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Ferry is fast--and litigation-bound

Tuesday, July 13, 1999

By LARRY LANGE Mail Author
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

ANACORTES -- Freshly painted, partially hidden behind the door of a huge building, the state's latest high-speed ferry is ready to be released to a waiting crowd.

Last week dozens of Dakota Creek Industries shipyard workers were insulating pipes, running miles of electrical wire and laying deep blue carpet in the $9.8 million ferry Snohomish.

The boat, now more than 90 percent complete, is to be launched this afternoon. It could be on the Seattle-Bremerton route by September.

So far, it's been a smooth voyage for the state's newest boat.

Photo  
Roy Shur grinds down a metal strip for fitting on the new high-speed foot ferry Snohomish in a giant shed at the Dakota Creek Industries yard in Anacortes.
Rick Giase/P-I 		 
"I've done everything from laying the keel to putting in windows and doors," said Paul Tankersly, 31, a Dakota Creek employee who has worked on all five fast catamaran ferries the company has built. "It seems like (this one) went a lot faster."

But there could be rough water ahead: Ferry system officials will celebrate the launch even as lawyers representing property owners on Rich Passage will be in court, trying to convince a judge to force the Snohomish and its sister ship, the Chinook, to cut speeds by two-thirds in hopes of reducing their wakes.

If they win, the state's fast-ferry program would be dealt a major setback.

The new vessel, like the Chinook, is 143 feet long and nearly 40 feet wide, with diesel engines that power water jets rather than propellers. The boats cruise at 39 mph, and their jets and catamaran-style hulls were designed to throw off less wake than conventional, V-hull boats.

Landowners on the narrow passage south of Bainbridge Island, however, contend that the Chinook's wake still erodes their beaches and say they fear the Snohomish will, too. Judge Glenna Hall will hear their arguments and the state's response during a three-day hearing that opens today in King County Superior Court.

The ferry system maintains that tides, storms and waterfront bulkhead designs are responsible for beach erosion.

Changes have been made in the Snohomish that make the boat more versatile but could affect its wake.

The Snohomish's bow, unlike that of the Chinook, is open in a way that will allow it to dock bow-first at all ferry slips, including auto loading ramps. The change will allow faster loading and unloading, particularly in places where passengers can walk on at the bow as well as through side doors.

The Snohomish's bow will be heavier because of the alteration, so engineers eliminated platforms on its stern to keep the boat's overall weight the same. So the stern will ride higher in the water than does that of the Chinook, said project manager Cliff Hill.

That change should change the boat's wake pattern, said ferry system officials who plan to retrofit the Chinook to match. But will it be an improvement? Ferry officials won't predict, given the looming court battle.

"It's clearly a sensitive subject," said ferry system spokeswoman Pat Patterson. "There's a lot riding on it -- the future of the passenger-only (ferry) program."

The Chinook is the state's first high-speed foot ferry, and it has become highly popular with commuters since entering service in May, 1998. Carrying as many as 350 passengers, the fast ferry makes the Seattle-Bremerton run in 35 minutes; car ferries take an hour.

Fast ferries are also popular with Bremerton civic leaders who hope the faster commute will boost the city's economy. With the Snohomish in service, commuters will choose from three more daily round-trips.

Ferry officials say they've worked many of the bugs out of the Chinook's steering controls and electrical system and incorporated the improvements into the Snohomish, making them both far more reliable.

"The folks I room with and the folks I ride with have been anxiously awaiting it," said Bremerton commuter Bill Ferren. Shifting the boats to other runs or slowing them down "would defeat the whole purpose" of the high-speed boats, he said.

But Rich Passage residents are equally intent on satisfaction.

"Put in the right place (each boat) is going to streamline and modernize fast ferry transport," passage resident Carl Duff said. But "in Rich Passage we're going to have to have a little more sophisticated improvement or we're going to be taking liberties with people's property values."

The Legislature has appropriated money for five more fast passenger-only ferries, four of them to open new Kingston-Seattle and Southworth-Seattle routes in 2001.

Duff said the Chinook and Snohomish should go on those routes, where wakes are not expected to cause shoreline problems. The ferry system says that might be the outcome if it loses the court battle.

"It will depend on what the judgment is," Patterson said. "We're thinking about it."

P-I reporter Larry Lange can be reached at 206-448-8313 or larrylange@seattle-pi.com

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