Tag Archives: Washington State Ferries

WSF reiterates boat haul-out offer

Washington State Ferries chief David Mosely again expressed his willingness to hand over a portion of the ferry maintenance yard for use as a public boat yard.

The idea of using a portion of the yard for a boat haul-out facility has been debated for decades.

Mosely, who spoke at the Bainbridge Commons on Tuesday night, had said last year that WSF and islanders need to have a “community conversation” before the .9-acre parcel is transferred.

“There are people with Washington State Ferries that prefer that (public use) not occur,” Moseley said. “I’ve made the commitment that if you can demonstrate a use for the facility, I’ll honor that commitment.”

Read more HERE.

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Here’s what the new ferries will look like…

Washington State Ferries has the final design for its new 144-car ferries. That’s it up top.

There’s no funding yet to build them, but the finished design puts Todd Pacific Shipyards in a ready position for the time when the money does materialize.

WSF expects to get funding from the state Legislature to build one or two of the ferries between 2011 and 2013. Its long-range plan calls for adding two 144-car boats to the fleet in 2014. One would replace the 87-car Evergreen State and the second would allow WSF to shift another 87-car ferry to a backup role. The only backup now is the 37-car Hiyu.

Five more 144-car ferries are projected to eventually join the fleet after 2027.

Click here to see the full story.

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UPDATED: Search is on for woman missing from Bainbridge ferry

The Washington State Patrol is asking for help in finding a missing Spokane woman who left her car aboard a ferry on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle run.

Amy Story, 27, of Spokane drove aboard the M/V Tacoma at 2:55 p.m. on Bainbridge Island, troopers said. Their investigation found she walked off the boat in Seattle, but left her Mitsubishi Galant onboard.

Story was visiting family in Sequim and may be trying to get back to Spokane, troopers said.

Story reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and might not be taking her medications. Her family told police she has experienced similar episodes in the past.

She is described as a white female, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 230 pounds, with medium-length straight brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a green striped sweater and blue jeans.

The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search at about 10:30 p.m. Monday.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts can call Detective Russ Haake at (425) 401-7788.

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Marshall: “Terminal rage” takes hold of ferry commuters

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This week, Islander columnist Becky Fox Marshall explores the commuter angst that’s all the rage at the Winslow ferry terminal.

To the list of rages in our modern world – road rage, air rage, work rage – you can add yet another, unique to Bainbridge Island – ramp rage.

The ramp of which I speak is the passenger ramp onto the ferry. Oh, and parking rage. The parking to which I specifically refer is the parking lot at the ferry terminal.

Maybe together these can henceforth be known as “Terminal Rage.”

Now that I’m not a Seattle ferry commuter, riding the ferry has actually become – again – a pleasant experience. And so it was with light hearts that I and three of my friends and coworkers met at the ferry terminal one Saturday afternoon to head over to the big city for dinner out and a show.

We waited near the flag pole as the ferry unloaded, seeing that a good many people formed a long line to the right of the rope that divides the ramp into one side for those intending to board, and one side for those tromping off the vessel.

Once unloaded, the go-ahead was heard on the loudspeaker and boarding began. And so we moved on down the ramp, ending up on the left side of the rope.

A fellow who had been queued up on the right took umbrage with our boarding technique and stood out from his line to dress us down. I couldn’t catch all of what he said but it boiled down to this: “So you think you’re special? Why can’t you get in line with the rest of us? Are you special?”

Continue reading →

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A ferry ride with Cap’n Ty

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The Seattle Times recently joined Bainbridge Islander and ferry captain Ty Anderson to get a sense of the typical day-in-the-life at the helm of the Tacoma.

“For me, a beautiful, boring day is a good day,” said the 26-year Washington State Ferries veteran.

Read the full Q & A session here.

And check out the photo gallery. There’s a pic of a coffee-sipping, bike-helmeted Anderson that one commenter said “is SO Washington State.”

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WSF can’t even sell ferries as scrap?

Declining steel prices have put on hold the sale of four ferries moored off Winslow.

The 80-year-old Illahee, Nisqually, Klickitat and Quinault were slated for purchase by Environmental Recycling Systems. The company planned to tow the ferries to Mexico for use as scrap. But slumping value of steel has ERS second-guessing its $500,000 purchase.

Washington State Ferries is now seeking new bids for the boats, which were pulled from service in late 2007 after the U.S. Coast Guard discovered their rusting hulls. The boats have been awaiting their fate at WSF’s Eagle Harbor maintenance yard for over a year.

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Rolfes wants to allow out-of-state bids for ferry projects

Rep. Christine Rolfes wants to remove a state rule that limits ferry construction bids to Washington shipbuilders.

The Bainbridge Democrat believes allowing greater competition will lower the cost for the state ferry system and make ferry projects eligible for federal dollars.

Seattle’s Todd Shipyards was the only shipbuilder to bid on the ferry system’s last two projects. Both jobs came in over-budget.

Rolfes’ proposal is one of her bolder and potentially divisive moves since first taking office in 2007.

Read more in Ed Friedrich’s story, here.

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Ferry system busted for tossing recycling in the trash

A KIRO TV News investigation revealed that workers on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle ferry route were rounding up separated paper and plastic in on-board recycling bins…and tossing it all in the trash.

In the TV footage, KIRO reporter Chris Halsne confronts a Washington State Ferries worker who was throwing a cart full of recyclables in a trash bin.

“I don’t want to see this on KIRO News or anywhere else,” said the ferry worker before throwing a bag full of newspapers into a trash bin.

Halse then gets the runaround from two WSF supervisors who refuse to answer this basic question: why trash the presorted recyclable items?

KIRO News staff had used hidden cameras and specially marked recycled items to track the items’ trips from recycle bins (with signs declaring “Recycling. So simple it works!”) to the trash in all 22 trips they documented.

“It’s such a waste,” one ferry rider told KIRO.

“I feel deeply betrayed,” said another.

One rider said the fault lies not with the workers but with their bosses.

“Management isn’t setting the tone,” he said.

WSF management told KIRO they had “no idea” that recycling was being trashed, but vowed to set things straight now that it was brought to their attention.

To view KIRO’s story and the raw footage of ferry workers getting caught in the act, click here and find the links on the right side of the page.

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