Seattle-Bremerton run, turnaways this morning

[Political Incorrectness]

My dad was going to drive aboard the 4:50 a.m. ferry this morning, except what he told me was that people were being turned away from this sailing. Why was that? Supposedly the boat had broken down and people would have to wait for the 6:20a.m. So my dad ended up driving around. When he was on the Alaskan Way viaduct at around 6 a.m., the boat from Bremerton was pulling into Seattle. I have had a similar situation happen before. Back in summer, I had gotten up to catch the 7:50 a.m. ferry from Bremerton to Seattle, but the boat was said to have broken down and we would have to wait till 9:00 a.m. What ended up happening was when I was in the car, I thought I saw a vessel heading for Bremerton and started to get a bit angry. When I got home, the vessel that "supposedly" broke down was showing up on vessel watch heading towards Bremerton heading through Rich Passage, only running late. Now shouldn't WSF be able to communicate faster to other people instead of just turning them away without completely accurate information? Can't they send out messages to get a status report and up to the minute? Shouldn't they be able to send messages to shore to update?

[Barnacle]

Well, it's entirely possible that after you or your father got turned away, they got the vessel repaired and on the run. It isn't like the local media jumps right onto bulletins sent out by WSF. I've often heard a breakdown announced as 'breaking news' when it's been down for a couple of hours and the boat's actually going back on line.

[Political Incorrectness]

The boat was online in a matter of minutes which is what gets a little bit irate, especially on a repeat. If you found out that the vessel was sailing to Bremerton and the employee at the booth says it is not sailing, then obviously I'm speaking to the wrong person. Is it typical that tollbooth attendants get notices quickly or does it take awhile for them to receive updates?

[Barnacle]

And were you standing at the tollbooth waiting for a different answer? My point is, the status may have changed shortly after you left the terminal. I'm amazed that you seem to think that it's automatically WSF's fault... if you keep up that train of thought, we're going to have to move you to Bainbridge Island. ;D

[Political Incorrectness]

I believe you are trying to dodge the question barnacle if the system does not do proper maintenance, than its the system's fault. I am guessing you are wanting to retire on Bainbridge Island. Why should I trust a system that cannot properly communicate to customers. Soon, the general public may want to consider making WSF privatized in hope for better service, yet we know where that will end up if you go to BC Ferries case

My point, there is a communication problem within the system to get information to customers.

[Barnacle]

And MY point, which I somehow think you're still missing, is that you might have left seconds before the information came down. Do you expect the ticket seller to run after you?

Toll booth personnel get their information at varying rates of speed; it depends on how well equipped they are for comms gear. For example, some toll booths on certain routes don't receive walkie-talkie transmissions from the boats; they rely on intercoms in the phone system. We, on the boat, can't access said phone system (they won't give us the phone number ;D ) and we rely on the other terminal staff to pass the word. This is a small example how it could be WSF's fault.

ON THE OTHER HAND...

WSF doesn't own the AM, FM, or TV stations that most people rely upon to disseminate the information outside of our terminals. We can't put guns to their heads and make them broadcast second-by-second updates.

But, since you're determined to make this WSF's fault, I resign the argument because I'm never going to win.

Oh, and one more thing: why would I want to retire to Bainbridge Island? I'm well aware my personal byproducts stink. ;D Moreover, I assure you I wouldn't want to move anywhere that I would have to deal with the ferry system to get somewhere; when I go on vacation, you can find me in Calgary, holed up in a brew-pub within walking distance of the C-Train.

[northwesterner]

ferrymaniac101 said:

My point, there is a communication problem within the system to get information to customers.

Where?

From your story:

Your father was informed the sailing was cancelled and he could wait for the next one.

He had two choices - he could wait or leave and drive around.

He chose to drove around.

When he got to Seattle, he saw that the "cancelled" sailing had in fact, sailed.

Who's to blame?

Sounds like the ticket seller told your father the "up to the minute status." You are in denial that that status could change. The ship's crew could believe that there was no way to make the repairs necessary to sail, and informed the booth that the trip was cancelled. Then, suprisingly, the problem was easier to fix than expected, and trip was back on.

If your father had waited, he would then have been able to sail.

The ability for the ship to get repaired was unknowable to the toll booth crew, and probably even to the ships crew. To play it safe, they called it cancelled.

Wouldn't you rather have been given the option to drive around at 4AM rather than wait until 5:30 when it was "cancelled for sure?" If they told you it was going to sail but would be delayed due to mechanical difficulties - and then had to cancel it later, I bet you would be even more upset.

I don't understand why you are getting so worked up about this.

[Political Incorrectness]

I get worked up over it because our route seems to have a curse. I find it strange that a scenario happend over again and I wonder why it happens over again and history repeats itself. I understand that the circumstances are different because the boat is in Bremerton. I also understand that you cannot get up to the minute info necessarily and probably the best option to not get customers angry is to say that it is cancelled instead of going ahead and making people wait. Either way, you get complaints.

[Barnacle]

Your route doesn't have a curse, so you can put away the conspiracy theories. Outside of your sphere of awareness, other routes have these problems. It's just your route's turn. After all, the Elwha (1999, 2006) didn't happen to you guys, nor did the Tacoma (2007), or the Sealth (2001, 2003, 2004), the Yakima (2003), the Klickitat (1997)... am I making myself sufficiently clear yet? ;D

[Political Incorrectness]

The curse goes with the vessel obviously Just like the Kalakala, and now to add to the list, the Klickitat just went.

[In Washington]

Although it is an old topic by now... NorthWesterner has the scenario exactly correct.

Repairs were thought to be more intense than it turned out. Sellers gave the best information they had at the time. Last minute notification to Deck and Terminal Staff that the boat was fixed and ready to go. Walk on passengers had it a little better as they were brought back to Bremerton to get on the boat (Kitsap Transit was busing them to Bainbridge).

Sometimes things just happen...

[zman]

Although the 4:50 is the No. 1 vessel, I am a bit concerned about the SPOKANE...she has had quite a few things happen at Bremerton (I know, they would have happened anyways, but I am going with the theme).

A couple weeks ago, the 6:45 PM from Seattle waited for 25 minutes after boarding so that WSP/SPD could locate and arrest an individual
Last Monday, the generator did not want to cooperate, cancelling the 6:20AM to Seattle
Last Tuesday, an individual had a seizure and took a nasty fall, resulting in the 4:20PM to return to Seattle, delaying the rest of the evening trips.
Tonight, the 6:45 to Bremerton was 20 minutes late (I dont know why).