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Post by Barnacle on Aug 4, 2019 11:27:51 GMT -8
I guess I'll add my pics of the Elwha navigating the Ballard Locks... looks like there are already quite a few photos so I'll keep my post short! For anyone interested, here's my timelapse of her trip through the locks and across Lake Union: Thanks for sharing your efforts, particularly the time-lapse. I'd have loved to have gone for a ride, but (a) I'd have needed an invite and (b) I'd had to have gone down to Seattle the night before. Not sure which would've been a bigger stumbling block...
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Post by iceberg1 on Aug 22, 2019 16:56:30 GMT -8
Word on the street is the MV Elwha currently at LUDD, needed steel replacement is much worse than expected. She will be out now till at least Dec 1st. Huge problem to find funding for additional repairs in the current fiscal year. How much money do you throw at a 55+ year old ferry?
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 22, 2019 18:16:00 GMT -8
Word on the street is the MV Elwha currently at LUDD, needed steel replacement is much worse than expected. She will be out now till at least Dec 1st. Huge problem to find funding for additional repairs in the current fiscal year. How much money do you throw at a 55+ year old ferry? Not good. Not unexpected, either. Oh, and Elwha is 51 this year, if you go from the year she entered service, which is 1968. That said, it doesn't negate what you said about throwing a lot of money into an old vessel, but what choice do they have? I thought I read somewhere that 2023 is the earliest we can expect the next new ferry, so it's either fix Elwha regardless of the cost, or retire Elwha, and be critically short on vessels for the next few years.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Aug 22, 2019 18:16:55 GMT -8
Word on the street is the MV Elwha currently at LUDD, needed steel replacement is much worse than expected. She will be out now till at least Dec 1st. Huge problem to find funding for additional repairs in the current fiscal year. How much money do you throw at a 55+ year old ferry? I wonder if state will do cost benefit for this project instead of building a new vessels to replace the Hyak and Elwha.
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 22, 2019 18:24:49 GMT -8
Word on the street is the MV Elwha currently at LUDD, needed steel replacement is much worse than expected. She will be out now till at least Dec 1st. Huge problem to find funding for additional repairs in the current fiscal year. How much money do you throw at a 55+ year old ferry? I wonder if state will do cost benefit for this project instead of building a new vessels to replace the Hyak and Elwha.Elwha is 51 years old, well past the tipping point of it being cost effective to throw a lot of money into fixing her, but we're at least 4 years away from getting a new vessel, so we're kind of stuck. I'm sure the folks in charge have been looking at every scenario.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Aug 22, 2019 20:06:10 GMT -8
I wonder if state will do cost benefit for this project instead of building a new vessels to replace the Hyak and Elwha.Elwha is 51 years old, well past the tipping point of it being cost effective to throw a lot of money into fixing her, but we're at least 4 years away from getting a new vessel, so we're kind of stuck. I'm sure the folks in charge have been looking at every scenario. Couldn’t WSF un-retire the Hyak and retire the Elwha instead?
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Post by elwharust on Aug 22, 2019 23:04:58 GMT -8
Elwha is 51 years old, well past the tipping point of it being cost effective to throw a lot of money into fixing her, but we're at least 4 years away from getting a new vessel, so we're kind of stuck. I'm sure the folks in charge have been looking at every scenario. Couldn’t WSF un-retire the Hyak and retire the Elwha instead? That means wsf would be down to one SOLAS vessel witch would leave no backup boat for the sidney run.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Aug 23, 2019 1:12:16 GMT -8
Couldn’t WSF un-retire the Hyak and retire the Elwha instead? That means wsf would be down to one SOLAS vessel witch would leave no backup boat for the sidney run. Also, this means that the Chelan would be running Anacortes #1 almost year-round and I don't think that will go over very well with the Orcas/Shaw people during late Spring/early Fall.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Aug 23, 2019 5:42:53 GMT -8
That means wsf would be down to one SOLAS vessel witch would leave no backup boat for the sidney run. Also, this means that the Chelan would be running Anacortes #1 almost year-round and I don't think that will go over very well with the Orcas/Shaw people during late Spring/early Fall. But Anacortes #2 could take over sailing Orcas and Shaw sailing while #1 ferry takes over #2 schedule.
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 23, 2019 6:13:37 GMT -8
I'm sure the "powers-that-be" are evaluating all of the options, and I'm trusting that they know more about the possibilities, and limitations, than I do. That said, if Elwha were to be retired immediately, there are two possibilities that I can think of, whether or not they are feasible. That's why I'm not in charge (thankfully).
1. Eliminate Sidney I've floated this idea before, and the state even considered it before on a few occasions, and then got an earful from the folks in Anacortes and Sidney. Here's my thought on the idea: Chelan could be re-absorbed into the domestic fleet which would make vessel swapping a little easier (ie. Chelan doesn't necessarily have to be in the San Juans, and the San Juans would not need a vessel that meets SOLAS certification). In fact, no vessel would need to be SOLAS certified so there would be some savings right there, as well as the costs of operating the run. Dollars aside, because I honestly don't know the costs involved in operating Sidney, the most tangible benefit is having Chelan available for any route needing a vessel of her size.
On the other side of the coin, the Anacortes-San Juan Islands route pretty much needs 4 vessels year-round, so I'm not going to pretend losing Elwha wouldn't hurt, but with Chelan back in the domestic fleet, it could make it do-able, even if not ideal. ANA-SJI summer schedule could more-or-less stay the same as now, with the first morning runs to Orcas and FH picking up Lopez to make up for Chelan not doing Lopez's first run, and the winter schedule could probably also remain the same. Spring and fall would need a complete re-write. One of the vessels could probably have reduced hours in the spring and fall, as the budget allows, but it's critical that 4 vessels remain on the run.
2. Operate Sidney in summer only This is a less draconian solution than completely eliminating Sidney. As with Option 1, the ANA-SJI spring and fall schedules would need a re-write, but the summer schedule could be the same as it is now, with Chelan operating the first RT to Lopez, and then doing the 2 Sidney runs. In this scenario, I would lobby to have the summer schedule extended to run from mid May thru mid October (same as Port Townsend's extended shoulder season), then go to a late fall and early spring schedule that does not serve Sidney. That would allow more down-time for Chelan, and more time for low-season vessel swapping, but Chelan would, of course, still have to meet SOLAS certification. Chelan would also be the only vessel that can do the Sidney run, but in the summer, that would be OK. the downside to this solution is the lack of any backup vessels during the busy summer season.
These are my thoughts on this subject, whether or not there's any merit to them.
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Post by iceberg1 on Aug 23, 2019 6:18:41 GMT -8
Hyak is been torn down in the engine room. All useable parts and spares sent to other vessels in the fleet. She will not return. One possibility for Elwha is to mothball her until July 1, 2020 when new funding for repairs could be appropriated. As mentioned above, this would create hardships with the remaining fleet vessels especially Chelan.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Sept 4, 2019 17:25:37 GMT -8
I was unfortunately informed today that the scheduled return of the Elwha has been pushed beyond the 2019 calendar, to at least the start of the Winter 2020 ferry schedule. How unfortunate, also meaning that the Chelan will not see time at Mukilteo or Vashon this fall.
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Post by EGfleet on Sept 11, 2019 23:35:17 GMT -8
From the WSF Twitter account:
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 7h Missed #Elwha going through the @chittendenlocksin July? The vessel will pass through #Ballard again on Friday 9/13 when it is tugged from Lake Union Drydock Company at 9a to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on #Bainbridge Island!
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Post by EGfleet on Sept 12, 2019 9:09:44 GMT -8
From the WSF Twitter account:
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 7h Missed #Elwha going through the @chittendenlocksin July? The vessel will pass through #Ballard again on Friday 9/13 when it is tugged from Lake Union Drydock Company at 9a to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on #Bainbridge Island!
Cancel that! Seems they forgot the locks are closed for maintenance: (Okay, not closed, but there's a power issue and the large lock is down to half-length.)
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 1h UPDATE: The tug of #Elwha from Lake Union Drydock Company to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility via the @chittendenlocks in #Ballard has been postponed. Repeat, the vessel will not pass through the locks tomorrow 9/13.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Sept 13, 2019 9:10:39 GMT -8
From the WSF Twitter account:
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 7h Missed #Elwha going through the @chittendenlocksin July? The vessel will pass through #Ballard again on Friday 9/13 when it is tugged from Lake Union Drydock Company at 9a to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on #Bainbridge Island!
Cancel that! Seems they forgot the locks are closed for maintenance: (Okay, not closed, but there's a power issue and the large lock is down to half-length.)
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 1h UPDATE: The tug of #Elwha from Lake Union Drydock Company to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility via the @chittendenlocks in #Ballard has been postponed. Repeat, the vessel will not pass through the locks tomorrow 9/13.
Even if they DID have the locks up and running, boat isn't expected to enter service per WSF until the start of the next year unfortunately.
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MV Elwha
Sept 15, 2019 9:36:34 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by compdude787 on Sept 15, 2019 9:36:34 GMT -8
Cancel that! Seems they forgot the locks are closed for maintenance: (Okay, not closed, but there's a power issue and the large lock is down to half-length.)
Washington State Ferries @wsferries · 1h UPDATE: The tug of #Elwha from Lake Union Drydock Company to our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility via the @chittendenlocks in #Ballard has been postponed. Repeat, the vessel will not pass through the locks tomorrow 9/13.
Even if they DID have the locks up and running, boat isn't expected to enter service per WSF until the start of the next year unfortunately. Why will it take that long? Is there other work that needs to be done besides replacing steel on the car deck?
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MV Elwha
Sept 15, 2019 12:54:59 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by Olympic Ferries on Sept 15, 2019 12:54:59 GMT -8
Even if they DID have the locks up and running, boat isn't expected to enter service per WSF until the start of the next year unfortunately. Why will it take that long? Is there other work that needs to be done besides replacing steel on the car deck? There is other work to be done, quoted as "additional repairs needed" from WSF but no specific details unfortunately. I'll inquire at some point soon.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Sept 28, 2019 17:22:29 GMT -8
The Elwha went through the locks this morning and is currently tied up at Kingston.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Sept 28, 2019 18:14:11 GMT -8
The Elwha went through the locks this morning and is currently tied up at Kingston. Elwha is headed to Anacortes for USCG Inspections and SOLAS Training right now.
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Post by iceberg1 on Oct 2, 2019 11:20:20 GMT -8
WSF telegraph rumor mill.....the Elwha currently has two open billets in the Engine Room which currently will not be filled leading to rumors of a lengthy tie up in the works. Stay tuned.
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Post by Kahloke on Oct 2, 2019 15:25:30 GMT -8
WSF telegraph rumor mill.....the Elwha currently has two open billets in the Engine Room which currently will not be filled leading to rumors of a lengthy tie up in the works. Stay tuned. Interesting. I am very curious as to what is happening, or going to happen, with Elwha. Why did it get moved to Anacortes if they aren't going to put it back in service? The reservation page shows Chelan as the #1 vessel all the way up until it gets pulled in November. Is Elwha going to Dakota Creek? But that doesn't make sense either, since LUDD was the company that was supposed to do the steel replacement work. Or, is Elwha at Anacortes because they need a place other than Eagle Harbor to store her while they figure out next steps? Very curious.
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Post by iceberg1 on Oct 2, 2019 15:55:50 GMT -8
Hot news, just off the press. Elwha out now until at least March 20, 2020 with drydock scheduled Feb 10th till March 23rd. I believe Elwha was moved to Anacortes Slip # 4 because the need for slips at EH with the layup maintenance season beginning soon. Hyak and Klahowya are taking up two slips currently at EH.
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MV Elwha
Oct 2, 2019 16:00:22 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by Olympic Ferries on Oct 2, 2019 16:00:22 GMT -8
WSF telegraph rumor mill.....the Elwha currently has two open billets in the Engine Room which currently will not be filled leading to rumors of a lengthy tie up in the works. Stay tuned. Interesting. I am very curious as to what is happening, or going to happen, with Elwha. Why did it get moved to Anacortes if they aren't going to put it back in service? The reservation page shows Chelan as the #1 vessel all the way up until it gets pulled in November. Is Elwha going to Dakota Creek? But that doesn't make sense either, since LUDD was the company that was supposed to do the steel replacement work. Or, is Elwha at Anacortes because they need a place other than Eagle Harbor to store her while they figure out next steps? Very curious. Elwha is at Anacortes for USCG Inspections and crew trainings. Unsure as to why it's taking place there, but that's the reason.
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Post by iceberg1 on Oct 3, 2019 7:00:27 GMT -8
The above is true from Oly Ferries but the other reasons Elwha is at Anacortes is there is no room at the inn of Eagle Harbor as well as most of the Engine Room crew leaves up north. Elwha may end up at the Kingston tie up slip. I also believe a partial Engine Crew decrewing maybe forth coming with the six month lay up. Only time will tell.
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Post by iceberg1 on Oct 18, 2019 11:09:28 GMT -8
At the "All Hands Meeting" today aboard the MV Salish currently secured at Eagle Harbor, WSF Director of Maintenance and Preservation Matt Von Ruden, stated it will take an additional 10 million for steel repairs for the Elwha. Ten million currently not in the budget. Where the State of Washington will come up with the necessary funding to keep the old girl in service remains a mystery at this time. Meanwhile the project to hybrid the Mark II Class vessels is being ramped up.
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