Well, let us hope this is just an anomaly and not a symbol for the year to come!

The Puyallap, stalwart of the Kingston-Edmonds run, hit something in the water and bent its propeller blade, resulting in it being pulled from service and cutting Kingston down to one boat–just as WSF was restoring full service to the route. This being the annual winter maintenance period, when many of the ferries are out for desperately needed maintenance and upgrades, there are no boats available to fill the gap.

What’d it hit? Probably a deadhead. What’s a deadhead? A log, with a propensity to float not on its side, but vertically, so that only the top part is visible. They’re not easy to spot in the best of times under ideal conditions, but at night, in the dark? Forget it. With the extreme King Tides and heavy rain we’ve had a times this winter, a lot of stuff gets washed out into Puget Sound. Once upon a time, snag boat like the W.T. Preston, now a museum ship on dry land in Anacortes, used to travel up and down the Sound and up and down the rivers pulling these from the waters. Not so much an issue on the Sound, but on the rivers, not a good thing for salmon habitat.

As for the number of ferries WSF now has, 21, which is the bare minimum (and not even that, really) to get by, we are one major failure away from permanent cuts to service due to lack of replacements. We should have have been building boats by now, but between COVID and lack of diversity in the yards capable of building ferries of the size we need built (Vigor owns nearly everything on the West Coast at this point, and their bid came in too high) it’s going to be 2027 before the first new electric hybrid hits the water. That’s likely going to be too late.

So, as always…stay tuned.

She didn’t get nearly the press or fanfare that a certain other ferry that had been rebuilt on the hull of a previous ferry, (maybe it was the lack of silver paint!) but the Kahloke, (Kah-lo-Key, for the record, meaning “swan” or “white swan” depending on what Chinook dictionary you get) has always been a favorite of mine. She was a much loved vessel too, having become the Langdale Queen when B.C. Ferries took over operations.

One thing that is evident from this photo, there was something about that hull, which had started out as the Asbury Park back in 1903, and was notorious for swamping boats along the New Jersey shore, lost none of its power having had a new superstructure grafted on top of it.

As the Kahloke, and converted to diesel, she lost none of her speed, either. A former worker contacted me and explained that her mis-matached props, four blades on one, five on the other (and which stayed with her all her life, even as a barge) was done in order to slow her down…but it didn’t work. She was a speedy ship, attaining 20 knots easily most of her long career.

What I really wish is that someone–anyone would have taken interior photos of the ferry. Having seen the blueprints for her, she had a uniquely designed lunch counter that must have been something to see in person, and some comfy looking passenger lounges. Black Ball, which extensively photographed the interior of the Chinook, appears not to have done the same with the Kahloke.

If you’re out there and have photos of her interior, I would love to see them!

January 17th 2023, the last day of service for the Powell River Queen, the oldest vessel in the B.C. Ferries fleet. A retirement party was underway, with coffee and cake for passengers who remembered the old ferry, fondly or not.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go off as planned. The oldest ferry in the fleet at 58 years broke down on her last day of service.

I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised that the fate of a 60-year old vessel is in doubt (except for the Coho, which I suspect might outlive me at this point)is up in the air at this point in time, but what I am surprised to read is it is still having issues with asbestos, a nasty substance that WSF rid its fleet of years ago.

Alaska needs new vessels as well, but the political situation around the system seems determined to sink the service entirely. We’ll see if the old ferry every sails again.

Before the merger with Southern Pacific, Golden Gate Ferries had a fleet of its own. The ferries, painted roughly the shade of a California poppy, were mostly made up of wooden vessels. Toward the end of the 20’s, a new set of diesel electric ferries were built, many of which would end up on Puget Sound–Golden Poppy, Golden Age, Golden State, Golden Shore. This particular schedule also depicts the City of Sacramento behind one of the “Golden” ferries.

The bridges did the ferries in, and a good deal of the Southern Pacific-Golden Gate ferries would end their careers on Puget Sound.

You can still find one though–last survivor of the Steel Electric Class, (though she’d been converted to direct drive diesel on Puget Sound) the Santa Rosa still graces the San Francisco waterfront. She’s still remembered on Puget Sound as the “Bremerton boat”, Enetai.

Finally, Happy Half Century to the Walla Walla who earns her gold stripe this year!

She started her first year in service working the Anacortes-San Juan Islands-Sidney run, a stint that lasted exactly one summer season.