MV Hyak

[SS San Mateo]

The layup schedule (updated 12/29) over in the "Business With WSF" section shows the Hyak as being at Eagle Harbor this week. I guess annual maintenance on the Kitsap was finished early.

[fargowolf]

Nick said: "Auto deck clearance" is the maximum vehicle height the ship can carry.

Basically, what Nick is saying, is that's the maximum overhead clearance on the ferry. So, on the Hiyu, the tallest a vehicle can be at it's highest point, is 15' Hope this helps provide a bit of an explanation Shasta

[Jody]

Some photos from today's ride across the Sound and back today onboard the Hyak. After leaving in the wee hours of O-Dark-Thirty this morning, we managed to float into Seattle during the magic moments of morning twilight. As we slowed for our approach, I let the shutter fly and the pixels burn. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to linger on the deck as I would with a more fully loaded boat. There were all of 15 cars or so onboard, so I had to get back downstairs pretty quickly. But here are three of my favorites from the morning.






As we waited at the Coleman Dock, I snapped a few photos of the Hyak easing into the slip. Unfortunately, the sun picked that moment to duck behind a cloud and hide. Don't get me wrong, I love having big poofy clouds in the sky. But those who live by the cloud, well, um, die by the cloud...


The 3:00 departure from Seattle is one of my favorites because both boats depart at the same time, making for some interesting photo opportunities. In this case, I caught the Bainbridge-bound M/V Tacoma through the front windows of the upper level outdoor seating area.


Looking back at the Seattle skyline from the sundeck of the Hyak. I have to admit, the Supers are probably my favorite class to take photos off of. They offer some interesting angles and photo opportunities.


Anyhow, enjoy!

Jody

[SS Shasta]

Lovely Photos!!!! Did someone indicate that MV Hyak is a "one sided rust bucket?" From the daylight photo there seems to be little rust that could be easily seen. Some rust is noted on the hand rails in another photo. It definitely seems strange that most of the rust seems to be on one side . Many thanks for the cool photos.

[chokai]

Jan 25, 2010 13:15:50 GMT -8 SS Shasta said:

Lovely Photos!!!! Did someone indicate that MV Hyak is a "one sided rust bucket?"

Yeah that's the "good" side. My friends have gotten sick of my horrible jokes about the "split personality" ferry when we have lunch at the Red Robin by the Argosy pier. ;-)

Does anyone know whether the difference is due to a failed paint job, weather from that side of the boat when serving elsewhere or what? I think it may have been posted a while back but I can't recall with 100% certainty.

[Jody]

For sake of discussion, here's a shot of her "Hyde" side as she cruised into Sinclair Inlet last spring. And it looks like her "Jeckyll" side is starting to pick up some rust as well. Or maybe I missed it before. Who knows. Either way, I think she's looking forward to 2012, if it happens...

Jody

[Jody]

Boy, if that's the case then we'd better consider things VERY carefully before repainting her, as giving her two yin sides (or two yangs) will upset her balance. That complicates things. Balance is important to a ferry, you know, but I never knew they could be this Tao...

J

[Barnacle]

No kidding. The last thing I need is to be saddled with a boat whose ch'i is out of balance.

[SS Shasta]

Just another dumb question from a lay person....... When a vessel such as MV Hyak is serving a regular run like Bremerton, are the two ends always facing the same direction? or do they change them around once in a while? Example: #1 always facing Seattle, #2 Bremerton. My guess is that they keep them the same so as not to confuse dumb passengers ;D.

[Barnacle]

#1 end always faces the western end of the run, #2 always faces east. There are a few exceptions:

(1) Evergreen State running on a mainland run out of Anacortes. Typically the #1 end will face Anacortes, with the elevator on the island end (where there is no overhead loading ramp).

(2) April Fools' Day. Once upon a time the Bainbridge boats would end-for-end to move the galley on the wrong end of the boat as a joke for the day.

(3) Point Defiance-Tahlequah. It's a north-south run. ;D

[FNS]

Jan 26, 2010 17:29:35 GMT -8 Barnacle said:

#1 end always faces the western end of the run, #2 always faces east. There are a few exceptions:

(1) Evergreen State running on a mainland run out of Anacortes. Typically the #1 end will face Anacortes, with the elevator on the island end (where there is no overhead loading ramp).

(2) April Fools' Day. Once upon a time the Bainbridge boats would end-for-end to move the galley on the wrong end of the boat as a joke for the day.

(3) Point Defiance-Tahlequah. It's a north-south run. ;D

Some interesting notes:

For virtually her entire assignment on the Mukilteo run from the opening of the Hood Canal Bridge through 1977, the RHODODENDRON's galley end would touch Clinton.

In her guest appearances and her initial full time assignment on the Mukilteo run in 1978, the ILLAHEE's galley end (End Number Two) touched Clinton. WSF rotated her around in 1979 and her galley end touched Mukilteo for good until the end of her assignment there in 1982. The CATHY and KITTY have their galley ends (End Number Two) touching Mukilteo these days since day one of their operation there in 1982.

The reworked KLICKITAT had her galley end (End Number Two) touching Port Townsend for the bulk of her assignment there from 1983 until her sudden farewell.

Back in the 1970s when I went to Camp Orkila and on family trips though the San Juan Islands, the galley end (End Number Two) on the KALEETAN, KLICKITAT, and EVERGREEN STATE touched Anacortes. The NISQUALLY's galley end, however, was pointing to the islands as her End Number One touched Anacortes. It was 1973 when I took my first rides aboard the ES and the NISQUALLY, ES to Orkila and the NISQUALLY back to Anacortes.

It was really hilarious to read what WSF did to commuters on April Fools' Day by rotating ferries with their galley ends touching Bainbridge instead of Seattle! ;D

[SS Shasta]

Some more humor for the old timers: I remember SS San Mateo's galley always faced Winslow; foot passengers would board in Winslow on the boat deck to the smell of hamburgers and onions and exit in Seattle from the car deck to the smell of exhaust fumes.

Guess there was a problem with the Old Chetz as the galley door was on the side of the vessel about half way between both ends although the galley itself favored one end.

[steamfan]

Ferrynut,
I will ask about the reasons (if any) behind the orientation of the Nisqually and Klickitat in the San Juans in the 70s. My father and grandfather both worked summers in the islands in the 70s, including one summer opposite each other on the Nisqually and Klickitat. When you went to Camp Orkila first in 1973, I believe the Walla Walla was also present in the islands making a hash of the beaches, and one slip of the Anacortes dock.

[FNS]

Jan 27, 2010 22:58:18 GMT -8 steamfan said:

Ferrynut,
I will ask about the reasons (if any) behind the orientation of the Nisqually and Klickitat in the San Juans in the 70s. My father and grandfather both worked summers in the islands in the 70s, including one summer opposite each other on the Nisqually and Klickitat. When you went to Camp Orkila first in 1973, I believe the Walla Walla was also present in the islands making a hash of the beaches, and one slip of the Anacortes dock.

Yes, indeed, the BIG W was up there in the San Juans in 1973. She was really big there too! On my trip over to Orcas aboard the EVERGREEN STATE in 1973, we passed the eastbound WALLA WALLA in the islands prior to Lopez terminal. I think she was doing international runs to Sidney that year. As for the reason of the orientations of the KLICKITAT and NISQUALLY in the 1970s, don't know. Should have asked a member of the crew then. One nice thing about the NISQUALLY was that I enjoyed sitting in her main lounge and observatory at End Number One on the trips back to Anacortes, enjoy her architecture, and watch the scenery come towards me. Us campers weren't allowed in the dining area at the other end. Hated the trip back to Anacortes on the KLICKITAT in 1975. The KALEETAN, which was doing trips to Kingston in 1973 after being bumped by the new SPOKANE at Bainbridge, replaced the WALLA WALLA in the islands in 1974. The BIG W joined her sister at Bainbridge, and the ELWHA went to Kingston that year and spent a good part her years there before going to the islands in the 1980s.

As most of you know, programs changed in 1978. The VASHON returned to the San Juans from her stay at Mukilteo from 1973 to 1977. The NISQUALLY left the islands and went to Kingston, sending her sister ILLAHEE to Clinton for improved full time service there.

After the sinking of the Hood Canal Bridge in 1979, the ELWHA left Kingston and returned to Bainbridge. A Jumbo took turns on the Edmonds to Port Townsend run. The TILLIKUM was the only vessel on the Kingston run that year. In 1980, auto ferry service was returned to Hood Canal and the TILLIKUM phased out the long run in the spring of that year. Better service was restored to Kingston as well.

The HYAK and YAKIMA were still good buddies on the Bremerton run then. The HYAK did pay a visit to Clinton one weekend during the Edmonds reroute in 1982 while Mukilteo was reworked with the landing extended out to handle the deeper drafts of the CATHY and KITTY.

Very neat that the HYAK does trips to the San Juans at times.

[Kahloke]

Jan 28, 2010 0:30:55 GMT -8 FNS said:

Very neat that the HYAK does trips to the San Juans at times.

And will be again starting the 3rd week in February, according to the maintenance schedule. Except for a brief hiatus in March (Annual Inspection), Hyak is scheduled to be in the islands up until summer.

[Barnacle]

Rats. Then it looks like the Hyak will be #2 boat... I was hoping to get it for the #3 slot. Oh well, Kaleetan will do.

[lmtengs]

Jan 23, 2010 19:55:52 GMT -8 Jody said:

Jody

Woah! Double-take

It looks so much like the forum flagship. Then I noticed that the flagship is on the Kaleetan. Almost the same!


PS: there's an oversized photo on the last page back

[Kahloke]

Does anyone know when Hyak is supposed to go in for its major overhaul? Is that in 2011 or 2012?

[Jody]

Kahloke - I had it in my head that the Hyak's turn at mid-life upgrades was 2012, but I just double checked the most recent version of the Long Range Plan, and it has the Hyak slated for work next year. So I stand corrected.

Please Help - which pic is oversized? I looked them over, and don't see one over 800 pixels wide, at least not on my browser. Did I miss one?

As for the early AM docking photo, I couldn't resist one more try, even though I didn't have a tripod with me. I had pretty much sworn I wasn't going to do another after my success onboard the Kaleetan (when I had all the equipment I needed) but I got seduced by the blue pre-dawn tones that were creeping in during my earlier shots. Still not the best of circumstances without a tripod, as my shutter speeds were landing at around 1/2 second. Take a deep breath, hold it, squeeze the shutter button, breathe out, repeat...

The photo did finally get my attention about one thing. The flagship banner was a repeat of a photo I'd shot previously onboard the Yakima. (In that case, I was farther out toward Bremerton, and again without a tripod.) Anyhow, one of the things I liked about the Kaleetan shot was that the solarium area is lit up white instead of yellow. I'd previously attributed the yellow tone in the Yakima to the type of lighting, but after taking the above photo, I noted on the Hyak that instead of white lights, 2/3 of the lights underneath the solarium have yellow globes over them.

Steamfan & FerryNut - I have a hard time picturing the Wally up in the San Juans. Would be almost as bad as sailing Rich Passage all day... She looks so big on the way to Bremerton anyhow. Always kind of fun to watch though. She has to take a much wider track to make the turn into the Bremerton slip than the Supers or Issaquahs do.

Jody

[lmtengs]

Jan 25, 2010 22:42:36 GMT -8 Jody said:

This one. At least on my screen it's oversized.

[whidbeyislandguy]

They all look sized right to me.

Keep up the wonderful with the wonderful pictures Jody.

These are great shots of the Hyak

[Low Light Mike]

Jan 29, 2010 17:36:09 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Jan 25, 2010 22:42:36 GMT -8 Jody said:

This one. At least on my screen it's oversized.

It's a perfectly sized pic. If anyone right-clicks on it, they can easily see that it's dimensions are 800 x 520. Easy to see that....

[lmtengs]

oh!... okay, nevermind then I thought they weren't allowed to make the the main reading interface wider than the flagship box at the top. I was mistaken.

[Jody]

OK, THAT's interesting... Today, it's coming at 1000x650 again. That was the original size, and I downsized in Photobucket. Time to go try it again. I'm a little mystified... Sorry for the confusion. I've literally checked it several times while reading other posts to this thread, and it's been coming in at 800 pixels wide. Confusing...

Even more confusing, now. I just checked Photobucket, and the file is showing as being 800x540 there as well. So I resized it the same and resaved it again. We'll see if that helps...

Sorry guys. Viking is right, it's oversized. Sometimes. I just can't figure that one out... If it continues, I'll take the photo down. Sorry about that.

Jody

[lmtengs]

Jan 30, 2010 12:27:08 GMT -8 Jody said:

OK, THAT's interesting... Today, it's coming at 1000x650 again. That was the original size, and I downsized in Photobucket. Time to go try it again. I'm a little mystified... Sorry for the confusion. I've literally checked it several times while reading other posts to this thread, and it's been coming in at 800 pixels wide. Confusing...

Even more confusing, now. I just checked Photobucket, and the file is showing as being 800x540 there as well. So I resized it the same and resaved it again. We'll see if that helps...

Sorry guys. Viking is right, it's oversized. Sometimes. I just can't figure that one out... If it continues, I'll take the photo down. Sorry about that.

Jody

Justice!

I think that's happened a few times on this forum now with photos posted by photobucket.
I use Flickr and Facebook for my photo uploading, and I've never had problems with them.