell you that I sure feel a lot better with the sun shining on me than I do enduring our grey winters.

Welcome to Kingston, Mr. Sunshine.  Vitamin D or not, bring it on! I think we are all ready for it.

I can hardly wait, next week the Kingston Farmer’s Market will be open for the season. I love to get fresh fruits and veggies to make nice salads and other treats.

Speaking of produce, I promised last month to tell you something about eelgrass nurseries. I am learning a lot about this stuff.  Our native eel grass is called Z. Marina (Zostera Marina), it is also known as common eelgrass or seawrack. The non-native kind is known as Z. Japonica (Zostera Japonica)

The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) is still deciding what species we will need to use to replace what is taken out by our dredging operation. While the dredging is going on, we will be required to grow some new plants. We have found that they grow real well between our breakwater and the fishing dock.  In fact, there is already a lot growing there, but we can’t use that for our mitigation. Apparently, on a survey dive around 1990, there wasn’t much eelgrass there at all. Since then it has flourished.

So if the DNR decides we need to replace the plants with Z. Japonica (Zostera Japonica) we will have to plant 1,944 new turnon (eel grass seeds). That is because they suspect that only one third of them will survive. Department of Ecology and Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board consider  Z. Japonica a “Class C noxious weed.”

If we use the same species that is there already, the seawrack, we will only have to plant about 500 turons. That is the number of plants in the dredge prism where the work will be done. Once the nursery is planted we will have to hire divers from time to time to go down and count the kids, take baby pictures and make sure that the plants are getting enough water. If they are not getting enough water I don’t know what we are supposed to do then. It will be sometime in the future when we transplant them. I hope that helps explain things.

Did you get a chance to come down and fly a kite in the Kites over Kingston Festival? I can’t believe that we have been having that party for seven years already. The wind was great but the last hour of the party it got pretty wet. Oh well, not much vitamin D on that day.

Beginning in the end of May and throughout summer, we will be hosting a different yacht club each weekend in our marina. A friend of mine belongs to West Seattle Yacht Club. They will be here for Memorial Day Weekend.  He was one of the folks lined up at the port office on the first day of the year to make sure they had a place to tie up.  I know that they also made reservations for more than 20 people for dinner in a local joint. Visiting boaters do help our local economy.  A mobile APP called Active Captain describes the Port of Kingston Marina as a very highly rated port of call. The app is fun and gives a lot of information to cruisers and landlubbers with cruising attitude.

When we say that a visiting club has reserved the marina, keep in mind that we only allow half of the transient spots to be reserved. So if you know someone who would like to bring their boat over to Kingston, don’t tell them not to come. A quick phone call to the port, 360-297-3545, or a VHF radio call will help them find out if there are slips available.

See you down at the port.

— Pete DeBoer is a Kingston port commissioner. Contact him at pete@petedeboer.com.