MV Coho

[Low Light Mike]

....just been re-posting my October 2010 Coho photo posts.

I resized my photos and for some unknown reason ProBoards isn't letting me modify or delete my old posts in this thread.
- so I needed to repost, because I'm picky about my photos being sized correctly. (this re re the Google Web Albums sizing change that Google recently did)
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[cobblehillian]

Mr. Horn, thanks for the wonderful photographic tour of the MV Coho. I had always heard that she was well maintained. I have to say the Coho looks better than most of her younger cousins in the BCF fleet.

[Low Light Mike]

Dec 18, 2011 19:07:13 GMT -8 cobblehillian said:

Mr. Horn, thanks for the wonderful photographic tour of the MV Coho. I had always heard that she was well maintained. I have to say the Coho looks better than most of her younger cousins in the BCF fleet.

Thanks!

I think it's true that Coho is very well maintained. Although some of the hidden parts might be wearing down.
- Neil said it best: "A plain-Jane ship that's kept immaculate"

[paulvanb]

The Coho coming out of the fog on December afternoon.

[rusty]

From Port Angeles' Peninsula Daily News: www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20120111/NEWS/301119988/meet-the-new-owners-of-the-mv-coho-ferry-gallery

[Deleted]

The Coho will be out of service for the next 2 weeks. Annual refit and she won't return to service mid Feb.

[Luke]

Jan 19, 2012 21:27:43 GMT -8 @shipdaughterwife said:

The Coho will be out of service for the next 2 weeks. Annual refit and she won't return to service mid Feb.

WOAH! Is Coho being replaced? What BCF could be loaned to Blackball? ;D I am kidding. But, is Blackball down? Give WSF a couple thousand to operate Sidney in the winter.

[mrdot]

:)have you seen my poor old Sidney lately my friend? the Coho has been loveingly maintained, not sidney! :)mrdot.

[Low Light Mike]

Jan 19, 2012 22:43:49 GMT -8 Luke said:

Jan 19, 2012 21:27:43 GMT -8 @shipdaughterwife said:

The Coho will be out of service for the next 2 weeks. Annual refit and she won't return to service mid Feb.

WOAH! Is Coho being replaced? What BCF could be loaned to Blackball? ;D I am kidding. But, is Blackball down? Give WSF a couple thousand to operate Sidney in the winter.

Dude! (or Whoa - plus every emoticon available): this happens every year.

(ps: just for you: posted at 1:42)

[lmtengs]

Jan 19, 2012 22:52:47 GMT -8 mrdot said:

:)have you seen my poor old Sidney lately my friend? the Coho has been loveingly maintained, not sidney! :)mrdot.

He's referring to the Sidney-Anacortes route that WSF operates.

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But at first glance, I thought he meant the Queen of Sidney too.

[Luke]

Jan 20, 2012 1:42:26 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Jan 19, 2012 22:43:49 GMT -8 Luke said:

WOAH! Is Coho being replaced? What BCF could be loaned to Blackball? ;D I am kidding. But, is Blackball down? Give WSF a couple thousand to operate Sidney in the winter.

Dude! (or Whoa - plus every emoticon available): this happens every year.

I do not pay much attention to Blackball and Never noticed this.

[Kahloke]

New lease for Port Angeles-Victoria ferry
By Arwyn Rice Peninsula Daily News Published: Jan 24, 2012 at 9:58 AM PST

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Port of Port Angeles commissioners agreed Monday to a 30-year lease with the new owners of Black Ball Ferry Line, which operates the MV Coho vehicle ferry, for its terminal on the Port Angeles waterfront.

The lease provides for the possible purchase of the facilities, as well as solidifies arrangements for a $4 million dock replacement for the terminal at the foot of Laurel Street.

Commissioners expressed relief that the ferry line - which operates the 1,000-passenger MV Coho as it plies the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Port Angeles and Victoria - is again under regional ownership, putting to rest any concerns that the ferry could be transferred to another area by its former owner, the Oregon State University Foundation.

"I feel extremely comfortable having a local ownership group," said Commissioner John Calhoun.

"It's a vital part of our community's infrastructure," Calhoun said.

Joked Capt. John Cox, chief executive officer of Black Ball: "We'll be here until the bridge is built."

Cox and other members of Black Ball's executive team - which had managed the ferry operation for the Oregon State University Foundation - purchased the ferry line for an undisclosed amount Jan. 5.

Four members of the new ownership team attended the meeting, including Cox, President/COO Ryan Burles of Victoria and District Manager Rian Anderson and Director of Marketing Ryan Malane, both of Port Angeles.

The $116,000 annual lease with the port, which will be signed by ferry operators soon, will give the new owners a chance to negotiate to purchase the ferry dock each year after five years, said Jeff Robb, port executive director.

The port does not own the land under the dock and terminal, so any sale would include only the facilities, Robb said.

The land underneath is owned by the state.

Robb also noted that the contract allows only for negotiation of a possible sale and does not commit either the port or the ferry line to a sale, while giving the port first right of refusal.

Commissioner Paul McHugh said that he was concerned that an annual negotiation for sale of the terminal would be costly.

It was unlikely that serious, formal negotiations would happen every year, Calhoun said.

Under the terms of the lease, Black Ball Ferry Line agreed to replace the western pier of the terminal, a 50-year-old timber structure that has exceeded its useful life.

Replacement of the timber pier with a concrete dock will cost $4 million, with the capital investment coming from Black Ball, Robb said.

The new owners already had announced that they would move forward with the project.

Construction is expected to begin in the next 18 months and it already has permits in the works, Burles said after the sale.

Negotiations for the lease had been going on for at least a year, Calhoun said.

He added that while Oregon State University did well for the ferry line, the university makes decisions based on its own needs, not the needs of the North Olympic Peninsula community.

If the university had sold the company to a buyer with the intent to move the ferry elsewhere, it could have cost the community millions, he said.

"It's a vital part of our community's infrastructure," Calhoun said.

Commissioner Jim Hallett, who attended by phone, asked about what would happen if the new Black Ball owners could not pay its creditors at some point.

Ownership of the Port Angeles-Victoria ferry service would then revert to the port, which can legally operate a ferry line, Robb said.

Black Ball has 51 other full-time employees and a staff of 110 in the busy summer season, Burles said.

It had been bequeathed for 10 years to the university foundation by the late Lois Acheson, an Oregon State University alumna with a love for animals, upon her death in 2004 as part of a $21 million endowment for the university's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Acheson had taken over Black Ball Freight Service and Black Ball Transport in 1963 at age 32 upon the death of her husband - just four years after the MV Coho was built

www.komonews.com/news/local/New-lease-for-Port-Angeles-Victoria-ferry-137973803.html

[Kahloke]

We did our annual trip to Victoria this weekend (Friday & Saturday), this time through a really good package deal with Clipper Vacations that included a round-trip passage on Victoria Clipper and a one night stay at Hotel Grand Pacific - all in all a very good deal, but more on that in another thread, if I feel like elaborating on it further.

The high winds yesterday turned what would have been a normal 2 & 3/4 hour cruise back to Seattle on The Clipper into a several hour journey via M/V Coho, a charted bus, and the Bainbridge Ferry (in last night's case, M/V Wenatchee).

More on the Coho, since this is the thread dedicated to that vessel. This boat impresses me more and more each time I get to go for a ride on her, most especially the way the crews keep her ship-shape, and fresh looking. It looks like they had done some re-painting on the inside recently, and I noticed the fixed tables in the mid ship lounge had been updated with new laminate countertops. Outside of that, it's still vintage Coho inside and out. The exterior paint job still looks fresh. Maybe they did some touch up during her refit this year. It always amazes me how clean this boat looks.

And, after yesterday afternoon's crossing, I can attest to coho's seaworthiness. They had to tack going across the Strait of Juan De Fuca in seas that would have kept any WSF vessel in port, and I daresay, most of the BC Ferries fleet, as well, except for some of the northern vessels, like Norex and maybe Norad. We hit waves that sent spray clear over the wheel house, and I don't usually get seasick, but even I was getting a little queasy on some of the rolls. The captain did a great job of keeping the bow into the waves as much as possible and minimizing any rolling, but it was still quite the roller coaster, and I have to admit, kind of fun sometimes. It definitely made me appreciate Coho all the more, and just what that little ship is capable of handling.

[Koastal Karl]

Does anyone know the procedure in Victoria when taking the Coho when you drive on??? Has anyone ever used the reservation site online?? Do you pay when you reserve or do you pay at the booth when you get there??

[Kam]

You only pay the reservation fee online, the rest is at the ticket booth.

[Koastal Karl]

Do they take credit cards at the toll booth and I wonder if they would take Canadian Cash?? Anyone know?

[lmtengs]

Jul 2, 2012 21:51:26 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

Do they take credit cards at the toll booth and I wonder if they would take Canadian Cash?? Anyone know?

Most likely not, but possibly; I've found that about 30% of businesses take Canadian cash south of the border, most of those being touristy shops or outlet stores. Fred Meyer doesn't.
I highly doubt that they wouldn't take credit.

[Ferryman]

Yes, they take credit cards at the ticket booth.

What happens is they assign you a lane to park your car once you've paid (like any ferry lineup), and then you wait for a customs officer to come and talk to you. They then give you a ticket, and you have to walk to the customs office near the ferry dock and wait in a lineup. You just state where you're going, for how long, etc, then you're clear to go back to your car. Then you basically wait to board the ferry. Once you get to the other side, someone will point you towards a lane to talk with immigrations, much like crossing the land borders. Once you're past that, you're on your way to wherever you're going.

Also, you're welcome to park your car in the terminal up to 3 hours before sailing time. But at an hour and a half before sailing time, the customs officers will start patroling the lanes, which is when you'll want to be back at your car.

Don't forget your passport!

[Koastal Karl]

I don't think I have ever driven from Victoria on the Coho but I have come back on the Coho which is probably why I have never heard of them doing it that way!

[Scott (Former Account)]

August 23, 2012

The following images posted by this account are copyright © S.A. ~ Unauthorized use is prohibited.

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MV Coho approaching her terminal in Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr


MV Coho and Victoria Clipper IV in Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr


MV Coho outbound from her terminal in Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr


MV Coho outbound from Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr


MV Coho outbound from Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr


MV Coho outbound from Victoria's Inner Harbour. by BCFS, on Flickr

[mrdot]

:)these newly posted views of mv Coho are guite wonderful, and she is still a fine looking vessel, while her near sister, the one year younger mv Sidney, wallows in her Fraser river junkyard! :'(mrdot.

[Cat320DL]

Yes great shot's of her !

Kyle

[Deleted]

I love my trip on the Coho because I saw killer whales in open ocean.



DSCN1048 by Cheese185, on Flickr

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DSCN1047 by Mr. Awesome photos, on Flickr

[Cat320DL]

Great shot !

[Low Light Mike]

A compilation of 4 different videos of the Coho's arrival at Port Angeles, on a day in October 2010.
- note the line that she takes near her bow, before she backs into the berth.

video is sped-up 2x