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Post by chokai on Sept 19, 2016 16:26:58 GMT -8
No word yet on where Suquamish will be placed. Personally, I think Anacortes would be the best spot for it. The Olympic Class vessels are well-suited for island duty from a "just-right" passenger-capacity standpoint and vehicle "ease-in-loading" standpoint. Last I heard, the Suquamish was indeed headed for the Archipelago. Oh I sense this could be the next great debate on vessel assignments! ;-) The long range plan '09 interestingly had them as:
1) Mukilteo/Clinton 2) San Juans 3) Mukilteo/Clinton 4) San Juans 5) San Juans 6) Maintenance Reserve (aka Kitsap today) 7) Bremerton
So it was followed for 1 & 2 but now we're off the plan. :-) The LRP seemed to assume that Walla Walla would be on Bremerton year round paired with a 124 in the winter, which as we've seen the last few years is just not tenable, either from capacity or the need to use W^2 elsewhere. It also assumed boats 3+ would not be delivered until the Mukilteo dock project was completed.
Given that the Mukilteo dock will be done in 2019 (currently) I would not be shocked to see discussion on sending #4 to Mukilteo/Clinton also in addition to the islands. The wider decks on those boats help speed loading/unloading which is the blocker on that run, but on the flip side it aids with getting trucks, rvs and what not to the islands. With the increasing age of the supers and strength of the local economy perhaps we'll be talking about boat #5 soon.
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Post by Kahloke on Sept 19, 2016 19:11:02 GMT -8
I think the deteriorating condition of the Supers has been a factor in the alterations of the long-range plan. Sending Suquamish to the San Juans will probably put Hyak into permanent reserve, and may mean that Elwha will have less regular duty, too. Since none of the 4 Olympics will be SOLAS compliant, Elwha will still have a role as the International vessel, when Chelan is out or needed elsewhere, or as we have seen in recent years, when Elwha's greater capacity is needed for domestic service on the spring and fall schedules.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Dec 2, 2016 12:56:50 GMT -8
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Post by Kahloke on Dec 2, 2016 14:42:19 GMT -8
Interesting bit of information. Thanks for posting this. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed Suquamish will not be up in the islands in the summers, but this tweet gave me the impression that Suquamish could move around a bit during the off season, so perhaps she will be up in the islands from time to time. That would help to reduce the operating hours on the ailing Super Class fleet, and I will concede that putting Suquamish at Mukilteo-Clinton in the summer season will help to alleviate the ever-increasing backups there, so I guess that makes sense.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Dec 2, 2016 14:56:46 GMT -8
Interesting bit of information. Thanks for posting this. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed Suquamish will not be up in the islands in the summers, but this tweet gave me the impression that Suquamish could move around a bit during the off season, so perhaps she will be up in the islands from time to time. That would help to reduce the operating hours on the ailing Super Class fleet, and I will concede that putting Suquamish at Mukilteo-Clinton in the summer season will help to alleviate the ever-increasing backups there, so I guess that makes sense. Well, even though its not two Issaquah sisters, at least the Mukilteo-Clinton route will be back to running with two sister ships normally in the summer.
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Post by R30A on Dec 3, 2016 18:16:49 GMT -8
Ferry Suquamish to serve Mukilteo/Clinton route during busiest seasons Friday, December 2, 2016 - 11:01 John Vezina, WSF communications, 206-473-9945 144-vehicle ferry on schedule to enter service SEATTLE – Beginning in May 2019, the newest Washington State ferry, Suquamish (soo-KWAH-mish), will make its summer home on the Mukilteo/Clinton route. Suquamish, the fourth Olympic class vessel in the Washington State Ferries fleet, will run on the Mukilteo/Clinton route from mid-May until mid-October, when ferry travel is at its peak. The rest of the year, it will serve as a maintenance relief boat for both the Super class and other Olympic class ferries. “Construction of the Suquamish is well underway at Vigor’s Harbor Island Shipyard in Seattle,” said Lynne Griffith, WSDOT assistant secretary, ferries division. “We based the decision to place the Suquamish on the Mukilteo/Clinton run on a variety of factors including capacity, maintenance, operating costs and ridership numbers. We think the best use of our newest ferry is serving a busy route during peak seasons and providing relief for other vessels during the slower winter months.” The Mukilteo/Clinton route carries the most vehicles of any route in the system: more than 2.2 million in 2015. The route is typically served by a 144-car Olympic Class ferry and a 124-car Issaquah class ferry. The Suquamish will bring much-needed additional vehicle capacity during the route’s busiest season. WSF is the largest ferry system in the United States, safely moving people and goods through the most majestic scenery in the world. www.wsdot.wa.gov/news/2016/12/02/ferry-suquamish-serve-mukilteo/clinton-route-during-busiest-seasons
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Post by chokai on Dec 5, 2016 10:04:29 GMT -8
Interesting bit of information. Thanks for posting this. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed Suquamish will not be up in the islands in the summers, but this tweet gave me the impression that Suquamish could move around a bit during the off season, so perhaps she will be up in the islands from time to time. That would help to reduce the operating hours on the ailing Super Class fleet, and I will concede that putting Suquamish at Mukilteo-Clinton in the summer season will help to alleviate the ever-increasing backups there, so I guess that makes sense. Well, even though its not two Issaquah sisters, at least the Mukilteo-Clinton route will be back to running with two sister ships normally in the summer.
Since she will (currently) be delivered in early 2019, I wouldn't be surprised to see her spend her first few months bouncing around. :-)
Besides nearly every time I rode the Tokitae the last 2 years during peak traffic times she has left with room for 10 to 15 cars, there's just not enough time to fully load and hold the schedule. It's better in the winter because I think it's more locals and they all know how the system works and there is less non-ferry traffic (esp foot) in Mukilteo. So putting Suquamish at Mukilteo/Clinton prior to the new terminal being done might not do much to alleviate things.
With the supers becoming increasingly crotchety in their old age lets hope that the $$$ for their replacement comes up sooner than later!
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Dec 5, 2016 14:59:42 GMT -8
Well, even though its not two Issaquah sisters, at least the Mukilteo-Clinton route will be back to running with two sister ships normally in the summer.
Since she will (currently) be delivered in early 2019, I wouldn't be surprised to see her spend her first few months bouncing around. :-)
Besides nearly every time I rode the Tokitae the last 2 years during peak traffic times she has left with room for 10 to 15 cars, there's just not enough time to fully load and hold the schedule. It's better in the winter because I think it's more locals and they all know how the system works and there is less non-ferry traffic (esp foot) in Mukilteo. So putting Suquamish at Mukilteo/Clinton prior to the new terminal being done might not do much to alleviate things.
With the supers becoming increasingly crotchety in their old age lets hope that the $$$ for their replacement comes up sooner than later!
I would very like to see the next three LRP (Long Range Plan) Olympic-class vessels funded in the near future. And let's hope WSF spruces up their interior colors from just brown.
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Post by Barnacle on Dec 29, 2016 18:25:02 GMT -8
Hi everyone! I'm a new member here, but have been following this board for a long time. Anyway, I took a trip over to Bremerton today and got a couple photos of the Chimacum and Suquamish under construction. The Chimacum doesn't look to have changed much from when I saw her back in August, but the Suquamish's hull looks almost complete! Hope you enjoy! M/V Chimacum and M/V Suquamish by TJ Ingersoll, on Flickr M/V Chimacum Under Construction by TJ Ingersoll, on Flickr Welcome! I suspect the Chimacum hasn't changed much on the exterior because, well, let's face it; that's mostly done. The interior fitting out is a largely invisible process, and it's really tedious in its detail. Thank you for the progress photos!
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Post by maximase86 on Jan 13, 2017 12:38:21 GMT -8
I notice and odd thing on the Chimacum. Anyone noticed the 2nd car deck cutouts don't extend as far as Tokitae and Samish? I wonder if that is something they are going to get to, or plan to leave it like that. S
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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 Jan 13, 2017 16:22:45 GMT -8
I notice and odd thing on the Chimacum. Anyone noticed the 2nd car deck cutouts don't extend as far as Tokitae and Samish? I wonder if that is something they are going to get to, or plan to leave it like that. S Those might be white plastic taped over the cutouts. Used, maybe, as wind breaks for the painters.
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Jan 30, 2017 19:29:30 GMT -8
Here's another update-photo on the Chimacum, who should be starting sea trials very soon. M/V Chimacum Under Construction in Seattle --- Washington State Ferries by TJ Ingersoll, on Flickr M/V Chimacum Under Construction. Also, I know I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but I really don't think that the Chimacum will be a good fit for Bremerton. Or any Olympic for that matter. Sure their cabin is a little bigger than the Issy's, but not by much. I have been on tons of Tokitae sailings, and trust me, that cabin can fill up just as fast as an Issaquah can. Also, keep in mind that WSF said the Sun Deck on the Samish would be open year round. Almost two years later- and it's open during the Summer only. This makes me think that WSF will try to pull the same thing on the Chimacum and close the sun deck. That leaves the cabin with like 750 seats? Compared to the Kitsap with 1200. Just saying.
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Post by Cascadian Transport on Jan 30, 2017 20:02:06 GMT -8
I know I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but I really don't think that the Chimacum will be a good fit for Bremerton. Or any Olympic for that matter. Sure their cabin is a little bigger than the Issy's, but not by much. I have been on tons of Tokitae sailings, and trust me, that cabin can fill up just as fast as an Issaquah can. I agree somewhat with that thought. Personally, I believe the Chimacum would be much more useful in the San Juan Islands as opposed to Bremerton. Her wide vehicle deck lanes and superior sea-keeping abilities would be of far greater value in the archipelago. But alas, the decision has been made that she is going to Bremerton. I think her comfortable passenger capacity will be stretched to it's upper limit, though my belief (or at least hope) is that it will be sufficient, albeit barely The Chimacum's Sun deck will almost certainly be open at all times while she is in service at Bremerton. WSF certainly realizes that a passenger capacity of 750 is not adequate for that route. In the San Juan Islands, they can easily get away with a 750-passenger capacity during the off-season, and it saves them money not having to carry the extra crew needed to run at full capacity. But at Bremerton, 750 is not enough, and thus, they will almost certainly run with a full crew.
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Post by chokai on Feb 7, 2017 9:06:09 GMT -8
Here's another update-photo on the Chimacum, who should be starting sea trials very soon. M/V Chimacum Under Construction in Seattle --- Washington State Ferries by TJ Ingersoll, on Flickr M/V Chimacum Under Construction. Also, I know I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but I really don't think that the Chimacum will be a good fit for Bremerton. Or any Olympic for that matter. Sure their cabin is a little bigger than the Issy's, but not by much. I have been on tons of Tokitae sailings, and trust me, that cabin can fill up just as fast as an Issaquah can. Also, keep in mind that WSF said the Sun Deck on the Samish would be open year round. Almost two years later- and it's open during the Summer only. This makes me think that WSF will try to pull the same thing on the Chimacum and close the sun deck. That leaves the cabin with like 750 seats? Compared to the Kitsap with 1200. Just saying. I know it doesn't feel like it but an Olympic class main cabin has about 3000 square feet more space than an Issaquah. To put it in perspective that's about the three quarters the size of an NBA basketball court. In addition the space that is the main passenger deck solariums on an Issaquah is enclosed on an Olympic class boat, though some space was lost to the MES slides and better ADA access.
A few things that play tricks on the mind is that the Issaquah's have a very open floor plan whereas the Olympics' are broken into several smaller areas which makes them feel smaller, but also keeps the cabin noise way down. They also for some reason have a lower ceiling which makes them feel smaller.
An Olympic class has 1,224 interior seats in the plans + exterior seating. The 1,200 rating on the Issaquah is the total passenger rating for the entire vessel, not the seat count, similarly the Olympics are rated at 1,500 but only have seats for the afore mentioned ~1,200. I've never counted the seats in an Issaquah, but I'd venture it's going to be somewhere around 900 or so.
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Feb 10, 2017 15:39:57 GMT -8
Here's another update-photo on the Chimacum, who should be starting sea trials very soon. M/V Chimacum Under Construction in Seattle --- Washington State Ferries by TJ Ingersoll, on Flickr M/V Chimacum Under Construction. Also, I know I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but I really don't think that the Chimacum will be a good fit for Bremerton. Or any Olympic for that matter. Sure their cabin is a little bigger than the Issy's, but not by much. I have been on tons of Tokitae sailings, and trust me, that cabin can fill up just as fast as an Issaquah can. Also, keep in mind that WSF said the Sun Deck on the Samish would be open year round. Almost two years later- and it's open during the Summer only. This makes me think that WSF will try to pull the same thing on the Chimacum and close the sun deck. That leaves the cabin with like 750 seats? Compared to the Kitsap with 1200. Just saying. I know it doesn't feel like it but an Olympic class main cabin has about 3000 square feet more space than an Issaquah. To put it in perspective that's about the three quarters the size of an NBA basketball court. In addition the space that is the main passenger deck solariums on an Issaquah is enclosed on an Olympic class boat, though some space was lost to the MES slides and better ADA access.
A few things that play tricks on the mind is that the Issaquah's have a very open floor plan whereas the Olympics' are broken into several smaller areas which makes them feel smaller, but also keeps the cabin noise way down. They also for some reason have a lower ceiling which makes them feel smaller.
An Olympic class has 1,224 interior seats in the plans + exterior seating. The 1,200 rating on the Issaquah is the total passenger rating for the entire vessel, not the seat count, similarly the Olympics are rated at 1,500 but only have seats for the afore mentioned ~1,200. I've never counted the seats in an Issaquah, but I'd venture it's going to be somewhere around 900 or so.
That's true. I guess the new passenger only ferry will help relieve some of the foot traffic too.
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Mar 1, 2017 13:20:54 GMT -8
Someone's crusin at 13.6 knots just off of Pier 91 in Elliott Bay... Hint: It's the Chimacum!
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Mar 1, 2017 13:33:56 GMT -8
Someone's crusin at 13.6 knots just off of Pier 91 in Elliott Bay... Hint: It's the Chimacum! Let the sea trials begin!
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Post by Kahloke on Mar 1, 2017 14:04:04 GMT -8
Someone's crusin at 13.6 knots just off of Pier 91 in Elliott Bay... Hint: It's the Chimacum! Very cool. As soon as the state accepts Chimacum, I will create a thread specific to that vessel. I'm hoping they do an open ship event in Bremerton prior to its first revenue sailing.
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Mar 1, 2017 16:28:05 GMT -8
Someone's crusin at 13.6 knots just off of Pier 91 in Elliott Bay... Hint: It's the Chimacum! Very cool. As soon as the state accepts Chimacum, I will create a thread specific to that vessel. I'm hoping they do an open ship event in Bremerton prior to its first revenue sailing. It seems like a 50/50 chance that the open ship will be held in Seattle or Bremerton. All the info I have is that it will be in late Spring, prior to the vessel going into service.
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Post by Sammy Sam Samish on Mar 1, 2017 18:34:07 GMT -8
Very cool. As soon as the state accepts Chimacum, I will create a thread specific to that vessel. I'm hoping they do an open ship event in Bremerton prior to its first revenue sailing. It seems like a 50/50 chance that the open ship will be held in Seattle or Bremerton. All the info I have is that it will be in late Spring, prior to the vessel going into service. My guess is Bremerton, both the Tokitae and the Samish have had their open ships at their "sleeping" docks. (Clinton and Anacortes)
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Post by Olympic Ferries on Mar 1, 2017 18:38:51 GMT -8
It seems like a 50/50 chance that the open ship will be held in Seattle or Bremerton. All the info I have is that it will be in late Spring, prior to the vessel going into service. My guess is Bremerton, both the Tokitae and the Samish have had their open ships at their "sleeping" docks. (Clinton and Anacortes) It isn't safe to assume it'll be held at the "sleeping" docks because it couldn't have been held anywhere else in the SJIs and it couldn't have been at Mukilteo. It was just forced to happen at Clinton and Anacortes.
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Post by chokai on Mar 23, 2017 7:52:36 GMT -8
Got to my office today to see Chimacum sitting at Colman dock. And in the Bremerton slip no less. :-)
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Post by Kahloke on Mar 24, 2017 19:42:23 GMT -8
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Post by Steve Rosenow on Apr 15, 2017 3:16:20 GMT -8
My guess is Bremerton, both the Tokitae and the Samish have had their open ships at their "sleeping" docks. (Clinton and Anacortes) It isn't safe to assume it'll be held at the "sleeping" docks because it couldn't have been held anywhere else in the SJIs and it couldn't have been at Mukilteo. It was just forced to happen at Clinton and Anacortes. Every 'Open House' I've witnessed in the last three quarters of a decade of new ferry construction, has occurred at the 'sleeping dock.' For instance, all the KdTs had theirs in Port Townsend. So, I'd say it's more than safe to assume that it'll be held in Bremerton. If - key word IF - they decide to hold one.
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Post by R30A on Apr 16, 2017 9:01:21 GMT -8
The thing is- You CAN'T hold an open house in any of the other terminals on the Whidbey or San Juan Islands routes. Port Townsend, Anacortes and Clinton are the only places you could hold an open house north of Kingston. The last new boats where there could be a question as to where the open house would be were the Wenatchee and Tacoma. Were they in Seattle or Winslow?
(Perhaps the answer will end up being BOTH?)
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