Anyone else wondering about the timing of pulling the boats??

Anyone wondering about all the turnover at the top of WSF,
or the DOT.

I am sure some of you are paying attention, whats really going on?


FYI I work for the system, just a peon. But the timing of this seems political.

It seems to me that This was a good time to show how valuable they really are, and by picking the holidays to do it, whatever funding is needed to fix the boats will be found, I guarantee it!

All I know is it sucks.

I don't necessarily think there is anything shady going on with the timing. If anything, it sounds like the shady behavior was leaving the boats in service for so long and issuing reports in the last year that ignored the most significant of problems. You have to imagine what the response would be (especially legally) is they hadn't pulled the boats and one went down.

Personally, I'd rather just sign a waiver, bring an extra PFD, and take my chances.

-Kaiser D.

how long will they be down? I was going to use them next week end but will now have to make alternate plans

Never underestimate the ability of an entrenched bureaucrat to create a situation that wil get the public screaming for relief. IMO- the ferry system does nothing that is not politically driven in some regard. It's part of the culture and funding technique of the system and has been since day one. The state took over the system from Blackball under sketchy circumstances.
Do you ever wonder why the BI run is the best run in the system? How many people on BI have political connections opposed to the PT-Keystone run. The reason the Bremerton ferry runs were origianlly slowed down thru Rich Passage was political to get enough votes to pass a ferry budget at the time the system was running out of money.
I have no doubts the timing of pulling the ferry off PT was politcal. Never underestimate a bureaucrat's willingness to hold the ridership hostage to get what they want.
As a side note - I've been riding the boats most of my life and commuted to Seattle for 7/1/2 years on the Brem run, so have a bit of an interest and history with the system.

How long will they be down, maybe Febuary??

Only other boat the system has that can fit is the HIYU, but I don't think it can shoot the gap at Keystone, not enough stones.

"not enough stones."

Well, that prompts the question - the boat, the breakwater or the skipper?
That is a tricky spot with a big tide change.

The boat

Chuck E, although you have a number of good points in your post, I will dispute that the timing of this is political. This storm has been brewing for a long time. I don't have all the details but I know the State sold these ferries to a leasing company and have leased them back. There is some sort of penalty for the State not using the ferries for the full term of the lease (or certainly not paying the full term!)

This deal has not really seen the light of day but it should. Somebody really screwed up this one and the engineer that first blew the whistle on the condition of one vessel should be held up as a hero. BTW, his report is at least 9 months old by now.

I agree about the engineer, nice job, some of his co-workers didn't appricate it. Better to make the office happy by turning a blind eye to the aging boats.

Now it would seem to me that if I was responsible for the lifes of others. I would want to have my equipment as safe as possible. Now that run sees the worst weather that Puget Sound has to offer. The combination of the aging boats, the traffic (trucks that weight upwards of 100K) and the waether is just a recipe for disaster.

What should the state do, well either abanbon the run, virtually killing Pt Townsend. Of nut up and build some new boats, Boats that have enough HP to shoot the gap, those current ones really can a high level of pucker factor when the current is ripping. I could go on.

FYI I would love to see some of that lease info, we were talking about that at work today.

"those current ones really can a high level of pucker factor when the current is ripping"

I've been on that run a time or two when I wasn't sure we were going to make the dock in Keystone. I was on the front of the boat once and I had a butt cramp from squeezing the seat so hard.

ediie,
"This storm has been brewing for a long time"
"his report is at least 9 months old by now."

I still find the timing politically interesting, but I will admit to being highly skeptical of most anything the upper management of the ferry system have to say. Nine months and just before a holiday the boats are pulled?
We see how this all shakes out.

Shiat.....can't kill PT. It doesn't have an economic base of existance to begin with. It's a trust fund town along with a growing number of retirees from other places. Both groups have way too much time on their hands, so spend their time creating crisis at other's expense.......sound familiar?