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Post by rwbsparks on Jun 28, 2017 23:14:17 GMT -8
I witnessed two very rare anomalies on the Seattle- Winslow route today. 1. Ferry traveling from Winslow to Seattle traveled much farther south than normal and sailed between Blakely Rock and Restoration Point while the ferry from traveling from Seattle followed the normal royte. Passing Port to Port. I have seen the Winslow bound ferry sail south of Blakely Rock but never the Seattle bound ferry. What might have caused this? 2. Ferry departing Winslow (M/V Tacoma) departs late. Instead of holding outside the channel, Wenatchee entered the channel to enter Eagle Harbor while Tacoma was still in Eagle Harbor. This caused the two ferries to pass in the channel. In my past experience the vessel approaching Eagle Harbor has always waited for the departing vessel to leave the channel before entering. I had no idea the channel was wide enough for 2 JMIIs. Reminds me of a not-so-similar, yet odd incident on my crossing on the Kaleetan last Sunday. The guy running the controls in the pilothouse must've been a newb. We had to back up and re-approach the slip about four or five times. The first landing attempt put us square to the righthand wingwall heading inbound. The second almost put us head-on into the inner nav dolphin. The final landing was so hard it lurched us out of our seats in the upper solarium. When the vessel sailed south of Blakely Rock I thought for a moment it has lost rudder control and was going to go up onto the beach. Took forever to make the turn toward Seattle. That's quite funny with the missed approaches. I miss approaches in my speed boat all the time but these helmsmen are supposed to be professionals.
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Post by Edmondsguy on Jun 30, 2017 13:46:31 GMT -8
Anyone care to bet on a 4th of July cruise?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 30, 2017 18:01:46 GMT -8
Anyone care to bet on a 4th of July cruise? What are we betting on?
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Post by Edmondsguy on Jul 1, 2017 11:32:32 GMT -8
in many of the years past one of the boats has had problems on 4th of July weekends and as such with so many making it a 4 day weekend. I am betting the at-least one boat will break down. as such when that has happened that boat often does it while on route. so it becomes a LONG trip and turns into the 4th of July cruise.
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Post by bainbridgeguy on Jul 2, 2017 17:08:49 GMT -8
in many of the years past one of the boats has had problems on 4th of July weekends and as such with so many making it a 4 day weekend. I am betting the at-least one boat will break down. as such when that has happened that boat often does it while on route. so it becomes a LONG trip and turns into the 4th of July cruise. Well, your prediction has already come true... Hopefully this doesn't last very long, but it may be interesting to see what happens if this does. Sea/BI - M/V Tacoma is out of service 7/2 The M/V Tacoma is out of service due to a mechanical problem with the drive motor. This will cancel the 5:30pm and 7:10pm departures from Bainbridge and the 6:20pm and 8:10pm departures from Seattle. The next departures from Bainbridge will be at 6:30pm and 8:10pm and the next sailings from Seattle will depart at 5:30pm and 7:20pm. Alternate routes are Seattle/Bremerton or Edmonds/Kingston. Updates will be provided as conditions change.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jul 2, 2017 19:21:59 GMT -8
And the latest service bulletin indicates it's a control system issue.
She had drive motor problems Friday morning, but that was fixed quickly.
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Jul 11, 2017 11:31:48 GMT -8
Here's what I was talking about a few months ago about how they changed the whistle on the Walla Walla. I finally managed to get a recording, so I made a comparison video. I still have no idea as to why they would change it.
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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Post by FNS on Jul 11, 2017 15:39:25 GMT -8
Here's what I was talking about a few months ago about how they changed the whistle on the Walla Walla. I finally managed to get a recording, so I made a comparison video. I still have no idea as to why they would change it. I believe she still has her original whistles. Either they're testing a practice of using one whistle at a time (bass or high note) or doing "whistle maintenance". The two trumpets are normally paired and sounded together. Hope they're not turning the "Big W" into a "QUEEN OF BURNABY" (I'll let you figure out why).
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Jul 21, 2017 13:02:37 GMT -8
I was in the San Juans a few weeks ago (before the Yakima broke down), and I was watching how far behind the vessels were getting because of "heavy vehicle traffic". Is the dwell time at each dock not timed for how long it takes to fully unload and load a full boat? If it is, what is making the boats run late if there is enough time to load and unload a full boat?
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jul 26, 2017 7:13:06 GMT -8
I was in the San Juans a few weeks ago (before the Yakima broke down), and I was watching how far behind the vessels were getting because of "heavy vehicle traffic". Is the dwell time at each dock not timed for how long it takes to fully unload and load a full boat? If it is, what is making the boats run late if there is enough time to load and unload a full boat? I was noticing this as well. One or two of the service bulletins mentioned the Yakima running at reduced speed which made me wonder if the previous generator issues hadn't been resolved. It would explain the higher than normal "behind schedule" bulletins for that route.
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Post by EGfleet on Jul 26, 2017 7:51:09 GMT -8
I was in the San Juans a few weeks ago (before the Yakima broke down), and I was watching how far behind the vessels were getting because of "heavy vehicle traffic". Is the dwell time at each dock not timed for how long it takes to fully unload and load a full boat? If it is, what is making the boats run late if there is enough time to load and unload a full boat? I was noticing this as well. One or two of the service bulletins mentioned the Yakima running at reduced speed which made me wonder if the previous generator issues hadn't been resolved. It would explain the higher than normal "behind schedule" bulletins for that route. My understanding from those in the know is the schedule has never been adjusted for the larger boats (the Samish taking the place of the Sealth or other Issaquah, for example) or the fact that the Samish is a slower boat. In addition, the schedule does not taken into account that the Supers are slowing down with each passing year and cannot run at the speed the schedule allows for unless they're running with a really strong current. It's one of the same issues at Vashon I've been told, the schedule of which was based on dwell time for an Issaquah, Evergreen State Class, and a Steel Electric. There's a big problem of "we've always done it this way" when it comes to the schedules, when in actuality they probably need to be thrown out and completely redrawn from scratch to reflect the current reality.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 15, 2017 14:23:16 GMT -8
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Sept 6, 2017 21:32:28 GMT -8
Question for our WSF correspondents about vehicle loading.
Does WSF follow the BC Ferries practice of just having people park themselves onboard after being directed to the appropriate lane, or is there crew directing you to pull up close to the vehicle in front? On BC ferries, there is a lot of space- at least one AEQ per lane, and sometime two, lost when people are paranoid that someone's unwashed pant leg is going to brush against the front of their precious vehicle... or maybe they're just clueless. On a 450' multi-decked vessel with 14-18 lanes, that can add up to a lot of capacity lost. I suppose BC Ferries has made the decision that it's not cost effective to have the crew necessary to shepherd everyone snug up against the car in front. Just wondering if WSF is more vigilant- but I doubt it, given vessel crew complements are much smaller than north of the border.
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Post by Kahloke on Sept 7, 2017 4:29:50 GMT -8
Question for our WSF correspondents about vehicle loading. Does WSF follow the BC Ferries practice of just having people park themselves onboard after being directed to the appropriate lane, or is there crew directing you to pull up close to the vehicle in front? On BC ferries, there is a lot of space- at least one AEQ per lane, and sometime two, lost when people are paranoid that someone's unwashed pant leg is going to brush against the front of their precious vehicle... or maybe they're just clueless. On a 450' multi-decked vessel with 14-18 lanes, that can add up to a lot of capacity lost. I suppose BC Ferries has made the decision that it's not cost effective to have the crew necessary to shepherd everyone snug up against the car in front. Just wondering if WSF is more vigilant- but I doubt it, given vessel crew complements are much smaller than north of the border. Based on my observations over the years, I have discovered it is largely route-specific. On the Central Sound commuter routes like Seattle-Bainbridge, Seattle-Bremerton, and Edmonds-Kingston, loading procedures seem to be like what you experience on BC Ferries: the crew point you to a lane, but there's usually not a second deck-hand directing you to pull in close to the vehicle in front of you. At Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, it is much more common to have that second deck hand pulling the cars in close to squeeze in as many as they can. I suppose on some of those shorter crossings with minimal dwell time, speed is of the essence in order to maintain the schedule, so crews don't take the time to direct cars to pull in tight. They just load and go. In the San Juans, sailings are every 2 to 3 hours, and sometimes longer, so the schedule typically factors in a longer dwell time to allow the crews to direct cars in a manner that will maximize deck space. There are other reasons for the longer dwell times in the islands, like single-lane ramps vs. the duel-lane ramps elsewhere, and in the case of Friday Harbor, the fact that the single-lane ramp dumps traffic right into downtown streets, thus increasing the amount of time it takes to unload a vessel there. But, that's probably more than you wanted to know.
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Post by chokai on Sept 8, 2017 8:40:23 GMT -8
This summer on Mukilteo/Clinton there's been a lot of times that Tokitae (since she's slow in both sailing speed and loading due to # of cars) has been more than 20 minutes behind by the evening. That means the destination dock will not be empty when whatever the Issaquah-130 of the day is arrives. In that case since they are blocked anyways the they seem to be choosing to stay a little extra at the origin and tinker with the loading. Last Sunday they took an entire extra lane over what they normally would off the Clinton dock, which fortunately meant we caught the boat!
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Post by PeninsulaExplorer on Oct 2, 2017 5:04:01 GMT -8
The current Eagle Harbor residents (listed from left to right): Klahowya (hiding behind the Kittitas), Kittitas, Samish, and Salish.
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Post by Barnacle on Oct 7, 2017 8:57:42 GMT -8
The Issaquah, Kitsap (Only End. 2), Cathlamet (Only End. 2), Chelan, and the Sealth were changed (along with the Walla Walla). I was on the pickleforks right above the range whistle when the whistle was sounded, and I am sure that it was the Ship's Whistle, not the range whistle. The range whistle would have scared the heak out of me. Also, the Walla Walla doesn't have a range whistle, so I am 100% sure they changed the Ship's Whistle. I don't know if the limitations changed, the Issaquah's seemed to have changed about a year ago, and the Walla Walla's about a month ago. Also it seems weird that they would leave one end of the boat the same, but tune up the other one. hopefully they don't change the Spokane's whistle They haven't changed the Walla Walla's whistle, either. But for some reason the last time I was aboard they had one note out of two shut off, possibly for maintenance. It's mostly noticeable because (1) well, it's a single note instead of two, which is the "trademark" sound of the whistle, and (2) it's a different note on each end.
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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Post by FNS on Oct 7, 2017 13:55:18 GMT -8
hopefully they don't change the Spokane's whistle They haven't changed the Walla Walla's whistle, either. But for some reason the last time I was aboard they had one note out of two shut off, possibly for maintenance. It's mostly noticeable because (1) well, it's a single note instead of two, which is the "trademark" sound of the whistle, and (2) it's a different note on each end. I have heard the Big W's whistles recently. The End #1 (West End) whistle being used at this time is the higher pitched and End #2 (East End) is the lower pitch.
With the bass note turned off, there seems to be more air coming into the higher pitch whistle at End #1 and it sounds more like the VASHON's whistles (she had one at each end of her funnel with identical sounds).
Ah, the sweet sound of the late MV VASHON is back on Puget Sound for a little awhile.
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Post by Barnacle on Oct 9, 2017 9:45:20 GMT -8
From what I've heard of recordings identified as the Vashon, her whistle was similar in pitch to the originals from the Steel-Electrics and the Wood-Electrics. (The Klickitat had her original whistles to the end; the others were replaced with a still higher pitch.)
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Post by R30A on Oct 31, 2017 11:22:33 GMT -8
Found this from EGFleet's day room this month. Interesting information here. www.islandssounder.com/news/washington-state-ferries-grapple-with-funding-issues/Things worthy of note in the document on the bottom- The flow chart for what would happen with a single failure in any location The fit chart showing suitability of each boat to each line. (Green for ideal, Yellow for less than ideal, Red for poor fit... Although we have seen "red" assignments happen) Also... It shows auto capacity for each boat. Looks like everything has been downgraded again, although rather slightly. Jumbo II :197 Jumbo :186 Super :139 Olympic :141 Issaquah 130 :120 Issaquah 100 :89 Evergreen :81 KDT :62
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Post by R30A on Feb 11, 2018 21:12:59 GMT -8
Not entirely sure where to post this, but an oddity I noticed on Friday Night. I caught the Cathlamet from Fauntleroy to Vashon and the #1 end was facing Fauntleroy. Has the F-V-S route been flipped in vessel orientation? Is it just specific trips that do this that I missed in the past?
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Post by Cascadian Transport on Feb 11, 2018 21:33:29 GMT -8
Not entirely sure where to post this, but an oddity I noticed on Friday Night. I caught the Cathlamet from Fauntleroy to Vashon and the #1 end was facing Fauntleroy. Has the F-V-S route been flipped in vessel orientation? Is it just specific trips that do this that I missed in the past? They started doing that a couple months ago. From what I heard, a new procedure has been implemented on that route in which the vessels will switch orientation I believe once every two weeks. The reasoning behind this is to equalize the use of the two engines, as the setup of the route forces them to use one engine significantly more than the other.
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Post by sounder on Feb 12, 2018 6:26:30 GMT -8
Not entirely sure where to post this, but an oddity I noticed on Friday Night. I caught the Cathlamet from Fauntleroy to Vashon and the #1 end was facing Fauntleroy. Has the F-V-S route been flipped in vessel orientation? Is it just specific trips that do this that I missed in the past? They started doing that a couple months ago. From what I heard, a new procedure has been implemented on that route in which the vessels will switch orientation I believe once every two weeks. The reasoning behind this is to equalize the use of the two engines, as the setup of the route forces them to use one engine significantly more than the other. The assigned boats, Issaquah, Cathlamet, and Sealth have stayed with this configuration with the #1 end facing Fauntleroy since they made the initial switch. It is when the other Issaquah boats sub in that their #2 end will be facing Fauntleroy. I always get a good laugh at my self for going down the wrong staircase when the boat is docking just from being a creature of habit.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Mar 13, 2018 21:36:37 GMT -8
Is there an announcement on every WSF sailing about safety? It's been three or four years since I've travelled on our southern neighbor's ships, and I don't recall if there was a parallel to the BC Ferries recordings.
The BC Ferries announcements have gotten longer, and in my opinion, are really annoying. Even on the cable barge to Denman Island, you are warned of the dangers of doorsills, wet decks, wind, stairs, and luggage improperly stored under seats. I guess BC Ferries consulted their lawyers about every conceivable danger, and tailored the messages accordingly. I don't even like the voice used, but that's probably overly curmudgeonly of me.
So... are WSF passengers warned of all the awful things that can happen to you on a twenty minute sailing, every time you ride the boats?
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Post by PNW_ferrynerd on Mar 13, 2018 23:16:51 GMT -8
Is there an announcement on every WSF sailing about safety? It's been three or four years since I've travelled on our southern neighbor's ships, and I don't recall if there was a parallel to the BC Ferries recordings. The BC Ferries announcements have gotten longer, and in my opinion, are really annoying. Even on the cable barge to Denman Island, you are warned of the dangers of doorsills, wet decks, wind, stairs, and luggage improperly stored under seats. I guess BC Ferries consulted their lawyers about every conceivable danger, and tailored the messages accordingly. I don't even like the voice used, but that's probably overly curmudgeonly of me. So... are WSF passengers warned of all the awful things that can happen to you on a twenty minute sailing, every time you ride the boats? Yes, Every vessel/sailing has the safety announcement
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