MV Kaleetan

[SolDuc]

Two pics of the Kaleetan in Puget Sound, taken today from Alki Beach.
First, the Kaleetan in mid-sound with the Island Chief. That tug is a sister to the Island Venture, one of the tugs that participated in the Bremerton/Vashon shuffle last weekend.

MV Kaleetan en-route to Seattle - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Then heading towards Seattle with the Space Needle poking out and Mt Index/Glacier Peak (FNS I need your guidance here).

MV Kaleetan en-route to Seattle - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

[FNS]

To SolDuc:

I think, by the angle direction of the photo taken, that should be Glacier Peak or a mountain near her. 

There's a high school in Snohomish County that bears that name.  I've been in their gym a few times and the Grizzlies are great competitors to teams like the Mountlake Terrace Hawks, one of my favorites (I was a Hawk in junior high way back in the mid 1970s).  Sound Live Sports Network, an internet broadcaster, is run by students of MTHS and has great coverage of sporting events (live and on-demand) north of Seattle.  My good friend Steve Willits announces most of the events on SLSN.

Anyway, mountains make beautiful backgrounds to ferry photography.

Great photos of the MV KALEETAN!

[SolDuc]

So the Kaleetan spent pretty much the whole weekend tied up at Colman Dock waiting to go into drydock, which provided for some shots of two Supers at Colman Dock. But as good as the photos that I took may turn out, I'm still blaming WSF for not making her trade places with the Sealth just for the weekend in order to have adequate capacity on the run. (the Sealth was running extra full on the first three sailings of Saturday to Seattle)

MV Tacoma at Slip 3, MV Kaleetan at Slip 2 and MV Hyak at Slip 1, Seattle - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

[SolDuc]

I don't know if anybody else has noticed, but the Kaleetan is going north home in the San Juans again this year. As of today she's planned to be there from Mid-March to Mid-April. Now that's exiting news!

[Barnacle]

Jan 10, 2014 19:12:31 GMT -8 SolDuc said:

I don't know if anybody else has noticed, but the Kaleetan is going north home in the San Juans again this year. As of today she's planned to be there from Mid-March to Mid-April. Now that's exiting news!

Tentatively, of course.  Subject to change.   But yes, it looks like the Kaleetan will be up sometime around March 16th.  Karl, start asking questions about parking now!

[Koastal Karl]

oh awesome! Maybe this time I will actually get on the Kaleetan when she is up here. I wonder what position she will be running?? umm by the way where do I park again?? lol! Just joking of course I know where to park!

[Kahloke]

Jan 11, 2014 9:05:48 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

oh awesome! Maybe this time I will actually get on the Kaleetan when she is up here. I wonder what position she will be running?? umm by the way where do I park again?? lol! Just joking of course I know where to park!

If I am reading the maintenance schedule correctly, this is how I am interpreting the vessel swaps:

Week of March 2
Hyak replaces Elwha

Week of March 16
Kaleetan replaces Sealth
Sealth replaces Evergreen State on the inter-island circuit

Week of March 23
Chelan replaces Yakima

I don't know which positions Kaleetan and Chelan will be running, but it makes sense to have Kaleetan running #2, and Chelan running #3.  And, as Barnacle said in his previous post, the maintenance schedule is always subject to change.

[Koastal Karl]

I am really hoping the Kaleetan will either be the 12:40pm 1:25pm or 1:50pm departures from Anacortes on Saturdays and Sundays as I can only do weekends so that would work out perfect for a day trip with at least one way all the island stops. According to photos I took back in 2011 when I did a day trip on a Saturday I was on the 1:25pm departure from Anacortes on the Sealth so hopefully it might be the same this year!

[Barnacle]

Jan 11, 2014 10:31:48 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

Jan 11, 2014 9:05:48 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

oh awesome! Maybe this time I will actually get on the Kaleetan when she is up here. I wonder what position she will be running?? umm by the way where do I park again?? lol! Just joking of course I know where to park!

If I am reading the maintenance schedule correctly, this is how I am interpreting the vessel swaps:

Week of March 2
Hyak replaces Elwha

Week of March 16
Kaleetan replaces Sealth
Sealth replaces Evergreen State on the inter-island circuit

Week of March 23
Chelan replaces Yakima

I don't know which positions Kaleetan and Chelan will be running, but it makes sense to have Kaleetan running #2, and Chelan running #3.  And, as Barnacle said in his previous post, the maintenance schedule is always subject to change.

Kaleetan should be the #3 boat and Chelan should be #2.  This is because (if I got the story right) the winter schedule runs so late (April 6th-ish) that the Chelan will take over for the #2 Yakima, which only runs for one shift a day Monday through Thursday.  So, tie up the smaller boat.

Which, Karl, should make it the 1:25 PM out of Anacortes.  Pay attention; this is the only time I'm going to say it.

[Koastal Karl]

So according to the calendar March 16th is a Sunday so would it be correct to assume she will on the run from March 16th to the following Sunday March 23rd??

[Barnacle]

Feb 21, 2014 21:45:49 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

So according to the calendar March 16th is a Sunday so would it be correct to assume she will on the run from March 16th to the following Sunday March 23rd??

No, it would not be safe to assume that.  The maintenance schedule doesn't give detail closer than a week, so it will get up here sometime during the week that starts on Sunday, March 16.  You'll have to watch the forum (I'm sure someone will comment upon its scheduled appearance).  Once it arrives, however, I do believe it's going to be here until at least April 5 (end of winter schedule).

[mrdot]

WSF M/V Kaleetan @ Sidney, BC - c1990

photo © Mr. DOT by mrdot., on Flickr

Note: This photo was posted previously on the WCFF back in 2007 by my brother, WCK.

[Steve Rosenow]

That is a most excellent photo, Mr. Thorne!

[compdude787]

OK so here's a video I took onboard the Kaleetan on January 3rd. Yeah, I know, I'm just now posting it on here. It's just a view of what you'd see along the route. I also have a video tour of the passenger cabin, but it needs editing prior to being posted on Youtube.

Enjoy!

EDIT: I've re-uploaded the video in HD, here it is:

[BreannaF]

Happy Birthday, Kaleetan!

Ferry Kaleetan is launched on March 12, 1967.

HistoryLink.org Essay 5306

On March 12, 1967, the superferry Kaleetan is launched at the San Diego yard of the National Steel & Shipbuilding Company. Jermaine Magnuson (d. 2011), wife of Washington Senator Warren Magnuson (1905-1989), christens the vessel. Senator Magnuson is also in attendance. The ferry is the second of four Hyak-class ferries being built for Washington State Ferries in its efforts to modernize their fleet. The Hyak, first of the four, had been launched three months earlier. Hull construction is underway for the Elwha and Yakima.

At the launch, Senator Magnuson told the audience that the ferries were being built with the aid of federal matching funds made available through the 1964 Urban Mass Transit Act. The various federal grant-in-aid programs are the result of strong congressional determination that our federal government effectively utilize the great contribution to be made by state and local government experts.

Designed by W. C. Nickum & Sons, and financed by $23 million in state bonds and federal funds, the four ferries of the Hyak class were enlarged versions of the Evergreen State class, built by Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock Company during the mid-1950s. The new ferries were 382 feet long, carried 2,067 passengers and 160 automobiles, and had more than three times the horsepower of the Evergreen State ferries. At a service speed of 20 knots, the new ferries were 43 percent faster.

Sources:
The H. W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, 1966 to 1976 ed. by Gordon Newell (Seattle: The Superior Publishing Company, 1977), xxxvii; "Kaleetan, 2nd Big Ferry is Launched" The Seattle Times, March 12, 1967, p. 28; "Launch Sound Ferry" Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 12, 1967, p 33.

By Alan J. Stein, February 26, 2003

[Koastal Karl]

The Kaleetan is listed on the schedule now today as #3 but the current terminal conditions show the Evergreen as #3 and the Sealth as #4 but the Hiyu is still at Friday Harbour. She is not on the Bremerton run either so maybe on her way up to Anacortes??

Edit: The Kaleetan is still on the Bremerton run and the Walla Walla is at Eagle Harbour which is listed right now on Bremerton. lol! The schedules seem messed up!

[Barnacle]

Mar 16, 2014 10:45:52 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

The Kaleetan is listed on the schedule now today as #3 but the current terminal conditions show the Evergreen as #3 and the Sealth as #4 but the Hiyu is still at Friday Harbour. She is not on the Bremerton run either so maybe on her way up to Anacortes??

Edit: The Kaleetan is still on the Bremerton run and the Walla Walla is at Eagle Harbour which is listed right now on Bremerton. lol! The schedules seem messed up!

Okay, ONE MORE TIME... The maintenance schedule does not always reflect the daily needs of the ferry system.  The Walla Walla is not available to relieve the Kaleetan at the moment.  Look for the Kaleetan to be in the San Juans by this weekend.

[Blue Bus Fan]

Mar 17, 2014 15:51:54 GMT -8 Barnacle said:

Mar 16, 2014 10:45:52 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

The Kaleetan is listed on the schedule now today as #3 but the current terminal conditions show the Evergreen as #3 and the Sealth as #4 but the Hiyu is still at Friday Harbour. She is not on the Bremerton run either so maybe on her way up to Anacortes??

Edit: The Kaleetan is still on the Bremerton run and the Walla Walla is at Eagle Harbour which is listed right now on Bremerton. lol! The schedules seem messed up!

The Walla Walla is not available to relieve the Kaleetan at the moment.  Look for the Kaleetan to be in the San Juans by this weekend.

I am going to say that Kaleetan would head to the island by the end of next month with the hole in the hull of the Walla Walla.

[Kahloke]

OK, Karl.  It's for real now.  This pic, courtesy of Siitech, shows Kaleetan heading to the islands, and it also shows Evergreen heading down sound.

Siitech - 5:07pm - March 20, 2014

[SolDuc]

Mar 20, 2014 16:22:07 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

OK, Karl.  It's for real now.  This pic, courtesy of Siitech, shows Kaleetan heading to the islands, and it also shows Evergreen heading down sound.

Wow! That was quite the quick fix for the Walla Walla!

[compdude787]

Koastal Karl, you better get down there now! Don't miss your opportunity to ride Kaleetan in the San Juans this time!

[FNS]

For those who are wondering why the KALEETAN's name is not aligned with the home port at the ends, National Steel was going to put MV in front of the names when they were building these Superferries in their yard in San Diego.


From Page 322 in the Bayless book "Ferryboats", we see the "MV" applied next to "KALEETAN".


The scars of change.  You can see the remnants of the letters "M" and "V".  The "V" is under the relocated letter "H" and the letter "A" over remnants of the letter "H".  From a photo purchased from a collector.

As you can see above, they corrected the lettering on the HYAK.  The lettering, on the other hand, aboard the KALEETAN was never corrected, except for the removal of the letters "M" and "V".

[SolDuc]

Here, Koastal Karl, the Kaleetan is now back at Bremerton. You let your chances pass once more.
Anyhow, I rode her last Friday while she was still in the Islands and got her horn when she arrived at Friday Harbor. What a beauty. (but the Walla Walla is still better )

[SolDuc]

Took a ride on the Kaleetan from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on April 18, a beautiful spring day.
Here's the Kaleetan approaching Anacortes, in from Friday Harbor and Lopez:
MV Kaleetan approaching Anacortes - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Wake and the Sun in Rosario Strait:

Wake, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

Shooting the "face of a Super" with some TOKINA POWER!
Bridge, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

It's a busy sailing on this Friday afternoon, so the ropes are set back to allow me to get a shot of the bulwark name:
Bulwark Name, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

We've now dropped some cars off at Lopez, and we're in Upright Channel headed to Friday Harbor:
Wake, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The solarium benches deserve some good Tokina power:
Solarium, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Lifering and almost-empty sun deck:
Lifering, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The Wake and the side Nameplate:
Nameplate, MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

A spider shot:
Disembarking the MV Kaleetan - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

HDR shot at Friday Harbor:
MV Kaleetan at Slip 1, Friday Harbor - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

The next day, which is also a spring day but much less beautiful, departing Friday Harbor on the 4:15 sailing:
MV Kaleetan departing Slip 1, Friday Harbor - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

On Tokitae Day, headed to Friday Harbor on the 2:40 express sailing:
MV Kaleetan en-route to Friday Harbor - Washington State Ferries by SolDuc Photography, on Flickr

[Koastal Karl]

how long is the Kaleetan in the San Juans for?? All summer?