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Post by compdude787 on Jun 26, 2013 13:20:33 GMT -8
I think you could find this out pretty easily by clicking on the link below the photo and you will find that it says "Taken on [date]".
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Post by PeninsulaExplorer on Aug 8, 2013 21:43:53 GMT -8
That other language is probably Hawaiian because the Milessa Ann and Rachel Marie are from Hawaii, I remember that they got rid of the Skagit and Kalama and got the 2 boats to replace them and put them under King County Water Taxi, I was wondering why not Washington State Ferries?
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 9, 2013 5:29:27 GMT -8
A couple of pictures of the M/V Melissa Ann heading towards Vashon the evening of June 6th: <<trim!>> That other language is probably Hawaiian because the Milessa Ann and Rachel Marie are from Hawaii, I remember that they got rid of the Skagit and Kalama and got the 2 boats to replace them and put them under King County Water Taxi, I was wondering why not Washington State Ferries? I'm a little unclear as to what you're asking, but if I follow you, you're asking why WSF didn't take the Melissa Ann and Rachel Marie into service. Short answer, WSF was basically ordered to get out of the passenger-only business by the state legislature. King County never "got rid" of the Skagit and Kalama--they weren't King County's to get rid of.
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 14, 2013 0:45:49 GMT -8
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Post by SS San Mateo on Sept 12, 2013 9:30:31 GMT -8
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Sept 12, 2013 16:04:04 GMT -8
That sucks for King Co. Water taxi. Will these vessel replace the MV Melissa Ann and the MV Rachel Marie? What do you think the names will be? Will these vessel be owned by King Co. Water taxi or leased from another company?
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Post by compdude787 on Sept 12, 2013 20:05:43 GMT -8
That sucks for King Co. Water taxi. Will these vessel replace the MV Melissa Ann and the MV Rachel Marie? What do you think the names will be? Will these vessel be owned by King Co. Water taxi or leased from another company? Yes, the new vessels will replace the Melissa Ann and Rachel Marie even though they're not extremely old. Both were built in 1988, so they're 25 years old. The new boats will be owned by King County, rather than being leased.
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Post by SolDuc on Sept 13, 2013 22:02:23 GMT -8
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Sept 17, 2013 16:13:11 GMT -8
The King Co. Water taxi has update the website and put Spirit of Kingston on it. It looks sharp.
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Oct 14, 2013 18:09:03 GMT -8
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Oct 14, 2013 22:07:09 GMT -8
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Post by SS San Mateo on Dec 23, 2013 19:32:57 GMT -8
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Post by compdude787 on Dec 24, 2013 9:00:01 GMT -8
Here's a picture of the new vessels, from the article posted by SS San Mateo: (look at the article for the full-sized version) Looking at this picture, the layout (no, I'm not talking about design or shape) of this new vessel looks very similar to that of the Melissa Ann and Rachel Marie, except that it looks like the new vessel will definitely be longer for more capacity. My question is, why is KCFD already considering retiring these still-young vessels? By west coast ferry standards, they'd be due for a mid-life upgrade in a few years since they're only 25 years old. Does KCFD just want larger vessels? Do they want to just get vessels that they own outright, rather than having to lease these ferries?
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Post by SolDuc on Dec 24, 2013 9:54:04 GMT -8
My question is, why is KCFD already considering retiring these still-young vessels? By west coast ferry standards, they'd be due for a mid-life upgrade in a few years since they're only 25 years old. Does KCFD just want larger vessels? Do they want to just get vessels that they own outright, rather than having to lease these ferries? I'm pretty sure they want more capacity and their own vessels, since leasing them is probably more expensive in the long term. After they get the new vessels Four Seasons will get their boats back and do whatever they want with them.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Dec 24, 2013 10:42:18 GMT -8
Here's a picture of the new vessels, from the article posted by SS San Mateo: (look at the article for the full-sized version) Looking at this picture, the layout (no, I'm not talking about design or shape) of this new vessel looks very similar to that of the Melissa Ann and Rachel Marie, except that it looks like the new vessel will definitely be longer for more capacity. They look odd to me because the enlargements of the two lease boats and has some little design from the Spirit of Kingston. My question is, why is KCFD already considering retiring these still-young vessels? By west coast ferry standards, they'd be due for a mid-life upgrade in a few years since they're only 25 years old. Does KCFD just want larger vessels? Do they want to just get vessels that they own outright, rather than having to lease these ferries? I'm pretty sure they want more capacity and their own vessels, since leasing them is probably more expensive in the long term. After they get the new vessels Four Seasons will get their boats back and do whatever they want with them. That is probably a good reason for buying the new boats. The money could go to expanding the West Seattle route during the winter schedule and maybe if they have some money left over expand the Vashon Island route for the all year schedule.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 4, 2014 16:41:08 GMT -8
Kitsap Transit foot ferry M/V Carlisle II approaching Bremerton, 12/24/2013: MV Carlisle II by planet_lb, on Flickr MV Carlisle II by planet_lb, on Flickr Built in 1917, she is one of the only 2 remaining vessels (SS Virginia V being the other) from the large group of passenger and freight vessels (often called the Mosquito Fleet) that once operated in the Puget Sound area. She originally operated between Bellingham and Lummi Island, then was converted to an auto ferry in 1923 and served Gooseberry Point, Lummi Island and Orcas Island. In 1936 she was converted back to a passenger ferry and moved south to the Bremerton - Port Orchard route and still operates on that route today.
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Post by Neil on Jan 4, 2014 22:12:21 GMT -8
Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to this thread, but I wasn't aware of this super cute little vessel, so thanks to Mr San Mateo for this post.
The Carlisle II has been on the same route since the 1930s? That's amazing. I had thought that BC's Mill Bay was the vessel that held the longevity record for one route.
The fact that this boat is wooden hulled makes her even more remarkable. A 'floating museum' indeed, and still a part of a vital transit system. What a refreshing story for those of us who lament the loss of so many old character vessels. Do we have any photos of her as a car ferry? ... at 65' long, she must have been one of the shortest ever.
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Post by compdude787 on Jan 5, 2014 14:57:38 GMT -8
The Carlisle II is not a true Mosquito Fleet vessel anymore since her original steam propulsion was replaced with a diesel engine about ten years ago. Since all the Mosquito Fleet steamers were steam-powered, the MV Carlisle II is not entirely still in her original form. Nevertheless, she is still a living piece of history.
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Post by SolDuc on Jan 5, 2014 18:35:53 GMT -8
The Carlisle II is not a true Mosquito Fleet vessel anymore since her original steam propulsion was replaced with a diesel engine about ten years ago. Since all the Mosquito Fleet steamers were steam-powered, the MV Carlisle II is not entirely still in her original form. Nevertheless, she is still a living piece of history. I've always liked the Carlisle II. She's a cute little ferry and has much charm of a long-gone era. I think she's the only wooden-hull ferry on Puget Sound that operates on a regular schedule. As for the diesel engines, while that does make a difference, I still think of her as a full Mosquito Fleet boat. And I'd rather see her engines replaced than her being retired and not taken care of. (though it'd be easier to take care of her than, say, the Kalakala)
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Post by compdude787 on Jan 6, 2014 9:15:56 GMT -8
The Carlisle II is not a true Mosquito Fleet vessel anymore since her original steam propulsion was replaced with a diesel engine about ten years ago. Since all the Mosquito Fleet steamers were steam-powered, the MV Carlisle II is not entirely still in her original form. Nevertheless, she is still a living piece of history. I've always liked the Carlisle II. She's a cute little ferry and has much charm of a long-gone era. I think she's the only wooden-hull ferry on Puget Sound that operates on a regular schedule. As for the diesel engines, while that does make a difference, I still think of her as a full Mosquito Fleet boat. And I'd rather see her engines replaced than her being retired and not taken care of. (though it'd be easier to take care of her than, say, the Kalakala) Yeah...she is still a floating museum from the Mosquito Fleet era.
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Post by SolDuc on Jan 7, 2014 18:34:24 GMT -8
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Post by SolDuc on Jan 7, 2014 21:37:54 GMT -8
Some Scott-style photos taken onboard the Spirit of Kingston while on a run to West Seattle. She's got a very nice cabin and sun deck. With a copious amount of open deck space I'd said she's the best suited boat for the tourist-heavy West Seattle route in the Summer: Cabin, MV Spirit of Kingston - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Cabin, MV Spirit of Kingston - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Sun Deck, MV Spirit of Kingston - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Her Bridge: Bridge, MV Spirit of Kingston - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr At Seacrest Pier. This is when you realize that she has very tall antennas, the tallest being taller than the surfaced height of the boat. MV Spirit of Kingston at Seacrest Pier - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Away to Seattle. I like those yellow buoys in the foreground and the Tacoma sailing away in the background. MV Spirit of Kingston en-route to Seattle - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jan 10, 2014 21:17:44 GMT -8
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Post by SolDuc on Feb 1, 2014 14:05:06 GMT -8
Took a ride on the SoK from Seacrest Pier to Downtown on Friday, Jan 24th. Weather was great so were the photos. Arriving at Seattle, with Downtown and the Seattle-bound Hyak in the background MV Spirit of Kingston en-route to Seacrest Pier - King County Ferry District by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Fo'c'sle and Downtown Seattle: MV Spirit of Kingston approaching Seattle - King County Water Taxi by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Lifering and Downtown Seattle. I especially liked this one: Lifering, MV Spirit of Kingston - King County Water Taxi by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr Silhouette while docked at P50: MV Spirit of Kingston at Pier 50 - King County Water Taxi by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr And just for fun, the Bikes. Mine's the second one from the right, and we had five total. Quite an impressive number as that would be slightly less than half the poeple on board (we had around 15 people). Also that 15-people number is impressive given the fact that it was the first reverse-commute sailing. Bikes on the MV Spirit of Kingston by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr
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Post by SolDuc on Feb 9, 2014 0:02:32 GMT -8
With Wednesday's Celebrate 48 Parage in Downtown Seattle, Water Taxi ridership soared to some amazing numbers. The Vashon Route carried 928 passengers total, or a 20% increase over normal ridership. What does that mean? Let's say that 28 people were reverse commuters (and that would be most likely a bit exaggerated), that makes 900 people ride the route's three sailings in either direction. That means that 450 people took the Melissa Ann to the parade and back. That's an average of 150 riders per sailing, or a mere 12 passengers under vessel capacity. The Water Taxi route carried a total of 4587 passengers throughout the day, with a total of 32 roundtrips. Only 19 roundtrips were scheduled (midday service was added, on a regular weekday it's 13). The Melissa Ann did a total of 9 roundtrips while the Spirit of Kingston did 3 more than scheduled. It all breaks down to an average of 72 passengers per sailing, counting all the reverse-commute sailings. That means that a lot of sailings most likely left at capacity. Contrasting - the ridership in 2013 for the whole month of February was 7,188, which means that the average weekday ridership that month was 360. In other words ridership was up 1275%. According to the West Seattle Blog, the highest ridership day for the West Seattle route was back when the viaduct closed in 2011, at 1,994. That record was doubled, similar to lots of other public transit agencies - Link doubled its record from 38,000 people to 75,000+ people, Sounder quadrupled over average ridership, ST doubled and so did WSF's Seattle routes Sources: westseattleblog.com/2014/02/super-bowl-beats-viadoom-west-seattle-water-taxi-sets-record/www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/NewsCenter/NewsReleases/2014/February/nr2014_0206_PostParadeRelease.aspxOther news about the Water Taxi - from the latest newsletter published on Tuesday (the 4th): - The Rachel Marie is not a part of the fleet anymore. She wasn't kept by KFCD after her lease expired on New Year's Eve. - Ridership for both routes was up 3.9%, 5.5% on the Vashon route and 2.8% on the West Seattle route
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