Snohomish at Keystone??

[SS Shasta]

Just wondering how WSF will land and load the Snohomish at Keystone on such short notice? With only the traditional car-ferry landing in place, can they quickly install a loading platform for her? It would certainly have to be safe and secure for folks to board and exit the vessel.

[SS San Mateo]

The Snohomish can fit into a traditional ferry slip and is designed to load/unload from the vehicle ramp.

[EGfleet]

shasta said:

Just wondering how WSF will land and load the Snohomish at Keystone on such short notice? With only the traditional car-ferry landing in place, can they quickly install a loading platform for her? It would certainly have to be safe and secure for folks to board and exit the vessel.

The Snohomish was built with a loading platform on her for car slips from the beginning. The Chinook was going to be retrofitted, but it never happened.

[FNS]

Back to posting things on the Northwest US Ferries thread after the excitement of BCF's new MV COASTAL RENAISSANCE's passage through the Panama Canal.

I just wonder how the SNOHOMISH will turn around in Keystone Harbor? Will she back straight out onto Admiralty Inlet, or turn like a clock in the harbor? This might be a good test to see if it is really feasible to get the big shallow draft narrow beam six lane MV CAPE MAY, if she is still for sale.

One thing for sure. It'll take some time to get used to hearing three short blasts from a ferry whistle on this run as we are used to hearing the long blast at sailing time on the double enders.

[In Washington]

The Snohomish ought to be able to turn around before heading out barring any minus tides. I saw both boats do some amazing moves while they were on the Bremerton run.

Some of the relief Captains worked the boats so there shouldn't be a big problem crewing them even if the reliefs are just there as trainers at first since I think most if not all of the reliefs are familiar with the PT/Keystone run.

The hardest part, on the rare times the Snohomish used the auto slip in Bremerton, was that the dolphins aren't in a position for the boat to lay against them so she had to be baby sat the whole time in dock. If I remember right the cleats were moved sp the apron wouldn't hit them and we rigged netting because there were some gaps where the bow met the wingwalls because of the narrow beam.

In a North wind it could be a little weird at Port Townsend. Also keep the inflight sickness bags handy if it gets rough.

[zman]

I was also thinking about the ride...it may get pretty rough up there.
I think the bow of the Snohomish is long and narrow enough to fit into any of the auto slips.
She was out in Elliott Bay this morning fueling up!

[Political Incorrectness]

And guess where she is heading!

[Deleted]

According to the WSF vessel watch the "Snohomish" is docked at Port Townsend this morning. Here's some new news. Interesting to note that they are only keeping the third boat at Kingston until Sunday and there are no exact figures on how much "the upgrades at the Port Townsend terminal will cost." Have they thought about starting up the Edmonds - Port Townsend route again or perhaps Clinton - Port Townsend? I think it would be fun to ride the "Snohomish" betweeen Port Townsend - Keystone though!

Work begins Saturday at Port Townsend to handle foot-ferry traffic
07:57 PM PST on Friday, November 23, 2007
Associated Press


The delay in ferry service to Port Townsend is hurting the bottom line of some businesses.
SEATTLE - Workers planned to begin adjusting the Port Townsend ferry dock on Saturday so a passenger-only ferry can moor there while car-ferry service is shut down because of damage to some of the state's boats.

Car-ferry service on the Port Townsend-Keystone route was halted on Tuesday when the Washington State Ferries' four oldest vessels were pulled from service because of concerns about cracks and corrosion on their hulls.

The passenger-only service between Port Townsend and Keystone, on Whidbey Island, isn't expected to begin until Monday. That's how long it's expected to take to reconfigure a slip at Port Townsend to accommodate the passenger-only ferry Snohomish, ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris said Friday night.

In the meantime, a third ferry has been running since Wednesday on the Edmonds-Kingston run, south of the Port Townsend-Keystone route, Harris said. The third ferry will continue to run eight hours a day through Sunday, she said.

Manson Construction Co. was scheduled to arrive at the Port Townsend dock on Saturday to begin the work, which involves drawing in a floating portion of the slip so the Snohomish can be tied up when not in use.

Once in operation, the passenger-only ferry will try to keep to the same schedule as the car ferries had, Harris said.

Ferry officials have said they don't know how long the Port Townsend-Keystone run will be without car-ferry service.

Harris said the Kingston-Edmonds run has experienced a surge in traffic since the shutdown, but she did not have exact figures.

The estimated cost of the Port Townsend dock realignment also was not immediately available.

[SS Shasta]

Apparently this docking problem is at Port Townsend, rather than at Keystone......... Is there a major difference between the two docks?

[Political Incorrectness]

Its not a problem with the docks, it is the vessel. The Snohomish has power at the rear of the vessel where as the auto vessels have it at both ends. Therefore, in order to get power to the vessel for the morning, it cannot be done on the Snohomish with its configuration due to the power on the one end that does not go into the slip.

[hergfest]

I think it is more of a problem of mooring the Snohomish in the Port Townsend dock overnight. They had no place to tie her up with no power.

[Kahloke]

Now that they have Snohomish up and running, I wonder how long it takes for that vessel to make the PT-KEY crossing. It's a fast boat, but are the crews operating it at a slower speed to maintain the printed 30-minute crossing, or are they getting her up to speed and actually making the trip shorter?

[FNS]

orcasnative said:

Now that they have Snohomish up and running, I wonder how long it takes for that vessel to make the PT-KEY crossing. It's a fast boat, but are the crews operating it at a slower speed to maintain the printed 30-minute crossing, or are they getting her up to speed and actually making the trip shorter?

17 speedy minutes! Not quite as fast like the Road Runner, very catchable by Wile E Coyote (just don't let this genius drive that vessel)!! ;D

Here is a story from the Port Townsend Leader:

www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=19371&TM=59679.01

[FNS]

And, just as I thought they would do,they are cutting down the terminal layover time and do a sailing every thirty minutes (that's one side at the top of the clock, the other side at the bottom of the clock).

WSF release:

www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/commuter_updates/index.cfm?fuseaction=press_releases_content&press_release_id=545

[Barnacle]

One round trip every two hours does not constitute sailings every thirty minutes. Though I do see the sailings are hourly during peak commute hours.

[SS Shasta]

How does this vessel perform in rough weather? Are there special requirements to hault service in bad weather?

[hergfest]

Well seeing as though they shut down the run tonight due to bad weather, I am thinking she does.

[Barnacle]

I hear tale she doesn't take rough weather too well. I also hear tale it's a rough ride for the passengers.

[EGfleet]

barnacle said:

I hear tale she doesn't take rough weather too well. I also hear tale it's a rough ride for the passengers.

She doesn't. Having been a commuter on those two boats for a few years before they shut them down, I can attest to that. She bounces around like a tin can on a tidal wave. It can be very rough on those boats in heavy seas.

[In Washington]

I would hesitate to say the Snohomish is unsafe in heavy seas. But she is very uncomfortable. Catamarans are not as good as monohulls in weather if all else is equal. It is just weird to hit a swell or a wave with two hulls.

After all, the Chinook and Snohomish were made to create waves... not operate in them.

[Barnacle]

I thought those were touted as being low-wake, In Washington... ;D Let's not go there, shall we?

[Mike C]

barnacle said:

I thought those were touted as being low-wake, In Washington... ;D Let's not go there, shall we?

oh, LETS. You guys made a man named Glen Clark get some very strange, evil, stupid ideas...

Glen Clark: Look, it's one of them Catamarans operating for Washington State Ferries!! We have got to have them too, because when it comes to ferries, we are their arch nemeses! We have to build ours four times as big and just as fast.... too bad Clark didn't think that they'd end up twice as slow

===========================

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming of on-topic material.

[zman]

Okay, I had a chance to take the Snohomish yesterday.
Other than the chipped paint on the outer deck surfaces, she is doing great!
It was breezy up there. The Snohomish handled the weather well. I am not saying that it was a smooth trip...it was extrodinarily rough, making walking around hard. The nice thing is that there were no points where she would suddenly swerve after hitting a wave.
That happened alot at Bremerton because of the currents through Rich Passage.
It was simply bumpy...lots of rising and falling hard on the waves.

[Emory Lindgard]

Z man, you must of been 2 hours ahead of me and my
wife. Here are my pictures from yesterdays trip.
I like that use book store, William James on water street.

www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=12d7bjp2.bdkfv5uu&x=0&h=1&y=48ywn6

I agree, I thought it was good ride. Someone mention in waiting room they may cut back the schedule due to lack of ridership.

However we had High school kids on way back that help fill up the boat. That was at 3:05 PM. I think it was a basketball game.

Emory Lindgard

[zman]

Yeah, I was on the 1:05PT and 1:35Keystone trip...There were only about 7 passengers each way.

It seems that WSF is expanding the waiting area at both docks. Workers are at both terminals building some sort of covered extensions.