Fleet

June 6th is the Maritime Festival in Gig Harbor and the following day, June 7th, is the annual Blessing of the Fleet.
For family and friends of the commercial fishermen, the blessing is a special day.
The priest from St. Nicks church walks down the hill from the church, accompanied by the color guard of the Knights of Columbus, they rhendezvous with the Mayor of Gig Harbor at Jerisich Dock, then board a small boat for the blessing ceremony and the laying of the wreath in memory of past fishermen. It's a very touching ceremony as father blesses each boat as he passes.
The captains try to get their boats into position by noon, which ends up around 1:00, with boatloads of food, drink, music and just plain fun for all.
If you don't see what you like on your craft's menu, all you need to do is explore the others and there's a pretty good chance you'll find it.
Last year for the first time, Tom Drohan ran one of the tour boats from his new business, Destiny Harbor Tours, and ferried folks back to the dock when they were ready to call it a day. He has started a tour business using surplus US Navy boats.
I sure hope he is out there again this year...cause I am usually one of the first to run out of steam :)