Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson and Washington State
Ferries director Lynne Griffith last week completed two-week
ordinary seaman training. That’s the entry-level deck position for
WSF.
The women worked side-by-side with a group of new hires on
firefighting, abandoning ship, crowd management, vessel navigation
and person-overboard rescues. Griffiths’ highlights were personal
safety and survival skills training at the Bainbridge Island pool
and fire-fighting school at the Kitsap County Readiness Response
Center in Bremerton.
The pair wanted to experience firsthand what entering the
organization and the training involved are like. It’d be neat if
they got called in an emergency so a boat could sail.
On Monday, the Chelan squeezed through the Ballard locks. The ferry
was returning from topside and interior painting at Lake Union
Drydock Company. It’s longer than a football field and 80 feet
wide. Doesn’t she look perty? The Tacoma is next up for a paint
job, and she needs it.
Ian Sterling is WSF’s new public information officer. He moved
over June 1 from the 520 bridge project, where he was a
communications consultant. Before that, he was a field reporter
with KOMO Newsradio.
Former communications director Marta Coursey has left WSF. She was
responsible for not only media relations, but general
communications, community outreach, customer service, special
events, advertising and marketing. With the exception of customer
service and community outreach, Sterling will absorb her
responsibilities. Her job is basically being split in two.
She and I worked together a long time. I wish her the best.
If you receive ferry alerts, you’ve probably noticed a change. Starting May 19, WSF updated its language used to describe things that delay or cancel service. The change is intended to better explain the cause of service disruptions and provide basic factual information to help customers plan their travel. WSF will no longer use the term “operational constraints.”
