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…
About “chickens coming home to roost.” Yeah, we’ve reached that point, as WSF is rightly pointing out. While transportation systems are very similar, boats are NOT buses, and our ferries spend nearly twenty four hours a day running, every day of every year, making multiple landings each day, an action which is essentially as one captain put it many years back, a “controlled crash.” It takes 19 ferries to maintain the summer schedule in normal Read more…
I wasn’t even a thought in 1962, but a lot of people were traveling to Washington State to take part in the World’s Fair in Seattle, with its “Century 21” theme. You can’t see it in this shot, but the Klickitat–as every vessel in the fleet did at that time–had the “Century 21” sign and logo attached to the side of the ferry. It was the first and (knock wood) only time our ferries were Read more…
Short answer, I had to change providers for the website, which necessitated tearing the entire thing down and starting all over. And here we are. Everything but the B.C. Ferries pages are back up. Due to the sheer size and admitted limited interest in updating the B.C. ferry pages on my part, and the fact that all the boats I was fond of have been or are about to be retired, I’m leaving the work Read more…