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Post by SS San Mateo on Jul 9, 2013 13:56:10 GMT -8
Found this over at the BitterEnd blog:
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 1, 2013 22:05:56 GMT -8
Something I have noticed about the WSF schedule. So the Hyak leaves Anacortes 9:00pm and arrives Orcas 10:20pm. There is no return departure to Anacortes except 10:50pm on the Elwha. I see on the vessel tracker 11:10pm she is heading for Anacortes. Now does she deadhead back everynight?? What is the point of that. lol!
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 1, 2013 22:17:43 GMT -8
So how likely is it that I would have to park in the upper lot on say like this Sunday if I went for the day to Anacortes??? I see there is a lot to right of the tollbooths as it says on the site which I never knew you could park there but I assume parking will be pretty hard to find??? Seeing I couldent even get a hotel room anywhere from Blaine to Anacortes this weekend. I assume it gets pretty busy. I was down last summer to Anacortes for the day and parked in the upper lot which is a pain. Do they close that lot at a certain time and is the walkway lighted at night? Say if I was to come off the 10pm Elwha sailing at midnight. I probably wouldent do that though.Otherwise I would have to camp out at Tsawwassen on the way back, lol!
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Post by northwesterner on Aug 2, 2013 0:05:47 GMT -8
I suspect there is a pretty good chance you'd have to park in the upper lot if its a weekend... The upper lot was much more tolerable when it was free.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 8, 2013 17:28:59 GMT -8
being there is a big event on Orcas do you think I would have a problem parking at Anacortes this weekend?? Trying to figure out if I should go this weekend or wait till the following weekend.
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 9, 2013 5:23:16 GMT -8
being there is a big event on Orcas do you think I would have a problem parking at Anacortes this weekend?? Trying to figure out if I should go this weekend or wait till the following weekend. It's August. You will have a problem parking at Anacortes every weekend until Labor Day. |
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 9, 2013 20:58:22 GMT -8
What about like midweek??? I might not end up getting down to ride the Kaleetan then. I only have weekends off and with the borders being busy and Anacortes might just have to forget it. Does the upper lot ever fill up???
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 10, 2013 5:15:56 GMT -8
It's August. Given that I took 800+ people to Friday Harbor at noon on Wednesday, I would think parking is a zoo until Labor Day, every day. Which I apologize for not saying in my previous post.
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Post by northwesterner on Aug 10, 2013 22:08:55 GMT -8
It's August. Given that I took 800+ people to Friday Harbor at noon on Wednesday, I would think parking is a zoo until Labor Day, every day. Which I apologize for not saying in my previous post. If I were Koastal Karl I'd just go. Go on a Sunday, give yourself plenty of time to find a spot in the upper lot, and go for a ride. Who knows the next time the Kaleetan will be in her old stomping grounds. Besides, this is probably the last summer for the Evergreen State in the Islands and there are a couple of easy Kaleetan & Evergreen State itineraries to put together. |
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 11, 2013 10:32:27 GMT -8
I could probably go next Sunday. I was just curious about finding a spot at Anacortes to park and what I would do if there was no spots. But does that upper lot ever fill up where you cant get a spot or anywhere at Anacortes?? I would just be going for the day which is really hard to work in the Inter Island boat but the Kaleetan's 2pm sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbour is perfect with the return at 3:45pm. Sunday works better for route 1 as there are late ferries from Tsawwassen. Was wondering if I also did the 5:10pm Kaleetan roundtrip arriving back at 6:55pm if it would be pushing it to make the 10pm from Tsawwassen. If it is at all doable I might try it. I guess there is the 10:45pm to Duke Point if all else fails. The border is the other problem, lol! I have been on the Evergreen State as the interisland boat but I do want to get on her again. Will she be up in the San Juans for the Fall season this year??? Overnight trip would be better but I just cant afford to do an overnight trip and trying to get a hotel in Anacortes on the weekends right now is a joke. Should probably just focus on the Kaleetan seeing she is very rarely up in the island.
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 11, 2013 12:17:30 GMT -8
I could probably go next Sunday. I was just curious about finding a spot at Anacortes to park and what I would do if there was no spots. But does that upper lot ever fill up where you cant get a spot or anywhere at Anacortes?? I would just be going for the day which is really hard to work in the Inter Island boat but the Kaleetan's 2pm sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbour is perfect with the return at 3:45pm. Sunday works better for route 1 as there are late ferries from Tsawwassen. Was wondering if I also did the 5:10pm Kaleetan roundtrip arriving back at 6:55pm if it would be pushing it to make the 10pm from Tsawwassen. If it is at all doable I might try it. I guess there is the 10:45pm to Duke Point if all else fails. The border is the other problem, lol! I have been on the Evergreen State as the interisland boat but I do want to get on her again. Will she be up in the San Juans for the Fall season this year??? Overnight trip would be better but I just cant afford to do an overnight trip and trying to get a hotel in Anacortes on the weekends right now is a joke. Should probably just focus on the Kaleetan seeing she is very rarely up in the island. I wouldn't worry about not finding any parking at the terminal in Anacortes. I went up to Orcas for the 4th of July weekend this year and found a parking space in one of the lower lots - didn't even have to park in the upper lot - so you will definitely find parking up there, and may even find something down below. |
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 12, 2013 4:43:56 GMT -8
There's also additional parking beyond the upper lot, across the street from one of the closed restaurants. In fact, both close drestaurants have pay parking available, now that I think of it.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 14, 2013 19:17:39 GMT -8
why does Anacortes have hours for passenger toll booths and the foot passenger walkway?? That seems odd you think they would be in operation from the first departure to the last departure/arrival.
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 16, 2013 11:04:48 GMT -8
why does Anacortes have hours for passenger toll booths and the foot passenger walkway?? That seems odd you think they would be in operation from the first departure to the last departure/arrival. Because demand really drops off for footies after about 8 PM, that's why. |
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Post by northwesterner on Aug 17, 2013 22:37:56 GMT -8
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 17, 2013 23:14:31 GMT -8
Ouch! When I think I was there just last Thursday it sure freaks me out. |
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 26, 2013 22:13:45 GMT -8
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 26, 2013 22:16:51 GMT -8
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SolDuc
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 26, 2013 22:17:27 GMT -8
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Post by Kahloke on Sept 6, 2013 20:26:18 GMT -8
Here's a pen and ink sketch I did of Orcas Landing many years ago, with a Steel Electric coming in to dock. Don't ding me on the accuracy of the representation. I took a few artistic liberties. It's not great art -in fact, it's pretty crude, but it is ferry related. Enjoy!  |
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Post by Kahloke on Sept 7, 2013 13:38:20 GMT -8
Stepping into the "wayback machine" again. The first is a postcard of Anacortes I just found in my collection showing the construction of the second slip, so that would be sometime in the 70's I'm thinking. The ferry at the dock is most likely Klickitat. You can really tell how much the city has grown since then. This photo shows hardly any houses in what must have been a new Skyline neighborhood, and certainly none of the new housing construction you see now coming into the ferry.  The second photo is one I took in the late 90's. I'm not sure if the Steel Electric at the dock is Nisqually or Illahee - it's one of the two, to be sure.  |
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Post by Kahloke on Sept 7, 2013 15:19:06 GMT -8
One of the better postcards I have seen of Orcas Landing, mainly because it encompasses so much of the surrounding area, including Westsound Bay and Mt. Turtleback. I figure this one to be 1960's-era because there are only 4 fuel tanks down by the dock. I believe that number grew to 5 by the 70's. And, before the early 80's, there was no vehicle holding lot above the Orcas Hotel. Ferry traffic lined up on the side of the main road.  |
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Post by Barnacle on Sept 9, 2013 17:09:02 GMT -8
Stepping into the "wayback machine" again. The first is a postcard of Anacortes I just found in my collection showing the construction of the second slip, so that would be sometime in the 70's I'm thinking. The ferry at the dock is most likely Klickitat. You can really tell how much the city has grown since then. This photo shows hardly any houses in what must have been a new Skyline neighborhood, and certainly none of the new housing construction you see now coming into the ferry. {edit!} The second photo is one I took in the late 90's. I'm not sure if the Steel Electric at the dock is Nisqually or Illahee - it's one of the two, to be sure. {edit!} The east slip was completed in 1976, so the first photo was probably in 1975 or early 1976. I'm told Skyline started construction in the early 1970s as well. Second photo: late 1990s would mean it was most likely the Nisqually. The Illahee was working at Port Townsend then and we didn't see much of her in the island until about 2001-2. And I think the name plate is too long for the Illahee anyway.  |
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Post by Kahloke on Oct 9, 2013 12:57:18 GMT -8
Here's a question for Barnacle and/or EGFleet, or to whoever else may know: do the terminal agents in the San Juans ever talk to each other in regards to how many vehicles they have staged in order to fill the vessel to maximum capacity when required? Here is what I mean: on Sundays, the Noonish ferry (right now it's 12:20pm) departing Orcas almost always leaves cars behind. This vessel stops at Shaw to pick up their traffic before proceeding to Anacortes. I have witnessed many, many times the vessel leaving Orcas with more space leftover to accommodate Shaw's vehicle loads than Shaw actually uses, so the vessel sails on to Anacortes with sometimes several empty spaces that could have been filled with cars from Orcas. Why couldn't the agent at Orcas, say 5 minutes prior to departure, call the agent at Shaw and ask them how many cars they have heading to Anacortes? That way, Orcas can fill as many spaces as possible, still accommodate Shaw's allotment, and maximize the use of deck space on the boat? Last Sunday, at least 6 more cars from Orcas would have gotten on the 12:20 if they had done this. Instead, we sailed on to Anacortes with 6 or 7 empty spaces. When the vessel is running on time, as it was last Sunday, it seems like this would be a feasible thing. Are the agents not allowed to call each other, or is it simply that there is no procedure in place for something like this? Curious minds want to know.
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Post by Barnacle on Oct 10, 2013 5:45:30 GMT -8
Here's a question for Barnacle and/or EGFleet, or to whoever else may know: do the terminal agents in the San Juans ever talk to each other in regards to how many vehicles they have staged in order to fill the vessel to maximum capacity when required? Here is what I mean: on Sundays, the Noonish ferry (right now it's 12:20pm) departing Orcas almost always leaves cars behind. This vessel stops at Shaw to pick up their traffic before proceeding to Anacortes. I have witnessed many, many times the vessel leaving Orcas with more space leftover to accommodate Shaw's vehicle loads than Shaw actually uses, so the vessel sails on to Anacortes with sometimes several empty spaces that could have been filled with cars from Orcas. Why couldn't the agent at Orcas, say 5 minutes prior to departure, call the agent at Shaw and ask them how many cars they have heading to Anacortes? That way, Orcas can fill as many spaces as possible, still accommodate Shaw's allotment, and maximize the use of deck space on the boat? Last Sunday, at least 6 more cars from Orcas would have gotten on the 12:20 if they had done this. Instead, we sailed on to Anacortes with 6 or 7 empty spaces. When the vessel is running on time, as it was last Sunday, it seems like this would be a feasible thing. Are the agents not allowed to call each other, or is it simply that there is no procedure in place for something like this? Curious minds want to know. The agents have been known to "trade space" in the past, but the Orcas-Shaw connection is about the only place where it would work due to the very short connection time. According to what I've been told by Lopez staffers past and present, the Lopezians tend to see the scheduled departure printed and think, "let's see; I should be able to get there X minutes before then and make the boat." Thus if Lopez were to give away, say, ten spaces to Friday Harbor, the boat leaving Friday Harbor will take its thirty minutes to transit to Lopez and in that time, the traffic on Lopez starts popping up out of prairie dog holes and Lopez really wishes they still had those ten spaces. In short, unless it's Orcas-Shaw, the lag time makes bartering more of a problem than it is worth to try and swing. As it is, we on the boats tend to keep an eye on the traffic count at each stop... I've had a few occasions where I've had to say "I don't care what your count is; you're done. I have to leave X number of spaces for Y island, and that's all we have left." And then run away like my life depends on it... it often does.  |
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