The Squaxin Island Tribe is buying a new barge, custom built in Port Townsend:

“It’s a beautiful craft,” said resource technician Dave George Krise of the Squaxin Island Tribe as the Travelift approached to hoist the tribe’s new barge from the shipyard to the boat haven.

With the boat at the dock, still suspended over the water, Jay Brevik, president of Lee Shore Boats Inc., stood at her bow with a bottle of champagne.

“I got the privilege of breaking the champagne bottle,” said Brevik, since Krise had already ceremonially blessed it with burnt sage in the Native American tradition.

Both traditions welcomed Lee Shore Boats’ first aluminum barge.

Brevik says that this project is a significant departure. Lee Shore Boats specializes in conventional mono-hulled boats. “We’re very proud of the quality. Everyone is just marveling that we can build a boat like this from aluminum.”