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Post by Barnacle on Jan 13, 2008 9:37:01 GMT -8
Questions from me: Why not wait until the Wenatchee is done, move the Puyallup back to Kingston, Walla Walla to Bremerton, Kitsap to replace Chelan at Vashon?? Why not leave the Klahowya at Point Defiance and continue to use the Evergreen State in the San Juans? (1) There's an article around here somewhere that states which four boats have been given 120 days to achieve steel replacement by the USCG (Evergreen State, Kaleetan, Rhododendron, and... um... one other), and that's throwing the schedule into havoc again. Your plan would've made more sense, but "waiting" isn't an option. With any luck Dakota Creek will be buttoning up the Hyak fairly soon and that will uncork most of the bottleneck. (2) That's being discussed in another thread, and there aren't any answers beyond speculation over there, either. The likelihood is that of having the Evergreen in closer proximity to the majority of the shipyards in the region when some fortuitous yard time should appear.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 13, 2008 9:46:35 GMT -8
(1) There's an article around here somewhere that states which four boats have been given 120 days to achieve steel replacement by the USCG (Evergreen State, Kaleetan, Rhododendron, and... um... one other), and that's throwing the schedule into havoc again. The Tillikum is the other. It's actually 3 vessels that have to have the steel replacement within 120 days (the Rhododendron isn't allowed back into service until the repairs are made, but the other 3 are staying in service until the repairs are made (assuming the repairs are made within the mandated 120 days)).
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Post by zman on Jan 13, 2008 14:48:28 GMT -8
Has anything bad been discovered on the other supers? I know that the Hyak is getting worked on, but I have not heard much except "it's Okay" on the Kaleetan.
WSF seems to think the big boat swapping will last for a month or so.
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 15, 2008 8:57:33 GMT -8
Ferry riders face year of disruption Schedule shake-ups mean delays as aging boats are sidelined- Seattle PI headline from this morning's paper. See link for article: seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/347289_ferry15.htmlThis isn't really news for us "ferry buffs", but it is finally now making headlines.
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Post by zman on Jan 15, 2008 9:11:49 GMT -8
It is not good...the Tillikum left Bremerton at 7:30 and arrived Seattle at 8:35. Then, all passengers have to use the car deck, as the overhead walkway at slip 2 (the only one the Tillikum can use) is broken. The port side of the passenger deck has a strange configuration due to the life rafts. Instead of having rolling gates, the gate swings in, and there is not much space to put a loading ramp on.
The Chelan and Rhody went up into Todd yesterday.
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Post by chokai on Jan 15, 2008 18:45:43 GMT -8
Has Tillikum been able to keep the schedule at anything approaching normal? I noticed on SiiTech's site she was showing as running at ~15knots. Regular service is about ~13 right?
A thought crossed my mind though, why not sub her at Mukilteo/Clinton where the crossing is so short and borrow the Kittitas or Cathlamet? Or is the weekday car traffic there that much higher? I ride it alot but generally only on the weekends so I don't know squat about the weekday traffic there honestly.
Guess there are no problems keeping the engines warm now as someone mentioned being an issue at Point Defiance /Tahlequah. . ;-)
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 15, 2008 18:57:40 GMT -8
I still maintain the better plan was to put the Sealth back at Bremerton and stick the Tilly in the islands, but then another boat needing steel work would've been out in the hinterlands.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 15, 2008 20:25:38 GMT -8
Did the modifications made to the rescue craft storage area back in 2002 have any affect on the ability to use the overhead ramp at the #1 slip or would the Tillikum still not have been to use that ramp?
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 16, 2008 7:00:43 GMT -8
I haven't the foggiest. I last worked (set foot) on the Tillikum in January 2001. ;D
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Post by In Washington on Jan 16, 2008 7:44:42 GMT -8
The Tillikum has not been able to keep the schedule. Part of that is speed and part was due to the overhead loading in Seattle being broken, passengers loaded and unloaded via the car deck.
She was 10 minutes late on the Brem>Sea 0720 this morning but should get back on schedule for the Brem>Sea 1015.
The 1015 was the only Bremerton (Tillikum) departure on time yesterday. The Kaleetan continues to be the reliable old girl.
If someone saw the Tillikum at 15 knots it must have been with the tide through Rich Passage! I don't think she cranks up that high on her own.
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Post by northwesterner on Jan 16, 2008 15:40:54 GMT -8
Has Tillikum been able to keep the schedule at anything approaching normal? I noticed on SiiTech's site she was showing as running at ~15knots. Regular service is about ~13 right? A thought crossed my mind though, why not sub her at Mukilteo/Clinton where the crossing is so short and borrow the Kittitas or Cathlamet? Or is the weekday car traffic there that much higher? I ride it alot but generally only on the weekends so I don't know squat about the weekday traffic there honestly. I think sending the Tillikum to Mukilteo-Clinton is a lot better idea than running her at Bremerton. The crossing is so short, I doubt that the Issaquahs get going much faster than 13 knots. Also, in the winter time, does the route need the 124 car capacity? Could it get by with a smaller vessel? The Tillikum has run that route as a fill-in for the Issaquahs before. Its been over ten years since she's done it, but... Seattle-Bremerton is such a long route that her lower speed becomes a liability. Hasn't it been posted here before that the commuters on that route prefer the Supers because they make the crossing in about 45-50 minutes compared with 55-60 for the Issaquahs?
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 16, 2008 16:14:29 GMT -8
I wonder if they even run the Issaquah class vessels at full speed on Mukilteo-Clinton. The last time I was on that route (early September), the vessel I was on (Cathlamet) didn't seem to be going at full speed (based on the engine noise).
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 16, 2008 18:33:13 GMT -8
Has Tillikum been able to keep the schedule at anything approaching normal? I noticed on SiiTech's site she was showing as running at ~15knots. Regular service is about ~13 right? A thought crossed my mind though, why not sub her at Mukilteo/Clinton where the crossing is so short and borrow the Kittitas or Cathlamet? Or is the weekday car traffic there that much higher? I ride it alot but generally only on the weekends so I don't know squat about the weekday traffic there honestly. I think sending the Tillikum to Mukilteo-Clinton is a lot better idea than running her at Bremerton. The crossing is so short, I doubt that the Issaquahs get going much faster than 13 knots. Also, in the winter time, does the route need the 124 car capacity? Could it get by with a smaller vessel? The Tillikum has run that route as a fill-in for the Issaquahs before. Its been over ten years since she's done it, but... Seattle-Bremerton is such a long route that her lower speed becomes a liability. Hasn't it been posted here before that the commuters on that route prefer the Supers because they make the crossing in about 45-50 minutes compared with 55-60 for the Issaquahs? I kind of wondered why they didn't just kill the inter-island boat in the San Juans and run the Yakima 12 hours a day instead of six.
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Post by zman on Jan 17, 2008 7:55:02 GMT -8
It seems that the Tillikum takes about 65-70 minutes to make the trip.
As for the Seattle overhead loading, slip 2 needs to be used because the liferafts installed on the port side of the vessel have modified the gate for the overhead loading bridge. The starboard side is the normal rolling gates that slide forward and backwards. The port side has a large gate that swings in towards the middle of the vessel, and the newer loading bridges cannot be used.
Slip 2 in Seattle has an older style overhead walkway plank that is manually lifted onto the vessel.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 17, 2008 9:22:07 GMT -8
I'm not quite sure why the swinging gate hasn't been modified into a roller like every other gate in the fleet... with the retirement of the Steel-Eclectics, that swinging gate has to be just about the last one left.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 17, 2008 10:10:33 GMT -8
I'm not quite sure why the swinging gate hasn't been modified into a roller like every other gate in the fleet... with the retirement of the Steel-Eclectics, that swinging gate has to be just about the last one left. Probably not enough room for a rolling gate. The area between the end of the picklefork and the rescue boat station is very small (at best barely enough for the ramp). The Klahowya has the same problem.
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FNS
Voyager
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Post by FNS on Jan 17, 2008 10:29:42 GMT -8
I wonder if they even run the Issaquah class vessels at full speed on Mukilteo-Clinton. The last time I was on that route (early September), the vessel I was on (Cathlamet) didn't seem to be going at full speed (based on the engine noise). They do "throttle-up" sometimes. When they get behind and when traffic is horrid. In my experiences in riding this run for so many years, this has happened several times. Sometimes, they just throw out the schedule and just unload, load, and go! It took 14 minutes for a 256-foot Steel-Electric to do this run from dock to dock. It takes a little less time for an I-Class to do this, although it might take more time landing these 328-footers.
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Post by zman on Jan 17, 2008 12:42:43 GMT -8
Yeah, if WSF put a rolling gate in on the Tillikum, it would be in the way of the life boat. The Evergreen State has so much extra room on the picklefork, there is not a problem with having the rolling gates onboard.
Edit: If you look at the "Ferry Drawings" page 2, you will see the Klahowya at the bottom of the page. Look at the left side and you can see how much space the life boat takes.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 18, 2008 14:31:28 GMT -8
Unless the rescue boat physically hangs over the side of the vessel with its buoyancy chambers, a rolling gate wouldn't be a problem... it's more a question of whether the gap could be wide enough to land a plank. And all the drawings in the world won't make a difference to me--I have to physically see the set-up. I'm hard wired that way.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 19, 2008 10:53:31 GMT -8
Shuffling act expected to squeeze ferry serviceBy Mike Lindblom Seattle Times transportation reporter Riders on the Washington State Ferries can expect to wait longer at some Puget Sound docks this spring. The aging fleet is being shuffled while several boats undergo repairs, in what spokeswoman Marta Coursey called "the fluid and ever-changing maintenance and service plan." That means smaller vessels or fewer sailings at certain times. The affected routes are: • Seattle-to-Bremerton. A pair of 124-car vessels, the Chelan and the Kitsap, will operate, instead of one 144-car vessel and one 124-car vessel, from March 2 to 22. There would be less capacity for walk-ons, not just cars, at peak commute times. • San Juan Islands. The Hiyu, the system's smallest boat, with a 34-car capacity, will run on the interisland route from early February to mid-June, replacing a larger vessel. Route schedules to Lopez Island will be revised, in cooperation with the local ferry advisory committee. • Anacortes-to-San Juan Islands. Smaller boats will be used April 6 to 26, reducing overall capacity. • Port Townsend-to-Keystone. The 50-car Steilacoom II, leased from Pierce County, will begin on the route in early February, until spring 2009, allowing vehicle service to resume. Currently, the route serves walk-on passengers only. When the Steilacoom II undergoes its required Coast Guard inspection this December, or if Pierce County needs it, the passenger-only ferry Snohomish would travel the Port Townsend-Keystone route. • Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth. A two-boat schedule, which started Monday, will stay in effect through mid-February, before returning to the usual three boats. Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond deactivated four 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries in November because of badly rusted hulls, while inspections found hull problems in four other ferries. Another vessel is due for an engine overhaul, Coursey said. Updates will be posted at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries. Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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Post by zman on Jan 21, 2008 14:00:13 GMT -8
Why not delay the Walla Walla and Spokane for a couple of weeks and fix the big mess?
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Jan 21, 2008 15:28:00 GMT -8
She just got up there. She wont be ready til when the Hyak will be ready.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 23, 2008 8:03:50 GMT -8
Why not delay the Walla Walla and Spokane for a couple of weeks and fix the big mess? The Walla Walla has her annual Coast Guard inspection due. That's something they don't really like to bend on, and we're not in a position to negotiate with them. Not sure what is going on with the Spokane. Anyway, WSF is trying to get a hellacious quantity of work done in a very short time; everyone's going to feel the pinch at some point. The San Juans will get its turn when the Hiyu sits in for the Evergreen Rotation for three months... you think your one-month inconvenience is a drag? Having the Flying Saucer as the interisland boat is going to play hob with the schedules of the other three boats, since we'll be having to pick up the interisland slack... the islands will be a mess for a while. And before anyone points out that the Sealth will be replaced by the larger Hyak at some point, I'll mention that this time of year the biggest challenge is the commercial traffic. And the Hyak carries about 120 linear feet less of overheight rigs than the Sealth.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jan 27, 2008 17:58:52 GMT -8
I noticed that MV Yakima and MV Kaleetan have traded places. Haven't noticed Yakima on the Bremerton run in quite some time. Wonder why the change was made? Doesn't seem to be part of the maintenance schedule posted by WSF on 22 Jan.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 27, 2008 18:39:47 GMT -8
I noticed that MV Yakima and MV Kaleetan have traded places. Haven't noticed Yakima on the Bremerton run in quite some time. Wonder why the change was made? Doesn't seem to be part of the maintenance schedule posted by WSF on 22 Jan. 2 possibilities: (1) The Kaleetan will be going into drydock at Dakota Creek, but it was mentioned in another thread that they won't have drydock space for awhile after the Hyak is out. (2) WSF was able to get drydock space up in BC, so they moved the Kaleetan up north to be closer.
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