KULSHAN (II)

BUILT: 1954 Oakland, CA.

PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Crown City, b. Kulshan, c. Governor

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 267527 CALL SIGN: WF6787

L/B/D: 242 x12 x 65 GROSS/NET TONS: 678/352 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 350/65 (1969)

NAME TRANSLATION: For the steamer of the same name; Native American name for Mount Baker; various meanings, including, “white sentinel” and “shot at the point”

FINAL DISPOSITION:  As of 2020, in service as the Governor at for the Martha’s Vineyard Steamship Authority.

HISTORY

The Kulshan probably has the unique distinction of being one of the most disliked ferries to ever sail Puget Sound waters.  While a dependable boat, she was never popular. Her open deck and flattened profile was often greeted with, “that’s the ugliest ferry I’ve ever seen” by many a commuter used to full service ferries with large passenger cabins and galley service. The Kulshan didn’t have either.

The ferry had started her career as the Crown City for the San Diego-Coronado Ferry Company, operating there until 1969.  Open decks were fine for San Diego, where many a pleasant sunny and temperate afternoon would be spent walking the open car deck, but it wasn’t much use in Washington State. Added to that, the propensity for most passengers aboard WSF vessels, once on the boat, is to “go upstairs” and stretch out a bit.  Not so on the Kulshan, although you could wander the car deck and peer over the side at the foaming Sound.

Normally haunting the Clinton, Whidbey Island, to Mukilteo route, the Kulshan found her way to Hood Canal for a time after the bridge sank, where the barge-like ferry rolled heavily when conditions got rough—which they often do on the Canal. Winds are funneled down the narrow body of water and can kick up very heavy seas.  It was just such a condition (along with a slack tide) that sank the bridge in the first place.  It wasn’t uncommon to see a green-faced passenger in their car as the Kulshan rolled and pitched her away across a stormy Hood Canal.

The ferry achieved a little bit of immortality while working on Puget Sound.  The Kulshan was rented out for the filming of An Officer and a Gentleman.  The ferry was featured prominently as actress Deborah Winger walked the deck, the Kulshan motoring aimlessly up and down the Canal.

The State sold the ferry to the Coast Guard in 1982 for a hefty profit, and she went out to New York under the name of Governor, working from Governor’s Island to New York City. (The Coast Guard isn’t known for giving ferries imaginative names, from what I’ve been told.)

From the early 1980’s into the early 1990’s the old Kulshan sailed that route.  She made her last sailing for the Coast Guard on 26 July 1997 and was sold shortly thereafter.

Somewhere along the line a rumor got circulated that the Kulshan had somehow managed to get sunk by the Coast Guard.  Nothing could be further from the truth. A quick of check of the online Coast Guard records easily dispelled this. It is very much still working as a reserve ferry for the Steamship Authority at Martha’s Vineyard, generally working mostly in the summers.  Having been repowered to direct drive diesel, she is still working even though her “replacement” went into service a few years ago, her open deck, once the scourge of Puget Sound, proving invaluable for hauling freight.