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Post by Barnacle on Dec 29, 2007 8:30:29 GMT -8
Neat drawings! ;D
The venerable Rhody is a fun, if unusual, boat to run. I've always thought of it as 'the tub toy' due to its size and configuration. Down Defiance way, on the rare occasion I get to run the boat (haven't been there in at least six years), I always thought of her as spending half the trip getting up to speed and the other half slowing down again...
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Post by SS Shasta on Jan 11, 2008 15:04:18 GMT -8
What's up with the Rhody? It was reported that she would be out of service for two weeks. Now the report in the press is that she cannot return until certain repairs are made. Is she at Eagle Harbor or in drydock somewhere?
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 11, 2008 15:23:14 GMT -8
What's up with the Rhody? It was reported that she would be out of service for two weeks. Now the report in the press is that she cannot return until certain repairs are made. Is she at Eagle Harbor or in drydock somewhere? Heading to drydock. The problem: rotten steel hull plates. The Chelan is going in for drydocking at the same time as she was scheduled to.
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Post by zman on Jan 12, 2008 16:57:25 GMT -8
I was wondering why it is taking so long...It's kinda funny WSF did not find these problems when they were doing hull repairs in August and September. This is a bad time for it, as the Evergreen boats are needed for Southworth.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 12, 2008 17:14:19 GMT -8
I was wondering why it is taking so long...It's kinda funny WSF did not find these problems when they were doing hull repairs in August and September. This is a bad time for it, as the Evergreen boats are needed for Southworth. They probably didn't do the testing required to look for possible problems since WSF wasn't required to at that time. I wonder if this recent inspection found all of the bad hull plating or if they'll find the problem is much worse.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 13, 2008 9:31:14 GMT -8
They probably didn't do the testing required to look for possible problems since WSF wasn't required to at that time. I wonder if this recent inspection found all of the bad hull plating or if they'll find the problem is much worse. Crapshoot at this point... they always find something when doing a full bottom-blast, which I suspect all the boats will get on their next turn into the drydock. (On an unrelated note, the Hyak appears to be nearing completion at Dakota Creek.)
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Jan 13, 2008 13:29:32 GMT -8
Good, can we perhaps take her at Bremerton and give FVS the third boat back when she is back?
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 13, 2008 13:50:45 GMT -8
Good, can we perhaps take her at Bremerton and give FVS the third boat back when she is back? I suspect one of the following will happen: (a) Kaleetan goes out of service when the repair work on the Hyak is finished. (b) The Hyak will replace the Yakima (if she has to go into drydock). I'm guessing (a) is the most likely scenario.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 13, 2008 15:06:41 GMT -8
Oh, right, curve ball. And that's if the DD at Dakota Creek's available.
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Post by BreannaF on Jan 14, 2008 8:44:41 GMT -8
So.............
The Rhody is an admittedly old boat, although not nearly as old as the Steel Electrics. Given that, I would openly wonder what the chances are that we will never see her again in service.
I certainly hope that is not the case. But a few months ago, the S-e's had a survey done and were doing "just fine" with only some steel work to be done. Our Aunt Rhody is also "just fine" for the moment, though still needing some steel work. So, why wouldn't there also be a problem with her that would be beyond economical to solve?
I certainly hope that's not the case, but I seem to be getting a bad case of "just how bad can this whole thing get?"
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 14, 2008 9:53:31 GMT -8
The Rhody will be back in service, as far as I know. We (WSF) don't really have a choice. The boat was beyond economical back in 1992... darn near an entirely new boat, so there can't be that much left to do to the old gal.
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 14, 2008 10:16:38 GMT -8
So............. The Rhody is an admittedly old boat, although not nearly as old as the Steel Electrics. Given that, I would openly wonder what the chances are that we will never see her again in service. I certainly hope that is not the case. But a few months ago, the S-e's had a survey done and were doing "just fine" with only some steel work to be done. Our Aunt Rhody is also "just fine" for the moment, though still needing some steel work. So, why wouldn't there also be a problem with her that would be beyond economical to solve? I certainly hope that's not the case, but I seem to be getting a bad case of "just how bad can this whole thing get?" I would think that the Rhody would have fewer issues. She was so far gone when they rebuilt her in the early 1990's that a great deal of her steel was replaced--including the entire passenger cabin. I've heard that a good deal of her hull was replaced as well, but I've no idea how much. In theory, she should be in much better shape than the Steel E's, having only been rebuilt a little over 14 years ago.
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Post by old_wsf_fan on Feb 9, 2008 12:36:00 GMT -8
I did see her being towed into Todd's on Friday at noon. Looks like she is on schedule to be finished on time.
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Post by Barnacle on Feb 10, 2008 13:28:21 GMT -8
Not a chance in Craik, my friend. She'd just come out of Todd's earlier in the week, so going back is indicative of a problem. That and I know from the in-house daily news that she won't be back yet.
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Post by SS Shasta on Feb 10, 2008 14:53:18 GMT -8
Her quick trip to EH and then back to Todds was likely related to drydock scheduling. It was listed on the maintenance schedule in January; she was to be drydocked for the second time in Tacoma, but was changed back to Todds in the latest revision. Seems like Puget Sound could use another drydock or two.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Feb 10, 2008 15:57:15 GMT -8
I looked up the drydock in Tacoma (full name is Marine Industries Northwest, Inc). It looks like it can only handle the Hiyu and the Rhododendron (based on a Google Maps satellite view).
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tom98250
Deckhand
Life doesn't get better than this...
Posts: 85
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Post by tom98250 on Feb 19, 2008 7:59:14 GMT -8
At the rate things are going, we may end up seeing the "Hyak" working Tahlequah; or WSF buying back the "Olympic..."
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Post by SS Shasta on Feb 19, 2008 14:00:20 GMT -8
At the rate things are going, we may end up seeing the "Hyak" working Tahlequah; or WSF buying back the "Olympic..." I think it has been a recent mistake in recent years for WSF not to maintain a higher number of stand-by/reserve vesels to be placed in service when emergencies happen and to provide extra service during the busy summer season. When I lived in Seattle in the 1960's, WSF had several of these vessels; recently they have only had two (MV Hiyu, and MV Evergreen State. Now they are down to one with MV Evergreen State returning to regular service. * If/when the planned new vessels are built, none of the older vessels should be retired in my opinion. They should become reserve/extra service vessels. Just look at what happened at Edmonds/Kingston last week end. There were two hour back-ups, and this is February. * I don't know if MV Nisqually was considered a stand-by vessel when she spent several years out-of-service at Eagle Harbor.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Feb 19, 2008 14:17:56 GMT -8
I don't know if MV Nisqually was considered a stand-by vessel when she spent several years out-of-service at Eagle Harbor. If you're talking about after her short stint on F/V/S in the summer of 2003, then the answer is highly unlikely. The one document (came out in either 2004 or 2005) that discussed the numerous deficiencies of the steel-electrics stated that the Nisqually would never be used again.
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Post by EGfleet on Feb 19, 2008 16:23:51 GMT -8
Um...a holiday weekend. You'll remember it was a three day weekend for President's Day yesterday. Back ups on three day weekends aren't uncommon. ;D And as it has been mentioned before...the days of "extra service vessels" died some 30 years ago. I agree WSF needs to have a spare boat or two in case one of them has a mechanical failure, but if you're expecting them to fire up an extra vessel on holiday weekends in the future, you'll be a nice shade of blue and passing out if you're holding your breath for it.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Feb 19, 2008 17:53:08 GMT -8
Those backups at Edmonds were bad, and if you saw eight buses, well you can thank my school district. However, I must lay some blame on some very stupid loaders for the 6:35 sailing that Friday night. We left about 6 spaces empty #1, the buses were all spread out over the car deck instead of compacted to the front of the boat to make more space for other vehicles #2.
I heard it was backed up to the bowling alley but I couldn't tell cause I was sleeping like a rock. Perhaps once we get some new vessels running use the Tilikum, Evergreen, or Klahowya as a shuttle.
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Post by Barnacle on Feb 19, 2008 19:07:28 GMT -8
Were the buses all in one spot in the load? It doesn't always work out perfectly, y'know.
Sadly, SS Shasta, the day of the "extra service" vessel passed with the Vashon. We've kept an entire fleet of "older vessels" as our regular service providers. I know you're still annoyed about the elimination of the Steel-Electrics from active duty, but they're simply beyond it. That we never had a catastrophic failure of the hulls on those boats is attributable far more to luck than quality of the vessel.
Anyway, the Nisqually was officially retired in 2004 and her Certificate of Inspection was allowed to lapse. She was rather unceremoniously pillaged for parts to keep the other two boats running (the Klickitat was able to use only a limited amount of parts due to a different control system) for two years, and then she was reassembled for one last hurrah this past summer.
I don't think it was financially shrewd to let her sit for nearly three years and then try to bring her back, even though she was simply a victim of an edict to cut the budget.
But I will say it was very sweet and nostalgic to have her come out of retirement and spend one final summer in service to commemorate her eightieth birthday.
I'm proud to have served on all four of the Steel-Electrics.
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Post by SS Shasta on Feb 25, 2008 13:39:08 GMT -8
It's good to see that the mighty Rhody is back in service! It has been mentioned that a Anderson Island class vessel would be a potential replacement for the Rhody if WSF decides to use the "Island Home" class as replacement vessels for the Steels. Does this idea pose the risk of having another MV Hiyu in the fleet? The WSF long term plan recommends a Evergreen Class vessel for the Tahlequah Route. Wouldn't the added vehicle capacity of the Evergreen be needed on the route in the next few years?
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Post by BreannaF on Feb 25, 2008 18:52:16 GMT -8
It's good to see that the mighty Rhody is back in service! Hear, hear! Of course it does. But our state congress-critters, by virtue of their past inaction, have decided that getting a ferry -- ANY ferry -- is preferable to not having a ferry to run on the PT-Keystone route ASAP. I believe that any future use that they assign to that ship at the moment will be simply to justify that there may be SOME potential new use for that boat. After all, you can't build a boat that has no future, can you? So we make it up a future. Besides. What's so bad about the mighty Hiyu??? My guess to that answer would be "eventually". I don't see too many major new subdivisions springing up on Vashon at the moment, and industry seems to be leaving rather than staying. I'm guessing that a Steilacoom-size ferry would serve the need for some years to come, or with nothing that an extra trip or two per day couldn't solve. But, who am I to say. In the Kitsap County of my youth, Poulsbo is half its current size and Silverton is a service station at a lonely rural crossroads. So I wouldn't rule out anything for the future. Just not needed for the immediate future.
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Post by Barnacle on Feb 25, 2008 19:25:12 GMT -8
It has been mentioned that a Anderson Island class vessel would be a potential replacement for the Rhody if WSF decides to use the "Island Home" class as replacement vessels for the Steels. Does this idea pose the risk of having another MV Hiyu in the fleet? See, I don't think so. The Steilacoom III will be a 50-car boat, and it'd be more of a Rhododendron (but with appropriate height clearance) than a Hiyu, which is pretty much useless altogether. Some would argue no; others would argue now. Usually what happens when a larger boat shows up 'down south' is that traffice migrates from the north end to take advantage. Be prepared for some hellacious lines off the south end while word gets 'round that the Evergreen isn't there anymore...
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