MV Coho

[whidbeyislandguy]

Any word if they are going to be moving her for sure or not yet??

[ruddernut]

They might as well make plans for a site with a dock for front-loading vessels, for when the Coho has to be retired. There aren't too many side-loading hand-me-down boats to go around, are there?

[Retrovision]

wow, I was immediately going to copy, paste and profit from your beautiful Coho pic, W.I.G. (Iversen can I presume? ). I joke of course, especially as one who's been stolen from.

Coho, don't we wish we had knowledge of current negotiations about Victoria's Inner Harbour southern wharf, but as in so many cases not only can't we have knowledge of, we can't have say into the decision making process as is. My family, quite familiar with these kinds of practices, sends me words of sympathy and I wish you all the same. Unfortunately only political action has a chance of keeping our beloved Sidney Sister originator, the Queen of Sidney and Queen of Tsawwassen (currently part of our active fleet) master design of Phillip Spaulding's 1959 Coho in the Inner Harbour. Any takers for dissent? I thought not as sad as reality is.

[Northern Exploration]

Great drawing Whidbey! I too am interested in the discussions re the Victoria waterfront. I also am curious about the ownership of the Coho. Since the widow who owned the company died, it has been assumed that the University her estate was left to is the new owners. Estates can sometimes take many years to wrap up so no change may have been made yet. My Grandfathers estate, due to the way it was set up, still operates and is actually still growing despite looking after my grandmother. It is over ten years since he passed away. Once certain conditions are met then the estate would be finalized and dispersements actually happen.

[BreannaF]

Of potential interest in this thread:

oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2005/Mar05/acheson.htm

SEATTLE BUSINESSWOMAN LEAVES $21 MILLION TO OSU

03-08-05

By Steven Lont, 541-737-3267
SOURCES: Dr. Howard Gelberg, 541-737-2098

CORVALLIS - A long-time animal lover and businesswoman who died last August has left Oregon State University a $21 million bequest to benefit OSU's growing College of Veterinary Medicine. It is the second largest donation in the university's history.

Lois Bates Acheson

The late Lois Bates Acheson, a 1937 OSU graduate who made the gift, was the owner of Black Ball Transport, a Washington-British Columbia ferry service. She had a lifelong interest in animals and created an endowed scholarship fund for OSU veterinary students 25 years ago.

Her bequest will boost the college's endowment, providing long-term supplemental funding for teaching, research, facilities and equipment.

"Mrs. Acheson's generous support of the College of Veterinary Medicine in her lifetime and through her estate is an unprecedented contribution that will help us build a top-ranked veterinary medicine program," said OSU President Ed Ray. "Oregon State University is incredibly grateful for her generosity, and we are dedicated to providing the quality training, veterinary care and research that her gift is meant to foster."

He added that the new opportunities presented by the gift fit well with OSU's land grant mission and strategic plan to strengthen programs that have significant economic impact and relevance for the Northwest and beyond.

Of the $21 million bequest, nearly half will benefit the College of Veterinary Medicine right away. The balance will remain in a trust for 10 years and then be disbursed to the college.

Although proceeds from the estate will be held in the endowment, the gift will enable college officials to move forward with a significant expansion of the large-animal clinic within the veterinary teaching hospital. The proposed expansion includes a lameness evaluation arena, larger imaging space, a free-standing isolation ward, faculty offices, research laboratories and an intensive care unit designed to meet the needs of mares with foals.

Dr. Howard Gelberg, dean of the college, says future endowment earnings will likely support a number of other priority areas, including state-of-the-art equipment normally not affordable by client fees; facility improvements, such as an expanded cancer treatment ward; and start-up packages to help recruit new teaching and research faculty in clinical specialties like oncology, dermatology, radiology, cardiology and surgery.

Acheson specified that $1.5 million from her estate will create the college's first endowed chair.

"I had the privilege of meeting Mrs. Acheson a few years ago," Gelberg said. "She was a very thoughtful person. She enjoyed corresponding with the veterinary students her scholarship supported. And I'm sure she would be happy with the impact that her gift will have on the quality and scope of our programs."

To recognize Acheson, the college announced that it will rename its hospital the Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

"It is a fitting tribute," Gelberg said. "Mrs. Acheson will always be associated with the quality teaching and referral care that we provide."

Acheson's niece, Donna Schoen, remembers her aunt as a caring animal lover who passed out treats to the neighborhood dogs. She says her aunt also served as a personal role model.

"Lois was the reason I attended Oregon State," Schoen said. "She always attributed her business success to her educational experience at OSU. She would be pleased with the impact her gift will have on the continuing growth and development of the College of Veterinary Medicine."

Acheson and her husband, Robert, owned a regional trucking company, Black Ball Freight Service, which operated 350 trucks in Washington and British Columbia. Later they started the ferry service Black Ball Transport. Robert Acheson died in 1963, only a few years after the ferry service was launched. Lois Acheson successfully led both companies for many years, selling the trucking company in 1975 to focus her attention on the ferry service.

Blackball Transport, Inc. operates the M.V. Coho, a Port Angeles, Wash.-Victoria, B.C. ferry with a capacity of 100 vehicles and 1,000 passengers.

[Kam]

As promised, here are the pictures from my weekend trip to the US, starting with the Coho. Steilacoom II pictures coming soon!

The album with all the pictures can be found at:
www.broadcastwest.ca/galleries/ships_and_ferries/coho/index.html

As the Coho rounded the entrance to Victoria’s inner harbor she gave a blast on her horn, and I wish I had been shooting video of it so I could have a recoding of it. Her horn has a very unique sound!



As she approached the dock my first impression was how clean and well kept she was! She definitely has a few scars and dings from her many years of service, but the hull paint was in perfect condition.





The dock configuration is such that you can almost reach out and touch her as she maneuvers in to position, allowing for some great pictures.







The crew is obviously intimately familiar with this ship as she slid in to place perfectly on the spot and barely nudged the pilings on the dock when contact was made.



As we boarded the ship the crew directed each and every car in to place optimizing every inch of deck space.

Video of the vehicle loading on Youtube:






Once on board you could certainly see her age from looking around, but everything was perfectly maintained and spotlessly clean.

The crew was always busy doing something and had cans of basso and polishing rags on hand. When we walked to the bow, the deck hand that was handling the lines was polishing the brass nameplates on the air vent tubes while awaiting the order to release lines.







Once underway I turned around to see a seagull land on the bridge wing and squawk expectedly. The Captain came out of the bridge and hand fed him as he sat on the bridge wing telegraph controls. (It certainly had the appearance of a regular ritual for the pair





Once we cleared the channel and where in open water we went inside for a look around.



The cafeteria was very basic fare with hotdogs, soup and nachos and the gift shop carried a fairly generic selection of souvenirs. I purchased myself a black ball flag pin and a Coho magnet.







Although the interior was certainly stuck in the 1950’s, everything was clean and well kept. No tears in the seats, everything worked and worked well. The main lounge had a recent upgrade of a flat screen TV mounted to the forward wall.







One thing that was noticeable was she does have quite a bit of roll. As we entered the middle of the channel and the section exposed to the open ocean we started to cross over long long rollers that crossed over from right to left. I loved it, but the G/F didn’t so much ;-) I suspect her smaller size caused her to roll a lot more than on a larger ship.

Youtube Video of rolling motion:











Once back on the main car deck I stuck my nose in the engine room door and could see down in to the engineering control station. As the ship maneuvered in to dock I could see the engine telegraph and as the bridge would send commands the engine room crew would set the engine and reply back to the bridge to confirm.

All and all, I love this ship! I may just have a new favorite!

[SS Shasta]

She certainly looks clean and spotless and ready for her next 40 years. Perhaps, WSF could learn something about paint from her example. She looks to be somewhat similar in design to the AMHS "Blue Canoes."

[coastalcody]

What a beautiful ship.

[Political Incorrectness]

Thank goodness she is maintained. I love seeing her classic interior. How much longer will she last?

[Nick]

You can definitely tell she is a spaulding design. That bridge, in particular looks so familiar, yet I can't quite place it.... . I also love the staircases coming up to the passenger decks, the way they split off to port and starboard. I really want to get on her sometime this spring/summer.

[Nickfro]

Excellent collection of photos, kam! She definitely has a nice fresh coat of paint on her since the last time I saw the Coho in Victoria Harbour. I remember travelling on the Coho about 3 years ago from Port Angeles to Victoria and it sure didn't seem as clean and well maintained as your photos show. I also like the unique sound of her horn, as you could hear it from almost anywhere in Victoria when it sounds!

[Ferryman]

I'm really quite amazed about the similarities between the Coho and the Sidney/Tsawwassen. I'd imagine that the Sidney/Tsawwassen had the same type of flooring as the Coho back when they were brand new as well. Even the structure inside the car deck (aside from the bow of course!!) is identical to her distant sisters. Everything onboard the Coho appears to be original aside from cafeteria/gift shop equipment. It's certainly like taking a time machine back to the 1960s!

This certainly gets me more motivated to finally take my first trip on the Coho.

[Barnacle]

shasta said:

She certainly looks clean and spotless and ready for her next 40 years. Perhaps, WSF could learn something about paint from her example. She looks to be somewhat similar in design to the AMHS "Blue Canoes."

Twelve years, maybe. I don't think they'll be looking to push her much past sixty, seeing how much heartache that has eventually caused WSF.

And remember, when you only have ONE boat to maintain, it's a lot easier to do it.

[BreannaF]

Aahh....

But there is a disadvantage in only having one boat. I'm hoping that they have been squirreling away a dollar per passenger or something for a while to help pay for a replacement ferry at some point.

I would just worry that the economics of purchasing a replacement boat would not make sense when the time comes. What, $90 million for a suitable boat? That is a lot of money to a ferry company that has no other routes to fall back on, where there is talk of a possibility of it not being able to land in Victoria Harbour someday, where the company is owned by an endowment fund rather than real people with a marine background, where there would also be some dock refitting in the future, and so on. Will Black Ball be willing to go into that much debt at his point of it's life to continue the route?

I hope it's not so, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the Coho become the "last ship that Black Ball ever owned" when it's time comes. It just seems that the way technology is going, there will be other options available when the time comes to make a merger or some other form or route of service to make more economic sense by a dozen years from now.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the old gal as often as I can.

[Curtis]

Great Photos. Makes me look forward to going on the Coho in July.

[Nick]

I just noticed this tonight. Black Ball Transport now has a reservations system for the Coho.

You can book in advance and be assured a spot for a fee of $11.00, which isn't all that bad in comparison to other companies (cough, BCF, cough). The reservation fee changes depending on the vehicle you are reserving for ($6.00 for motorcycles), and you get a deal on the fee if you reserve for a round trip ($16.00 for a car, or $8.50 for motorcycles).

Online reservations must be made 24 hours in advance.

see www.cohoferry.com/reservations_vehicles.htm for more information.

I just went through it until it asked for my credit card and it seems very intuitive. You don't need to log in or anything.

According to their FAQs, 50% of the ship's capacity is reservable.

[Kam]

Ya, that’s been online since the new year or before. I used it for my trip and it worked out well.

Not as advanced or full of features as the BCF system, but it doesn’t need to be when you only run one ship

[Curtis]

MV Coho:

Coho's Whistle:

[WettCoast]

Tonight I have scanned a few old negatives from late November, 1991, of the Black Ball's Coho in Victoria Harbour.

This is not technically a 'BC Ferry', but it is a ferry that you will see in BC. Furthermore the pics are pre-digital and count as historical; and where else would I put them?

[Mill Bay]

Coho is now not going anywhere anytime soon it appears...

I found a couple of articles we apparently missed. Seems the inner harbor terminal for the Coho just underwent seven-hundred-thousand dollars in upgrades last month (wow! the costs of things these days.)


Terminal gets $700,000 upgrade
Black Ball Ferry Line, Provincial Capital Commission to share cost

By Richard Watts, Times Colonist
February 7, 2009

Traffic flow and customs should become a little smoother for passengers boarding the MV Coho after the completion of $700,000 in upgrades and renovations.

The Black Ball Ferry Line has embarked on a $500,000 renovation of the terminal on Belleville Street. Meanwhile, the Provincial Capital Commission, which owns the site and leases the terminal to Black Ball, is now spending nearly $200,000 to spruce up the largely wooden dock.

Ryan Burles, Black Ball president, said the renovations are designed to improve the flow of cars through the lot, on and off the ship. Burles said passengers will have their passports scrutinized by American customs on the Victoria side. Agents on the American side will scrutinize vehicles and double-check passengers for any goods coming in.

Black Ball recently signed a five-year lease for the terminal with the Provincial Capital Commission, allowing the work to proceed.

The work is mostly taking place during the MV Coho's annual two-week shutdown and refit, ending on Monday.

However, some renovations will continue after sailings have resumed and are expected to be completed by March 1.

A second phase of improvements, including things like beautification of the site's sidewalk-butting edges, is expected to be completed within the year.

The MV Coho has been sailing between Victoria and Port Angeles, Wash., for 49 years. A study completed during 2006 showed it ferried more than 205,000 return passengers and brought $123.7 million into the local economy.

In 2004, Black Ball paid $4 million to have new engines installed in the MV Coho, proving the company's long-term commitment to the run, noted Burles.

The terminal renovations and dock repairs put the final spike in 2007 plans for an Inner Harbour do-over that called for the Coho dock to be moved.

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said he still believes a new, improved terminal, serving passengers on the MV Coho and the Seattle-linking Clipper, could be part of a revamped Inner Harbour.

But Fortin said it should be designed in the context of the entire area around the legislature buildings. "There is a larger interest to ponder," said Fortin.

[e-mail]

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist




MV Coho heading for drydock

By Darron Kloster, Times Colonist
January 23, 2009

Victoria's Inner Harbour will look a little bare for a couple of weeks starting Monday.

That's when the venerable MV Coho is going out of service for its annual drydock maintenance.

Blackball Transportation said the 104-metre car ferry to Port Angeles is going to Todd Shipyards on Seattle's Harbor Island for routine maintenance, repairs and upgrades. It will be back in daily service by Feb. 9.

Part of the improvements will be building a new Duty Free Shop aboard that will sell liquor, tobacco and fragrances. It is scheduled to open in March.

Since operations began in December 1959, the Coho has transported more than 21 million passengers and five million vehicles. The ship has had an incredibly durable record with fewer than 10 unscheduled days out of service since its launch. In 2004, the old Cooper Bessemer engines were replaced with 5,100-horsepower, 12 cylinder Electro-Motives, a division of General Motors, giving the Coho another 1,000 horsepower to push it across the windy border passage.

...

[I wonder how much of her interior that new duty-free shop will consume. I hope it doesn't detract from her appearance at all.]

[bcferryfan87]

I get so tired of people who in my opinion have no sense of what makes a particular city have its charm, yet they keep pushing their agendas forward.

Having visited Victoria for years, I am perfectly accepting of change; however, if I understand the "logic" used by those that want to relocate the Coho to Ogden or elsewhere outside the inner harbour, it is for the wrong reasons. The coho is the last ferry/ship of any size that comes into the harbour. Look at their promotional site/web site, and you see pics of the ship rounding Laurel Pointe. Why do all the "experts" want to move it? IT is a harbour. As someone wrote, can you imagine seeing the harbour with no ships coming in, welcoming with its horn blasting?

The Maggie disappeared almost 2 decades ago - wow can you believe it? Now they want to relic the Coho to people's memories - in terms of seeing it come into the Harbour. And for why? More condos? I just think it is short sighted, and more agenda pushing by people who don't appreciate how much the activity of ships (the former CP boats, the MAggie under BC Steamships/Stena) form part of the character of this harbour. Just utterly foolish in my opinion!

[bcferryfan87]

Aug 19, 2007 21:12:51 GMT -8 Retrovision said:

lest69 said:

If Black Ball wanted an easy way to kill their business, this would be the way to go.

My thinking exactly.
Give me a single ferry route in BC or WA that doesn't accept foot passengers and I'll agree with you. Isn't the trend in travel options offered these days leaning towards getting people out of their cars, not the seemingly opposite notion of thinking of them as lesser passengers on ferries than with-vehicle travellers are considered?

stvfishy said:

After almost 50 years, the present terminal still looks and feels like a temporary landing.

I don't know about that terminal / side of the Inner Harbour, but Black Ball has only been serving the terminal they're presently at for a few decades - could someone clarify when they left their original terminal? Possibly in a similar move to "clean-up" the look of the Inner Harbour, they were moved from their quite well established and not at all temporary location - where the concrete infrastructure of their facilities can still be seen to this day, near the Empress Hotel, to their current location on the other side of the Inner Harbour...


www.bcrootsareshowing.fotopic.net/p43824252.html
Pre-1980s Inner Harbour as can be seen at the former CPR steamship terminal now Wax Museum


www.bcrootsareshowing.fotopic.net/p43824260.html
Former Black Ball terminal - Note the concrete infrastructure of the former terminal building in the background and the lines of where the berth's side-loading ramp used to be located in the foreground

I believe the move happened in the Early 80's; as I recall by about 1983 it (coho) was at its current location. I seem to recall somewhere reading (correctly?) that the old terminal was not suitable/safe for Vehicles any longer??? Where's our historians when we need them

[Deleted]

Victoria Harbor beautification was one of the main reasons for the Coho's move to it's current location. The powers that be wanted all the major ships to be moored near each other, so when an opportunity arose in the early 80's, they made it happen. It was also true that the dock and places where the cars waited for the boat was getting unsafe, because of erosion. The Empress Hotel, which is across the street is sitting on a landfill and does sink a bit each year.(At one time the land the Empress sits on was part of the Harbor.) Another reason for the move was traffic congestion on Wharf and Government Streets. It was felt that there was too much pedestrian traffic, in the tourist season, at that corner. The old Terminal building is still there, it was updated and even has pay showers for people who park their yachts near by. There are also offices in that building.
In 1987, we went on the Coho from Port Angeles to Victoria, landing at the Belleville St dock. It had been there for at least a couple of years.
I am glad that the dock and area for the Coho is getting a face lift.

Coho has never been drydocked in Victoria, she has always been drydocked in the USA.

[Starsteward]

I agree with bcferryfan87's comments about the 'charm' of Victoria's inner harbour.
The sight of the 'Maggie' comming in every day, sometimes twice a day was a beautiful sight.
Although the Coho has a totally different look, it too, has been an icon in the inner harbour.
Having spent all that money on refurbishing the building and now the wharf area, one may assume that the plan is to keep the staus quo, although who ever said that just because a whole pile of money is spent on a project, is no guarantee someone's or some groups 'agenda' for change will prevaail.

[FNS]

I remember my first ride aboard the MV COHO. This was in the late 1970s. She had just received her solarium and other improvements. Also, her berth in Victoria was relocated to the current one then.