_{The Quillayute arrives. This photo was taken after the ferry had been moved to Black Ball’s Canadian operations. Colorized by/from the author’s collection.}

BUILT: 1927, Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Co. WA, for Sound Ferry Lines

PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Quillayute, b. Samson IV

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 226513 (Canada:193305)

L/B/D: 160 x 52 x 13 GROSS/NET TONS: 986/670 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 600/36

PROPULSION: Washington Estep Diesel, 750 HP SPEED: 10 knots

NAME TRANSLATION: From the Quileute tribe and river of the same name, meaning “Joining together of rivers.”

FINAL DISPOSITION: Scrapped, 2003.

HISTORY

When the Sound Ferry System built the Quillayute in 1927 they had little idea that a mere year later their company would be absorbed by the Puget Sound Navigation Company.

Black Ball assigned the ferry to the Kingston-Edmonds-Port Ludlow run where she stayed pretty much until the Bay ferries with their larger capacity came on line. She then moved to Point Defiance and then up into the San Juan Islands, where she worked alongside the Vashon and on the international route between Anacortes and Sidney, B.C.

Not part of the sale to the State of Washington in 1951, Captain Peabody had the ferry reconditioned and sent up to Canada to be part of his new ferry service out of Horseshoe Bay.  The Quillayute entered service looking basically like she always had, the only major change to her profile being the closing in of her car deck windows into a line of portholes.

With the Chinook II and Kahloke added to the fleet, the larger vessels took over Black Ball’s main route between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo, freeing up the Quillayute to work the smaller runs with less traffic.  For a number of years, the ferry worked the Earl’s Cove-Saltery Bay run.

B.C. Ferries picked up the Quillayute along with the other ferries of the Black Ball Fleet when they took over operations in 1961.

As with all aging vessels, mechanical issues began to plague the ferry.  Constructed completely of wood, she became steadily costlier to keep in good running condition.  The final straw came in 1963 when the ferry struck a deadhead, punching a hole through her wooden hull planks.  Her captain had to ground her on a sand bar to keep her from sinking.

As the new ferry system built up its fleet, the Quillayute became less and less of an asset. With her all wood construction, limited carrying capacity and mechanical woes, B.C. Ferries wisely disposed of the little ferry.

The Quillayute was converted into a floating fish camp and renamed Samson IV.  She served in that capacity for the next 37 years.

23 June 2003, while still in use as a fish camp moored in Naden Harbour, Graham Island, the Quillayute’s (as the Samson IV) neighboring fish camp, the Pender Lady, began to list.  The Coast Guard rescued the people on board, but not before taking note of the Quillayute’s condition. The next day, with the two vessels boomed off, the Pender Lady began to sink by the stern. Later in the afternoon, she had completely sunk in 55 feet of water.  The Pender Lady‘s hull had been stuffed with foam plastic in order to maintain buoyancy and help keep her afloat.  An inspection on the Quillayute revealed the old Black Ball ferry to be in a similar condition as the now sunken Pender Lady, including a hull stuffed with foam plastic to help keep the boat floating.

Fearing an even greater oil spill than the 2,000 liters that had come from the Pender Lady, it was decided that both vessels should be disposed of to prevent further environmental damage—and that’s exactly what happened.  The Pender Lady was raised and broken up; the Quillayute towed to shore and broken up.  What couldn’t be salvaged was burned, ending over 75 years of service.