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Post by hergfest on Jan 5, 2009 15:13:56 GMT -8
Am I missing something or isn't the Sealth supposed to be in the San Juans right now? According to the vessel watch there are only three boats in the San Juans right now and the Sealth is still at Eagle Harbor.
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 5, 2009 15:34:13 GMT -8
The Sealth is most definitely in the San Juans right now. I know because I rode on Sealth yesterday from Anacortes to Orcas.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 5, 2009 15:44:59 GMT -8
I assure you it's there. The hang up seems to be in the FleetTrack somewhere. The AIS contact is in the right place.
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Post by Kahloke on Apr 10, 2009 10:37:42 GMT -8
OK - here's a question:
Why is Sealth sitting in Anacortes and the Hiyu still on inter-island now that Elwha's back in the islands?
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Post by SS San Mateo on Apr 10, 2009 12:13:50 GMT -8
OK - here's a question: Why is Sealth sitting in Anacortes and the Hiyu still on inter-island now that Elwha's back in the islands? I looked at the service bulletin about the Elwha returning to service and it said the Sealth would be replacing the Hiyu today. I assumed the switch would've happened yesterday. |
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Post by Barnacle on Apr 10, 2009 14:56:15 GMT -8
The swap can happen tonight at a more logistically smooth time. I won't go into specifics but suffice to say it worked better.
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Post by old_wsf_fan on Apr 23, 2009 21:13:57 GMT -8
So The Sealth has been chosen to do the temporary night run from Edmonds to Port Townsend on a Sunday through Thursday schedule for 6 weeks.
I have been pondering a few questions I have over how the Sealth is going to be used during the Hood Canal Bridge closure.
Since she is now the inter-island vessel, and I do not see a replacement vessel for the inter-island route during the bridge closure, how is WSF planning to utilize her?
According to the schedule, the Sealth finishes her route at Friday Harbor at roughly 8:00pm daily. The Edmonds-Port Townsend night run will depart Edmonds at 8:40pm. Is the inter-island route going to get cut short so the Sealth can go south every night?
I hope that I have just missed something because if that is the plan it seems like alot of extra work.
Why not delay the Evergreen States trip to the yard or put the Hiyu back up in the Islands for the duration of the Bridge closure so the Sealth is not going back and forth so much.
Thank you.
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Post by Kahloke on Apr 23, 2009 22:03:28 GMT -8
Kitsap will be doing the nightly run to Port Townsend. It shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience since she will be the scheduled #2 boat at Edmonds-Kingston during the bridge closure.
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Post by Barnacle on Apr 24, 2009 6:38:54 GMT -8
Why not delay the Evergreen States trip to the yard or put the Hiyu back up in the Islands for the duration of the Bridge closure so the Sealth is not going back and forth so much. Because of the nature of reserving shipyard time, the taxpayers are most likely on the hook for the time regardless of whether the boat shows up or not, and the Hiyu is (despite its occasional appearances as such) completely inadequate for the inter-island boat. I'm still stunned that they're putting the Kitsap at Kingston. I expect the backups are going to be HUGE. |
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Post by old_wsf_fan on Apr 25, 2009 7:37:50 GMT -8
Thank you for the replies everyone.
Why is there a vessel shift anyway? Yes with the Bridge closed traffic does level off but with the reduced PT/Keystone capacity, the Kingston route has become even more crowded as of late.
I think one reason for the vessel shift is the Kitsap has enough capacity for a late run but not too much and she will is probably more economical to run.
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Post by Kahloke on Nov 22, 2009 15:57:11 GMT -8
A few from me. An example of how bad the rust is on the Issaquah (taken last summer):  Barely enough room to get that pickup truck on and still be able to get the safety nets together (taken last summer on the Sealth):   -- LB |
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 5, 2010 19:12:35 GMT -8
No fire on Sealth just smoke
posted 01/05/2010
Riders on the 2:05 p.m. sailing aboard the Sealth out of Anacortes responded to a general alarm and gathered at the emergency stations when smoke came out of the engine room. It turned out to be a bearing failure - not a fire.
The ferry continued on with power from one engine to Friday Harbor where cars and passengers disembarked. After clearance from the Coast Guard, the crew took the Sealth back to Anacortes. Washington State Ferries Public Information Officer Susan Harris said no estimate on the repair time was available yet.
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 6, 2010 5:04:17 GMT -8
No fire on Sealth just smokeposted 01/05/2010 Riders on the 2:05 p.m. sailing aboard the Sealth out of Anacortes responded to a general alarm and gathered at the emergency stations when smoke came out of the engine room. It turned out to be a bearing failure - not a fire. The ferry continued on with power from one engine to Friday Harbor where cars and passengers disembarked. After clearance from the Coast Guard, the crew took the Sealth back to Anacortes. Washington State Ferries Public Information Officer Susan Harris said no estimate on the repair time was available yet. The San Juan Islander was bit off last night. Here's the scoop: On Tuesday, January 5th, the MV Sealth was taken out of service to assess mechanical damage. After troubleshooting, engineers have found damage to the engine output shaft, requiring the vessel to be out of service for an extended period of time.
For Wednesday, Jan. 6th, the 6:20 a.m. sailing from Anacortes to Lopez is canceled. A late 7:10 a.m. sailing from Lopez to Friday Harbor will be made by the Inter-island ferry. Also canceled is the 8:05 a.m. sailing from Friday Harbor to Anacortes, the 9:25 a.m. sailing from Anacortes to Lopez and the 10:20 a.m. sailing from Lopez to Anacortes. The 11:20 a.m. sailing from Anacortes to Shaw and Orcas Island is also canceled as is the 12:20 p.m. sailing from Shaw and the 12:55 p.m. sailing from Orcas to Anacortes. Updates will occur as an alternative service schedule is developed.
Look for the Hiyu to be heading north to replace the Evergreen State some time today, unless they shake the Yakima loose early... |
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jan 6, 2010 10:58:41 GMT -8
Look for the Hiyu to be heading north to replace the Evergreen State some time today, unless they shake the Yakima loose early... "Service between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands will return to the standard winter schedule on Thursday, January 7 when the 34-car ferry Hiyu will replace the 87-car Evergreen State as the interisland ferry and the Evergreen State will shift over to operate for the 90-car Sealth, which is out of service. The Evergreen State will run the Sealth's morning sailings and the Kaleetan will operate the afternoon sailings until further notice." Can they really maintain the schedule with a smaller boat (Hiyu) on the inter-island route and a slower boat (Evergreen State) on the mainline routes? |
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Jody
Chief Steward
Ferry Foamer
Posts: 152
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Post by Jody on Jan 6, 2010 11:56:44 GMT -8
By the Vessel Tracker, the Sealth looks to be approaching Port Townsend now headed south. Wonder how the engine problems will affect speed on the trip. My background is in railroads, where the engine power was really mostly necessary when you were starting the thing moving. Once we had her going, we could settle in at a much lower throttle setting. Not sure if the same dynamics apply here, though. Seems like water would provide greater resistance, and therefore require constant power...
Jody
PS - Kahloke - I can't get enough of that Mt. Baker footer photo of yours...
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 6, 2010 12:15:11 GMT -8
Barnacle is currently aboard taking her to Eagle Harbor Cool! Does that mean he's coming back north on the Hiyu? |
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 6, 2010 12:42:57 GMT -8
Barnacle is currently aboard taking her to Eagle Harbor Cool! Does that mean he's coming back north on the Hiyu? Oh, heck no. That would have meant something like a fifteen hour day. The Hiyu has just left Eagle Harbor at a blazing 7.2 knots. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jan 7, 2010 2:11:23 GMT -8
I doubt very much they'll be able to keep the schedule with the Hiyu/Evergreen...I assume that's why they've got the Kaleetan taking over the afternoon runs for the Sealth.Someone posted a schedule on here a while back from when the Evergreen was regularly doing the Anacortes-Friday Harbor direct sailings. I believe she was scheduled for a 90 minute crossing, while other ferries are scheduled for 75-80 minutes. Certainly the reason for the Kaleetan takeover is the Evergreen will be running so late by midday the only way to keep the schedule is to have a faster ferry take over - certainly the Kaleetan will leave Anacortes before the Evergreen even arrives!  Nice to see the Evergreen running mainline service out of Anacortes again... |
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 7, 2010 8:33:01 GMT -8
Someone posted a schedule on here a while back from when the Evergreen was regularly doing the Anacortes-Friday Harbor direct sailings. I believe she was scheduled for a 90 minute crossing, while other ferries are scheduled for 75-80 minutes The Issaquah-Class vessels and the Supers are scheduled to do the Anacortes-Friday Harbor direct sailings in 65 minutes. I believe Evergreen does it in +/- 80 minutes, although I'm not really sure about that one anymore. |
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Jody
Chief Steward
Ferry Foamer
Posts: 152
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Post by Jody on Jan 7, 2010 13:19:56 GMT -8
Can they really maintain the schedule with a smaller boat (Hiyu) on the inter-island route and a slower boat (Evergreen State) on the mainline routes? Well, I guess we have our answer... From this morning's alerts: Thursday, January 7, 2010 9:39 AM Anacortes/San Juan Islands Running Late The Evergreen State, which is slightly slower then the Sealth, is currently running 25 minutes behind schedule. We apologize for the inconvenience. J |
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Post by moravian on Jan 7, 2010 16:02:42 GMT -8
The Sealth casualty is a broken output shaft due to Cooper bearing failure. Fortunately the Issaquah class was designed so that each main engine could provide power to both propellers. The Steel Electrics, the Supers and every other WSF vessel delivered since 1967 have this feature.
The Island Home class does not have this capacity. If the Sealth casualty presents itself on the Chetzamoka or her sisters, there would be no way to turn the screw on that end of the ship.
This is one of several significant deficiencies in the IH class that WSF's engineering crews have been warning management and the legislature about. These concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
The single end failure casualty is especially significant on Chetzamoka because the IH class works in Keystone. This terminal facility is subject to severe tidal and weather conditions which require a high speed entry into the harbor. The small size of the harbor then requires a rapid deceleration.
Because the stopping thrust on a double ended ferry is primarily generated by the bow propeller, any failure of the bow drive train during a Keystone landing will result in significant grounding or allision.
Grounding the Chetzamoka will likely cause much more damage than on a Steel Electric because the greater exposure of their propeller/shafting/rudder.
The Chetzamoka is a step backwards in safety and reliability for WSF and the Sealth casualty could not exemplify that deficiency better.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 7, 2010 18:14:12 GMT -8
Although it should be noted, perhaps stating the obvious, that even with power available to both screws on one engine, it isn't ANYWHERE like the power of two engines.
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chief
Chief Steward
Posts: 117
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Post by chief on Jan 8, 2010 13:52:04 GMT -8
Most WSF vessels use a relatively small amount of the horsepower which is available. The Evergreen State Class uses so little power that their turbos are known for accumulating deposits caused by the light loads.
I remember one year we changed a crankshaft on the Cathlamet while the ship was on the run. It was never even off schedule even though one of her two engines was hanging by chainfalls from the overhead in the engine room, what a sight! Entire GE block upside down right over our heads as we cleaned the lower end.
The Cathlamet could do this because of the low power requirements of her run and some excellent support from the Masters. Also I think that people generally do not realize just how effective a bow propeller is at stopping a boat as compared to the stern. One main engine on the bow is plenty to stop it in a very short distance. (No main engines on the bow, well that is a problem).
In the case of the Island Home class, this feat would have been impossible.
Another aspect of this is really what bothers me. The Sealth had a small engine room fire when the bearing failed. It could have easily been a ruptured fuel line or another more significant source.
On the Sealth the two main engines are in seperate engine rooms. If it became necessary to use the fixed system, the ship could have continued under her own power to shore.
The Chetz is a one engine room boat. The fixed system will take down all propulsion. Even a engine room fire fought by the deck crew will probably incapacitate both engines.
These are not the kind of boats one would design if he were say an experienced mariner.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jan 8, 2010 16:41:28 GMT -8
Does it look like the Sealth will require major repairs? Would such repairs require drydocking?
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 8, 2010 16:54:51 GMT -8
I've seen the damage... the bearing is kaput, but a new one is already on board. The problem is the driveshaft that broke. It's my understanding that WSF didn't have one of that size on the shelf, so it's the acquisition end that's the problem. Drydocking is not necessary to make the repairs, just some chain falls and the deck hatch.
And probably a lot of hammering at some point. ;D
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