Kennewick to replace Chetzemoka on PT ferry routeBy Kasia Pierzga
Examiner Staff Writer
Less than a year after Gov. Chris Gregoire and a constellation of elected officials attended a big party to celebrate the arrival of the
Chetzemoka, the ferry named for a famous Port Townsend tribal chief will soon be headed to a new home port far from the ancestral home of its namesake.
And once it begins service early in 2012, the new Kwa-di Tabil class ferry
Kennewick – a Native American term for a tribal wintering place in Eastern Washington where the Snake River enters the Columbia – will begin service as the primary ferry on the Coupeville-Port Townsend route.
The ferry
Salish will serve as the second vessel during peak season when both vessels are on the job.
“We’ve talked to our captains, we’ve talked to our operating crews, and they’ve both endorsed that,” said George Capacci, deputy chief of operations and construction for Washington State Ferries.
The main driver behind the decision to use the
Kennewick and the
Salish on the Coupeville route is efficiency, reliability and safety. Because the two vessels are nearly identical, with the same operational characteristics, the same variable-pitch propulsion system and the same setup in the pilothouse, it’s a lot easier for the captain and crew to switch back and forth between the two vessels, Capacci said.
“They’re as close as you can get to being identical vessels,” he said. “When a crew goes from one vessel to another – and they do, one day a week (when two vessels are in service on the route) – it’s beneficial to have as nearly identical vessels as possible.”
He also pointed out that if there’s a problem on one of the two vessels, the other one is available to potentially provide a source of spare parts.
“There’s your inventory right there on the other boat on the run,” he said.
Next week, when the Coupeville-Port Townsend route drops back to one-vessel service, the
Chetzemoka will head into drydock for maintenance, repairs and modifications. When the work is done, the vessel will head to its new home on the Point Defiance-Talequah route.
And unless it’s needed as a backup vessel in the event of problems with the other two ferries, the
Chetzemoka is unlikely to be seen again in local waters.
Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lynda Eccles said that while she’ll be sad to see the
Chetzemoka go, she’s just happy that the route has been restored to reliable service.
Port Townsend resident JoAnn Bussa is a Jefferson County Historical Society member who carried the
Chetzemoka name campaign forward after the suggestion made by the society’s late Steve Levin. Bussa said Ferries chief David Moseley told her in September about the ferry’s upcoming transfer.
“David presented it to me strictly as a safety issue, as the
Chetzemoka wasn’t built with the same engine strength as her sister ships,” Bussa told The Port Townsend Leader. “How can you refute a safety issue, even with the ownership our community has embraced, the history and legacy
Chetzemoka has with Port Townsend and Jefferson County. With that said, needless to say it hurts, and I will sincerely miss seeing her moored in which I will always consider, her home port.”
But Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval greeted the news with little more than a shrug.
“It has absolutely very little impact on my happiness level,” she said.
The passenger-cabin walls of the
Chetzemoka are decorated with historical images of Port Townsend designed to promote the community which was hard-hit by the loss of the Steel Electric ferries in November 2007. Sandoval said no matter where that vessel is, it’s basically an effective, floating advertisement for tourism in her community.
“If someone down on the other route takes a look at the pictures of Port Townsend and decides to come here, that’s good for us.”
Whidbey Island and Port Townsend residents can expect to see the
Kennewick make its first appearance in Admiralty Inlet sometime in the next few weeks. Vigor Shipyards (formerly Todd Shipyards) of Seattle had scheduled the first sea trials for this week, operating out of the Everett Shipyard, where it has been undergoing final outfitting.
While Coupeville officials and the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce successfully lobbied for the opportunity to place images of Central Whidbey on the Salish, Eccles said no plans have been made yet to place similar images on the
Kennewick.
“It’s all about funding,” she said, noting that the Town of Coupeville paid for the placement of area photographs on the
Salish.Washington State Ferries has scheduled the
Kennewick for up to three days of acceptance trials beginning Oct. 12. The ferry is the third and final vessel in the Kwa-di Tabil class.
“We expect the
Kennewick will be in service in the new year, probably mid-January or so,” Capacci said.
Ferries officials want to get the
Kennewick into regular service on the Coupeville-Port Townsend route as soon as possible so that any problems can be identified right up front, he said.
“We need to put some hours on that vessel in January so we can get through the warranty period, so that if anything’s going to break, it’s going to show up,” he said.
When the
Chetzemoka heads into drydock, it’s scheduled for modifications such as extension of its rub rails so the entire hull is protected from damage while docking. Also planned is a modification of its bulwarks to reduce wear on the mooring lines.
More work also will be done on the keel cooler, where a leak had been found that resulted in the boat being hauled out for repairs during several days in August.
The keel cooler is a closed-circuit cooling unit mounted on the hull that helps to keep the generator cool – similar to the job of a radiator in a car.
Workers will attach additional bonding straps to make sure the keel cooler is fully grounded to the hull, he said.
Even though the
Chetzemoka is outfitted with a fixed-pitch propeller that can make entering Keystone Harbor more difficult than a variable-pitch setup, Capacci said the vessel has served the route well since it began service on Nov. 14, 2010.
“The
Chetzemoka operationally fit the bill up there,” he said. “It did everything we wanted it to do.”
And even though the
Chetzemoka is to be permanently assigned to a route in Central Puget Sound, Capacci said he wouldn’t be surprised if it makes another appearance in Admiralty Inlet someday.
“In the 60-year life of a vessel, who’s to say the
Chetzemoka won’t be up there again,” he said.
The three 64-car ferries in the Kwa-di Tabil class cost an average of $71 million, or about $1.1 million per vehicle parking space.
The next vessels planned for Washington State Ferries are 144-vehicle ferries such as those used on the Clinton-Mukilteo route, the second-busiest route in the system.
The Legislature so far has funded just one 144-car ferry, although a consortium composed of Vigor Shipyards of Seattle, J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding of Tacoma and Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island is expected to build up to four boats. Washington State Ferries’ long-range plan calls for only two new 144-car ferries, both of which are to be delivered in 2014.
The new vessels are to be shared between the Mukilteo-Clinton, Seattle-Bremerton and the San Juan Island routes, depending on the time of year.
No more new ferries would be built until 2027.
Despite the big celebration that was held when the
Chetzemoka arrived, Eccles of the Central Whidbey Chamber said there’s no farewell party planned for the ferry as it departs.
“If anything, we can just watch her sail off into the sunset,” Eccles said with a laugh.
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The weather has been really nice for some good shots. 
