Post by FNS on Nov 14, 2013 22:49:30 GMT -8
Back on February 13, 1979, a massive windstorm swept through Puget Sound in the early morning hours. I have never heard so much wind force on the windows of my house as I was trying to get some sleep before getting up for another day of classes in my junior year of high school. The lights went out and stayed out for hours.
My dad took my sister and myself to our schools that morning. Her school had lights, my school didn't and was closed for the day.
While we were arriving at my sister's school, we heard a frantic reporter on the car radio witnessing the destruction of the western part of the Hood Canal Bridge from his whirlybird.
It was a day to remember!
WSF put their thinking caps in motion in quick fashion.
At that time, they were using the little old Quincy Street dock as their Olympic Peninsula point of entry at Port Townsend. It was set up for a ferry the size of the RHODODENDRON. Work began immediately on the dredging and widening the separation of the side dolphins and ferry service started in about a couple of weeks on a 90 minute run to Edmonds by the big KALEETAN. A jumbo ferry replaced her shortly then after. That was a basically 24 hour service. The RHODY made fast at Keystone rather than at Port Townsend at service day's end to leave the Quincy dock open for the late night sailings of the Edmonds ferry.
On the Canal, work began in restoring the Lofall and South Point docks for means of transportation again. In short order, they were ready for foot passenger ferry service with bus service at each end. The time consuming task of setting up wingwalls and transfer spans with aprons took quite a bit longer to assemble.
WSF chartered a tour vessel named ISLANDER to do the crossing between Lofall and South Point for the summer schedule in 1979.
The only vehicular service across Hood Canal that year was aboard a self propelled barge named BEACH GIRL. This orange painted lady with a ramp at each end ran beach to beach crossings between Port Gamble and Shine for commercial traffic only.
This is a thumbnail from a larger image (researched on the web) below of the ISLANDER at Lofall after she was released from service when automobile ferry service resumed in 1980.
www.flickr.com/photos/9131426@N06/5439660929/in/set-72157626032829240
Here's the ISLANDER as she is today from the lens of my camera. She has been renovated a bit.
The ISLANDER was replaced by the TILLIKUM and KULSHAN in 1980. A new I-Class and TILLIKUM were on the run in 1981. A new section of the Hood Canal Bridge was in place soon afterwards and the ferry route was closed. It wasn't long until ferries returned to Hood Canal when a section of the bridge was replaced. The KLAHOWYA and TILLIKUM served that brief time on the Lofall to South Point run.
It's fun to share our knowledge of history of ferry services here in our part of the world!
My dad took my sister and myself to our schools that morning. Her school had lights, my school didn't and was closed for the day.
While we were arriving at my sister's school, we heard a frantic reporter on the car radio witnessing the destruction of the western part of the Hood Canal Bridge from his whirlybird.
It was a day to remember!
WSF put their thinking caps in motion in quick fashion.
At that time, they were using the little old Quincy Street dock as their Olympic Peninsula point of entry at Port Townsend. It was set up for a ferry the size of the RHODODENDRON. Work began immediately on the dredging and widening the separation of the side dolphins and ferry service started in about a couple of weeks on a 90 minute run to Edmonds by the big KALEETAN. A jumbo ferry replaced her shortly then after. That was a basically 24 hour service. The RHODY made fast at Keystone rather than at Port Townsend at service day's end to leave the Quincy dock open for the late night sailings of the Edmonds ferry.
On the Canal, work began in restoring the Lofall and South Point docks for means of transportation again. In short order, they were ready for foot passenger ferry service with bus service at each end. The time consuming task of setting up wingwalls and transfer spans with aprons took quite a bit longer to assemble.
WSF chartered a tour vessel named ISLANDER to do the crossing between Lofall and South Point for the summer schedule in 1979.
The only vehicular service across Hood Canal that year was aboard a self propelled barge named BEACH GIRL. This orange painted lady with a ramp at each end ran beach to beach crossings between Port Gamble and Shine for commercial traffic only.
This is a thumbnail from a larger image (researched on the web) below of the ISLANDER at Lofall after she was released from service when automobile ferry service resumed in 1980.
www.flickr.com/photos/9131426@N06/5439660929/in/set-72157626032829240
Here's the ISLANDER as she is today from the lens of my camera. She has been renovated a bit.
The ISLANDER was replaced by the TILLIKUM and KULSHAN in 1980. A new I-Class and TILLIKUM were on the run in 1981. A new section of the Hood Canal Bridge was in place soon afterwards and the ferry route was closed. It wasn't long until ferries returned to Hood Canal when a section of the bridge was replaced. The KLAHOWYA and TILLIKUM served that brief time on the Lofall to South Point run.
It's fun to share our knowledge of history of ferry services here in our part of the world!