As a massive oil rig came into view last Friday morning in Port Angeles, protesters were already on the shore. As dawn broke, they slipped kayaks into the water, preparing to greet the incoming rig with a small rally.

The group of activists, which included some islanders, made headlines for their part in the on-the-water protest against Shell’s oil drilling the Arctic. However, those involved say last Friday’s demonstration was just a warm-up for what’s to come. They’re hoping hundreds more will join them on the water for the main events — a floating demonstration in Elliot Bay in May and finally an attempt to block the rig, the Polar Pioneer, and prevent it from leaving Seattle and heading to the Arctic sometime this summer.

“This is a historic moment,” said Bill Moyer, director of the Backbone Campaign, a political action group based on Vashon. “It feels like 11 years of work we’ve done have in a sense been in preparation for this very moment.”

he moment Moyer refers to has been in the making since the Port of Seattle earlier this year approved a lease for Shell to use the port as a home base for its efforts to drill oil drilling in the Arctic. The move has drawn criticism from those against exploratory oil drilling in the Artic, with many saying that Seattle shouldn’t support endeavors that will ultimately contribute to climate change. Shell has also been much maligned by environmentalists concerned that drilling in the Arctic could lead to environmental destruction. An oil spill in the isolated Arctic, they argue, could be difficult to stop and could cause damage similar to or worse than the Gulf spill five years ago.

Outraged, some local activists thought a water-based demonstration was an obvious choice, Moyer said. However, protest plans weren’t formalized until Seattle Port Commissioner Bill Bryant was secretly recorded revealing when the rig would come into Seattle and joked that the port had been “threatened with a flotilla of kayaks.”

“We thought now we have to do it. … Make him eat his words,” Moyer said.

Now, the Backbone Campaign has joined forces with several other political groups — Rising Tide Seattle, 350 Seattle, Bayan USA and the newly formed Mosquito Fleet — to plan such a flotilla. It’s familiar territory for the Backbone Campaign, which in 2009 led a kayak protest to disrupt work at Glacier Northwest’s pier-building site on Maury Island. Since then, the nonprofit has incorporated kayak training into the political activism camps it holds each summer on Vashon.

“It’s unconventional for protesters to use the water, but it’s a fantastic venue for a public display of what people are fighting for or against,” said Moyer. He added that the idea of a protest tends to turn many away, while a flotilla piques interest.

Indeed, several Seattle news stations as well as radio and newspaper reporters were there on Friday as 10 kayakers, including three from Vashon, circled the Polar Pioneer in Port Angeles and rafted up with a sign pointing readers to their website, shellno.org. By that time, the effort had already appeared on the front page of The Stranger, which dubbed the group the “kayaktivists.”

“It’s just a really powerful story, and the media recognizes that it’s a powerful story,” said John Sellers, an islander who heads the nonprofit The Other 98% and was on the water last week. The Other 98% recently launched a side project called the Mosquito Fleet to help with the protest.

“They’re really unifying people,” Sellers said. “Shell is making for an incredible political climate to organize in, a very ripe moment. … We want to get a ton of people on the water when they come to town.”

To that end, the Backbone Campaign is leading regular kayak training sessions at Alki, teaching would-be demonstrators basic kayaking skills and water safety. During the trainings, kayakers actually paddle over to where the rig will be, in terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle, to get the lay of the land and learn what protesting will involve.

“We’re doing tactical maneuvers,” Moyer said. “How do we lift the banner? How do we raft up? We’re giving people basically an orientation to what they can expect to do on the water.”

The Polar Pioneer will stay in Port Angeles for a time before making its way to Seattle, where activists hope to meet it with another small demonstration.

“We want to make sure that every step of the way, Shell is going to encounter shame and resistance,” said Eric Ross, organizing director for the Backbone Campaign.

Then on May 16, organizers will hold what they’re calling part protest, part party in Elliott Bay in front of the rig. There will be live music, colorful banners and possibly food, in hopes of creating a family friendly demonstration that will draw hundreds of people in all kinds of watercraft.

“Our goal is to get as many people out there having as much fun as possible,” Ross said, “and to leave folks with a really empowering experience, hoping that they will be interested in supporting us.”

After the party dies down, things will get more serious, as organizers watch for signs that the Polar Pioneer may be preparing to leave for the Artic, which some expect to happen before July. A network of activists will be at the ready 24 hours a day to quickly form a kayak flotilla in front of the massive rig, with more joining them soon after. While organizers say safety will be a priority — no one will be put in harm’s way — they expect authorities will respond, and they’re prepared to be arrested.

Asked whether he thought the Polar Pioneer could truly be stopped from making its way to the Arctic, Moyer simply said, “If we don’t try, we’re guaranteed to fail.”

Ross and Sellers, however, said that with enough kayaks and other boats, they believe they could delay Shell’s plans by as much as a few days. Eventually, Shell will move forward with its plans, they admit, but not before the activists make a problem for them.

“If we can block this thing, we can create a crisis that forces the issue into a larger spotlight, and that’s how we’re going to win,” Ross said. “I think it’s unlikely we’re going to stop it completely from going up to the Arctic, but we’re going to make it as costly to them as possible, both financially and in their public image.”

Moyer noted that while he and other activists were initially offended at the idea that Shell’s oil rig would be parked in Seattle, they’re now thinking of it as an opportunity to bring light to larger issues around Arctic drilling and climate change. But they’re also banking on hundreds of people taking part in order to make the effort successful.

“This is a giant David versus Goliath moment,” Moyer said, “I’m honored we can play a role in it.”

To learn more about the Shell protest effort, visit shellno.org or call or text 805-776-3882. Backbone Campaign’s informative meeting will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, on the top floor of the Sheffield Building.