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Skookum and Ironman put on a show along the waterfront

Posted on August 25th, 2026 By: Chapin Day

After 16 days of heavy lifting and being the best free show on the waterfront, the good ships Skookum and Ironman quietly left Gig Harbor last week under tow.

They left in their wakes an ongoing community controversy and the town’s newest marina, an environmentally friendlier replacement for its historic but decrepit predecessor once known as Ancich Dock.

The vessels moved about the new dock regularly. Photo by Chapin Day

The vessels — one a sprawling barge toting a towering crane, the other an arguably cute tug dwarfed by its workmate — proved an irresistible lure for passersby and visitors to adjacent Ancich Waterfront Park.

‘Vibratory hammer’

Some viewers became dockside superintendents as they watched the careful choreography of crewmen with the intriguing job title “pile buck” and a crane operator with a deft touch at the controls.

After arriving on Aug. 3, Skookum, Ironman and their crews set to the task of removing the crumbling old marina, its creosote coated wood pilings and deteriorating foam flotation. They loaded the debris on barges for land-based disposal or recycling.

Last week, during the final days of the project, the workers’ primary focus was on driving the last of the more than 20 pipe-like galvanized steel pilings into the harbor’s bottom. The pilings, some as long as 65 feet, secured the new floating docks in place.

Their primary tool: A 18,00-pound vibrator.

More precisely, it’s a hydraulic “vibratory hammer.” The hammer is surprisingly quiet compared to less-sophisticated, eardrum-shattering pile drivers of yore.

The hammer does its work while dangling on cables from the top of a crane that can rise up to 130 feet above Skookum’s waterline.

The vibratory hammer at work. Photo by Chapin Day

A peanut gallery

“It’s just so interesting to watch,” enthused Sandi Nelson, a land-locked Gig Harbor area resident who stopped by while visiting a friend’s home near the waterfront on Monday morning.

She and others perched along the observation deck rail at the park’s net shed, some staying longer than others.

One who spent hours there recently was Larry Schmidt, who lived in Gig Harbor from 1994 to 2004 and returned four years ago after retiring. He sat propped atop a prime viewing point, a picnic table, refreshment and sunglasses at hand, plus a cell phone for company.

“I just love being on the waterfront where stuff is going on,” he told Gig Harbor Now.

The stuff going on included the crane barge and tug advancing periodically from one position to another. They pulled up and then lowered two rusty-but-sturdy vertical beams called spuds that protrude through the barges’s deck, serving to anchor and hold the barge steady.

Hard at work on the dock replacement project. Photo by Chapin Day

Barging in

Two aluminum skiffs, with powerful outboards and crewed by bucks, skittered about where needed. Sometimes, one would tie onto the barge and, revving its outboard, serve as additional thrust to steer the unwieldy barge.

Schmidt was among those watching such a maneuver when a skiff outboard’s propeller tore into the bright orange floating inflatable spill protection barrier surrounding the barge, leading to the need for a temporary shutdown for repair to the outboard and the barrier.

Outboard-powered skiffs helped maneuver the crane. Photo by Chapin Day

He also may have been among those dockside supervisors who shouted warnings to the barge crew when the crane began lifting a heavy piece of gear off the barge deck while one of the skiffs was still tied to it. Awkwardly jerked stern-first from the water, the skiff was perilously close to capsizing before the onlookers’ shouts and quick crew reaction saved the day.

Despite the minor mishaps, Kevin Vendeland, marine superintendent for Quigg Brothers, Tacoma-based owners of the vessels involved, said the job went well with “no surprises.”

A sparkling aluminum ramp linking the new slips to the shore’s new coded gate dropped into place Tuesday.

Several of the casual observers ashore Monday seemed aware of some of the dock’s history and controversy surrounding the replacement project.

A new ramp connects the dock to the shore. Photo by Chapin Day

Among those with a long-term perspective were Tom and Pam Thrall, both Gig Harbor natives born in the late 1940s. When they were young, they told Gig Harbor Now, they lived across the harbor from each other.

Ancich-Tarabochia Dock

Currently they live in a waterfront condo just a short-hop seagull flight away from the newly replaced boat slips.

In a moment of wistful reminiscence, Pam recalled knowing the site as the Ancich family home. She added that the dock later became known as the Ancich-Tarabochia Dock, a partnership between two fishing families. During the 1970s and ’80s it was homeport to the 82-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter Point Glass.

“My father’s cousin was a Tarabochia,” she said, quickly and smilingly waving off a reporter’s playful suggestion that she might therefore have some claim on the new marina.

Photo by Chapin Day

Someone who formerly had claim on the marina is an Oregon dentist. He bought the site in 2021 from the Ancich-Tarabochia partnership, then sold it in 2025.

The last transaction noted in public records lists a sale for $4.25 million in September 2025 from Eugene and Hans LLC to Harbor Investments Northwest LLC. The latter is linked to David M. Pitt, long involved in maritime properties investment. Websites for the Harbor Investments LLC lists addresses in Seattle and Gig Harbor.

Pitt could not be reached for comment.

A welder works at the new dock on Monday, Aug. 17. Photo by Chapin Day

Yachts vs. fishing boats

Previous news reports indicate the 55- to 70-foot-long slips may attract up to 17 lengthy recreational yachts, not the traditional and diminishing Gig Harbor fishing fleet.

Some owners of such fishing boats hope to find affordable haven in the Commercial Fisherman’s Homeport, scheduled to sprout soon from the shoreline of Ancich Park, directly adjacent to the new marina.

The forthcoming proximity of the two facilities has led to simmering concerns in the maritime community about whether the large yachts and husky fishing boats will play nicely together while sharing limited maneuvering room leaving and entering their slips.

Nearby residents also have voiced concerns about parking, view impact, and other neighborhood issues.

Controversies and historical wistfulness aside, Skookum and Ironman left behind a gleaming new marina.

It covers slightly less water surface, features aluminum grating decks, hard surfaced encapsulated flotation, and the aforementioned steel pilings, factors in improving natural light exposure and lessening chemical impacts on sea-life below.

They’ll be back

Last, an official from general contractor Marine Floats Inc. of Tacoma said they should finish the job around the end of August.

Skookum and Ironman were were last seen Aug. 19, being towed by one of Ironman’s bigger brothers as they slipped out of the harbor.

However, pile-driving fans will be pleased to know that they will be back soon. An official of Quigg Brothers Inc., their owners, told Gig Harbor Now that the pair booked a new show not far from The Tides Saloon beginning Sept. 14. Stay tuned.

Work on the dock replacement project on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Photo by Vince Dice