MV Chetzemoka

[Freeland]

They had a major miss print in Everett Herald this morning. They had printed the christening ceremony was going be Today instead of Tomorrow. I went up Keystone ( Coupeville ) to see what was going on. I told two women who were setting up the tent about the Everett Herald error. I think they corrected the problem at the Herald's web page.

They were telling me to take the Noon Ferry tomorrow to see the celebration on the Port Townsend side. They will have Tribal Indian ceremony on that side. The Christening Ceremony is suppose to happen at 10:45 at Keystone ( Coupeville). They have big white tent set up there. I wonder if anybody is planning to be there?
Emory in Freeland.

[whidbeyislandguy]

Was planning on it and even made the guest list but, work plans changed.. Gee imagine that me having to work on a sunday morning... I know where I will be at 10:30.

[rusty]

Well, whidbeyisland guy, it's too bad you'll miss the event, and the VIP cruise to PT at that. One could not ask for better weather on this mid-November day. I'm sure pictures will be posted.

All in all, a beautiful day in Dream City.

[Low Light Mike]

Nov 14, 2010 9:06:33 GMT -8 @whidbeyislandguy said:

Was planning on it and even made the guest list but, work plans changed.. Gee imagine that me having to work on a sunday morning... I know where I will be at 10:30.

Will you be teaching on Acts 27:39-41 ?

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Alas, this ship was not run-up on a sandbar. Here is proof of the new ferry docked in "Coupstone" for the ceremony:

[Dane]

The other related threads were getting a little long, with multiple tangents so I thought it would be best to move forward with an "In Service Discussion" as we have done for the new vessels gracing BC's waters.

ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=28125

Gov. Gregoire, tribal leaders welcome ferry Chetzemoka

Gov. Christine Gregoire led a busload of prominent state and national officials, and tribal elders from the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe led about 20 relatives of the historic Chief Chetzemoka, in welcoming the new ferry Chetzemoka to its inaugural run on Sunday, Nov. 14.

Several hundred people were aboard as the new ferry crossed from its Keystone berth on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend at 11:20 a.m.

The new ferry begins automobile service on Monday, Nov. 15.
Aboard the ferry, on the gleaming car deck, the governor thanked state officials, the shipbuilders led by Todd Shipyard of Seattle, and local government officials for making the Chetzemoka happen. Mayor Michelle Sandoval of Port Townsend was among those who opposed a "quick fix" and instead urged the state to build a medium-sized ferry that would be perfect fit for the crossing, said Gregoire.

"You got it," said the governor.

"She is stout, she is sound, and she will sail on the toughest route in our system," said Gregoire.

Two more ferries of the same "Island Home" design are already being built by Todd, with one of them 60 percent done and the other just started.

Exactly where those ferries will sail remains an open question. The second ferry, named the "Salish," was supposed to be the second ferry sharing the Port Townsend-Keystone crossing. But budget cuts may require that ferry to be used elsewhere, at least in the short term. The second ferry will be ready in early May, according to Todd officials.

Members of the Jefferson County Historical Society, led by Joanne Bussa, convinced state officials to name this vessel the Chetzemoka. Also, a Blue Heron Middle School class contributed the indian name for this class of ferries: Kwa-diTabil.

Descendants of Chief Chetzemoka, the S'Klallam chief who welcomed the earliest white settlers to the Port Townsend area, were also on board. The family now goes by the name of Prince. Greg Prince of Bothell is the great great grandson of Chetzemoka.
"I'm glad they named this one Chetzemoka," he said. "The family is greatly honored."

Later, when the ferry docked at the Port Townsend terminal, additional S'Klallams, many of them also members of the Prince family, came aboard and participated in welcoming ceremonies, speeches and songs.

The Chetzemoka carries up to 64 vehicles. It has an extensive passenger deck including kitchen. It is also designed to be easy to use by bikers. In sea trials if proved to be much more maneuverable than the older boats, which is important when navigating the Keystone Harbor entrance.

The ferry cost $79.4 million to build, with construction beginning in January 2009. All major contractors are Washington State companies. She is 274 feet long and 64 feet wide. She is served by two engines with 3,000 horsepower each. She can travel at speeds up to 16 knots and carries 750 foot passengers.

[rusty]

At least from the viewpoint of the passenger cabin, this boat is something to see. The closet rival is the larger Mk II's. You can get lost up there.

As far as the boat's maneuverability, it better be. Generally all boats hit the gravel at Keystone sooner or later, and if this boat hits the beach it will require a lengthy, expensive drydocking.

Overall, the PT/Key route has never seen such an elegant boat.

[Rhody]

[Rhody]

Open House on the Chetzy

[Low Light Mike]

(I'll quickly remind Rhody that you can have as many pictures within 1 post as you wish. No need for separate posts, unless that's the effect that you want. )

[Rhody]

Never seen a plaque with so many names on it...

[Kahloke]

Hi all.

I went to the Chetzemoka Open House today for a brief time. Here are some of my photos from the event. BTW - I changed the title of this thread to include photos. I believe that is appropriate.

Walking aboard Chetzemoka at her open house in Port Townsend, Sunday-14-Nov-2010



Some photos from Chetzemoka's Car Deck











Views from the Pickle Forks







Sun Deck









Bicycle Mezzanine


Passenger Seating Mezzanine



Main Passenger Cabin (can't say I'm too crazy about the lime green floor)


Stairs down to bicycle mezzanine








The Galley - it was closed off for the open house


The passenger space on the window side of the main stairs is narrow like the mezzanine below




Main Stair landing on the passenger deck level



Some of the historical photos scattered throughout the cabin - sorry for the flash




Paying homage to the first Chetzemoka




Mural



Steilacoom II and Chetzemoka together at Port Townsend for the last time

[rusty]

You know, I worked for NOAA years ago. The picture of Chet and the S2 together reminds me of the Oceanographer and Discoverer next to the Surveyor. Big superstucture on the two, but only the Surveyor could handle the rough weather. All of them were white elephants in there own way. Gotta love the government.

All that said, I'm excited about the Chetzemoka. I'll be riding in style from now on.

[Mirrlees]

Thanks for posting those, Kahloke! I agree, the green flooring reminds me of the sundeck on the NorAd.

[lmtengs]

Great photos, Kahloke. Was her list noticeable when you were on-board, like, could you tell from looking around inside that one side of the ship was higher than the other?
Re: The green flooring, I don't think it's that bad. It's those grey stairwell railings that get to me.

I really like the lounge seats and cafeteria booths they chose. They look comfier than what's been chosen on the older ferries.

[chokai]

Rode the Chetzy earlier today from PT to Keystone and back. It was a nice ride and the crew seemed very proud of thier new boat, jokingly referring to her as the QE2, which given her passenger cabin if there was such a thing in the WSF fleet she'd be it. A few minor things were being worked on still that showed up when so many people were on over the weekend, things like moving exit signs. The galley was opened a little after 10am. One thing I noted is at 6'4" is that the Chetzy's ceiling feels significantly lower to me than other boats, but it might just be the layout, lighting and decoration. I had less than 4" of headspace. I'll have to ride another boat to verify. Some stairways also had definate clearance issues for those of us on the taller side.

There was much futzing with the trestle height and ramp angle at both terminals during my ride, I took pictures of both the terminal's ramps for those that might still be interested in clearance. The Keystone ramp was also apparently having electrical hiccups also that were not related to the boat.

She sails quite smoothly, albiet with a little bit of vibration during accelleration from the dock and in the turns. But IMO no worse than any other boat does and def not as bad as the JMarkII's. She did quite well smoothly going through a wake on the way back and the crew was ecstatic about her sea keeping abilities, I suspect they were as frustrated about cancellations as the passengers.

They are definately still trying to figure out how to load the boat., and were going one car at a time. The one lane to the side is far roomier than you'd think, they were putting full size trucks and SUVs back there and they had plenty of room on both sides.

I'm currently can't post pictures as I'm on the road but I'll attempt to do that tonight!

[rusty]

I also rode the CHETZEMOKA today. I had, in the other thread, posted my concern of the apron getting pinched in the bulwarks. The situation is not as bad as I thought; but it still is an issue, as seen in this photo of the apron on the boat at Keystone.

[SS San Mateo]

I was on the 8:00 sailing out of Port Townsend this morning. Not as many cars as there were on the 6:30 sailing and the single lane tunnel was empty. The galley wasn't open (there were workers setting it up).

[Kahloke]

Nov 15, 2010 15:17:16 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Great photos, Kahloke. Was her list noticeable when you were on-board, like, could you tell from looking around inside that one side of the ship was higher than the other?
Re: The green flooring, I don't think it's that bad. It's those grey stairwell railings that get to me.
I really like the lounge seats and cafeteria booths they chose. They look comfier than what's been chosen on the older ferries.

It didn't seem like she was listing while docked at the open house. If there was one, it wasn't noticeable. Yeah, the grey hand rail on the stairs is a new look for WSF. On exterior applications, WSF has typically painted that top rail green. Inside railings, like on the interior stairwells going from the car deck up to the passenger cabin, are either brass or a sort-of brushed aluminum finish. At least, that's what I've noticed on most of the current fleet. There probably are exceptions.

[Barnacle]

Railings on the Hyak's ladderwells are gray, where the paint hasn't chipped off. The painted standard on the interior stairs is gray, though most have been replaced with brass or brushed stainless steel.

[lifc]

I hope she sails well and doesn't take a vacation on the beach. I did notice the list when I was onboard on Sunday.

I just finished a comparison of Ferry Rates and Fuel Consumption for several of the County and State Routes, to present to our local County Council for reference on their Ferry Rate raising project. I wonder what the average daily fuel use of the Chetzemoka will turn out to be, the StII was just a bit under 600 gallons a day. If any of you have any information on this, please let me know.

[moonman]

Nov 12, 2010 16:09:17 GMT -8 SS Shasta said:

Nov 10, 2010 4:52:46 GMT -8 Barnacle said:

I don't know if that will kill her... the bigger problem is that taking away the Issaquah removes the only full-height boat from the Triangle. Anything really big will have to find a different way out to the island.

With this height issue, would it not make better sense to place MV Salish on the Vashon/Southworth run and keep Evergreen where she is in the Islands? A few more vehicle spaces would be lost at Vashon, but the height question might be solved. All of these proposed vessel changes sound rather nutty to me.

The change from the Issaquah to the E-State is over 750 car spaces per day. Dropping to the 64 is an additional 483 spaces. Most of the loss goes to Vashon, about 30% cut, which already fills most the boats every trip during the day and it would be devastating. about 50% of the adult population travels regularly off the island for employment. WSF thru its neglect for capacity killed our largest employer. Transit is not practical for many though a large number are able to use the buses during regular commute times.

[Barnacle]

Nov 12, 2010 16:09:17 GMT -8 SS Shasta said:

With this height issue, would it not make better sense to place MV Salish on the Vashon/Southworth run and keep Evergreen where she is in the Islands? A few more vehicle spaces would be lost at Vashon, but the height question might be solved. All of these proposed vessel changes sound rather nutty to me.

I totally missed your last sentence when I first read your post... it should be mentioned that these proposed vessel changes are a rather direct result of all the taxation that some rather vocal people have been railing against. I've found that the poor actually seem to want less from their government than the rich who want it all for free...

[EGfleet]

I admit I was not initially a fan of the design of these boats, but having seen her in person...I will admit it--she's darn cute!

And as far as I can see, the whole thing about the list is being really overblown. She came in on an even keel, listed a little when totally empty--but not much--and evened right out once she was loaded. And they wasted no time in getting out of Keystone Harbor...that boat has some acceleration!


Nice mood lighting, shot into the sun.


Just peaking out from the sun...


At the dock.



From the other wise of the harbor...


Off she goes...


Next stop, Port Townsend.

[rusty]

I'll have to admit that the Chetzemoka does seem to chug away. The cabin is beautiful.

The car deck is a problem, ya betchya!

[SS Shasta]

Nov 19, 2010 18:31:56 GMT -8 rusty said:

I'll have to admit that the Chetzemoka does seem to chug away. The cabin is beautiful.

The car deck is a problem, ya betchya!

Would a vessel like this have trouble loading odd sized vehicles and equipment? The last time I road the Evergreen in the Islands, I was surprised to see so much odd sized traffic (farm equipment, tractors, road graders, a haying machine, etc). This was in addition to standard cars, trucks, and recreational vehicles. While they seemed to fit with some ease on the Evergreen, I wonder how it would load on to the Chitz or other vessels in her class. It might be a pain in the xxxx?