From the Archive

From the Archive

The Ferry that Never was: The Top of the Ocean

Back when I had a blog on forgotten things in the Pacific Northwest, this was one of the more popular stories. Here it. The Top of the Ocean: The restaurant ship that wasn’t a ship Every so often, I get an inquiry about the strange looking “ferry” in postcards parked Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 1 monthApril 2, 2025 ago
From the Archive

Dining on the Water

They have run the gamut, from elegant dining rooms that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a trans-Atlantic ocean liner (the pocket liners operated by Canadian Pacific) to the galleys fitted out with surplus plastic fast food restaurant fittings (the original Issaquah Class galleys.) Black Ball ran all over Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 7 monthsOctober 7, 2024 ago
From the Archive

Hatchet Job: The Conversion of the S.S. Indianapolis

Indianapolis, the smallest of the three Great Lakes steamers was the first to arrive on Puget Sound, arriving at Port Townsend 10 February 1906. She has been fitted with temporary sails to assist her trip via the Strait of Magellan, as there was no Panama Canal to utilize. The Puget Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 1 yearApril 12, 2024 ago
From the Archive

From pocket liner to the funkiest freighter on Puget Sound: the S.S./M.V. Iroquois

No vessel went through such transformation as the Iroquois. With a career that lasted 83 years, that’s probably not a surprise, but the various guises the vessel took on over the years ranged from one boxy, somewhat inelegant rebuild to a transfiguration into one of the weirdest looking vessels on Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 1 yearApril 1, 2024 ago
From the Archive

Evolution of the S.S. Napa Valley

…or de-evolution depending on how you view the metamorphosis from the Napa Valley to the ferry Malahat. Built as the flagship vessel for the Monticello Steamship company, the Napa Valley went into service in 1910 on the thirty-mile trip between San Francisco and Vallejo. She was to be a modern Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 1 yearMarch 30, 2024 ago
From the Archive

From the Archives–The Rosario

I’ve always been fond of this little ferry.She started life in 1923 as the steam powered ferry Whidby for the Whidby Island Transit company, then a subsidiary of PSN, and soon to be totally absorbed by the company, for routes on and around Whidbey Island. She worked in this capacity Read more…

By Chinooksteve, 1 yearMarch 4, 2024 ago
From the Archive

From the Archive

By Chinooksteve, 1 yearJanuary 23, 2024 ago
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