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 Read more…
“The phrase ‘may you live in interesting times’ is the lowest in a trilogy of Chinese curses that continue ‘may you come to the attention of those in authority’ and finish with ‘may the gods give you everything you ask for.’ I have no idea about its authenticity.”–Terry Pratchett. I’m with the late Sir Terry on the authenticity of said curses, but given the past few years, there is a certain ringing veracity to each Read more…
It’s all in the fine print… If you’ve been following the progress of the new ferries, which WSF desperately needs since shall we say two dowagers of the fleet could potentially be one bad Coast Guard inspection away from being yanked from service ala the Steel Electrics (cough cough Yakima, cough cough Kaleetan) and with my beloved Spokane getting her gold stripe for 50 years of service (just like the author here) this little tidbit Read more…
Well, this kinda sucks… Not too surprising, the Sidney run is not going to sail this Spring and likely not this summer, either. Lack of available crew is to blame, and quite understandably, WSF is directing resources to getting domestic service up to normal levels. Perhaps this fall service will be restored for a late celebration of the historic runs 100th anniversary, which was started with that unlikely looking “ferry” above. The idea of taking Read more…
Well, here we are in 2022, which is looking suspiciously like 2021. Just when we seemed to be getting a handle on the latest covid variant, along comes omicron. It’s that maybe we’re on the downside of that now, but…you never know when the next mutation will come along. On the plus side of things, after spending much time sidelined after the engine room fire, the Wenatchee returned to service on the Seattle-Bainbridge route. Now, Read more…
Well, here it is, the end of another very trying year. Just when it seemed like we might be turning the corner on the pandemic, hello omicron. In ferry-related news, we got this from the Washington State Transportation Commission on their selection of the new name: “It represents a geographic area in the state that doesn’t have a ferry named for it right now,” said Commissioner Debbie Young, of San Juan County. The state’s M/V Read more…
Well, it is that time of year. The idiotic time change happens, we are plunged into sunsets at 4 PM, and rain, rain, rain galore. Truthfully, I don’t mind the rain, and after such a dry summer, we sure need it. We’ve started off the month very wet and windy however, with (as of this writing on the 6th) no end in sight. I guess all this is to say, “Hello, La Nina.” Meanwhile, an Read more…
The oldest ferry in the fleet, currently working the San Juans Interisland route, is down with generator problems. The problem is serious enough to knock the ferry out of service for a week, and has put the islands on “Weekend Winter Schedule.” *update–kudos to the engineers, who got the old girl back up and running a week early. She went back into service 10/5/2021. Kalakala II was the only “serious” name submitted to the state Read more…
It’s been in the news quite a bit about the missed sailings by Washington State Ferries. Understandable, being the largest ferry system in the US, they’re going to have the bulk of the publicity. However, this isn’t unique to WSF. The shortage of workers has caused canceled sailings in British Columbia, and also in Alaska. In addition, Pierce County also missed sailings due to short of qualified crew. The maritime industry as a whole is Read more…
Hard to believe 2021 is half way done and dusted. While covid is still a huge concern, and as of this writing is on the rise again, the little bit of “normal” we’ve been able to reclaim has been a needed boost to the mental health of thousands. At WSF, the struggles continue. The agency is short on boats and short on staff, the latter so much so that a second boat at Port Townsend Read more…