April Showers

Not too much of a shock, but WSF’s internal investigation determined that the captain of the Cathlamet “lost situational awareness” and that was the cause of the crash, which, honestly, I believe is probably the worst I’d ever seen.

In the years since the Cathlamet chewed up the docks at both Clinton and Mukilteo (Those instances were mechanical failures, as the entire Issaquah Class came to the fleet with totally whacked out propulsion systems….except, for some reason, the Kittitas.) there has been a great change in the docks and the dolphins (the groups of pilings just outside the dock to help guide/hold the ferry in place when docked.) They’ve gone from being made from a much more forgiving timber to steel and concrete with rubber bumpers. Much better for Puget Sound in that they’re not contaminating anything with creosote, but a lot less forgiving in situations like this. Then again, you’re not supposed to go barreling into them at 15 knots, either.

Still to come are the reports from the NTSB and the Coast Guard, and their recommendations, which…could be interesting. My prediction is going to be increased staffing levels on the bridge, but we’ll see.

So… when does a “private company” (with only one stock holder, that being the government) cease to be a private company? Maaaybeee when you infuse it with, you know, 500 million clams to keep fairs from going up? Or, maybe replacing the head of said company with the former head of another government run entity? That’s the question that seems to be going through the minds of many Canadians about the current state of B.C. Ferries.

I have never understood this set up, and given the recent actions of the government of British Columbia propping up the “private company”, I understand it even less. Perhaps it is time to officially making B.C. Ferries a Crown Company–it’s all but there now anyway. Can we bring back the pastel blue if we they do? I always thought the ferries looked sharp in the pastel blue. Oh! And please, please, please bring back the dogwood flag!

So, staffing is short. Those of us familiar with the maritime industry know the hurtles a worker must go through to advance in the ferry system, including sea time, licenses, training, etc. The legislature in Washington is working on these issues actively–there are several bills working their way through the system right now. In addition, WSF has hired well over 100 new employees.

The Alaska Marine Highway system, also suffering from a crew shortages, had 241 applicants to help fill that gap over the last year, and they hired…four.

There were a variety of reasons for this, but it seems Alaska, like everyone else in the industry, though they’d been warned of the coming “Gray Wave” since at least 2012, seemed blissfully unaware of the unfolding situation. Granted, no one accounted for COVID turning that wave into a tsunami, but…four workers in a year?

Yowsa.

I like to check in on the old Kulshan, which is now the Governor at Martha’s Vineyard. The same age as the retired Evergreen State, I’m quite honestly surprised she’s still in service. It may not be for much longer though, as Martha’s Vineyard, like just about everywhere else, is looking toward electrifying their ferry fleet.

I have now seen a photo dated May of 1956 showing the Quinault with the large windows on the car deck she came with from the San Francisco Bay days. I always knew she held onto them the longest, but now I’m starting to wonder if she held onto them up to the point she went in for the overhaul in the winter of 1957/58.

If you’ve got a late photo of the Quinault with the portholes on the car deck from 1956 or 57, I’d be very interested to see it!