Inaugural sailing of Chetzemoka postponed; new sea trials set

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Ferries Division Assistant Secretary David Moseley reported on Aug. 6:

The Aug. 29 inaugural sailing of the new Chetzemoka ferry is being postponed as additional sea trials are conducted this week regarding excessive vibration. A new date for the first sailing between Port Townsend and Keystone has not been set. I am looking forward to getting the boat in service and the celebration event just as much as the communities served on this route, but our first priority is to have a safe and fully operational vessel.

Sea trials are took place this week to collect data on maneuvering characteristics and corresponding stopping distances. The goal is to determine if operational limitations will allow the vessel to be put into service sooner while longer-term work continues on the vibration issues. I’m confident we will isolate the problem soon and find a remedy as quickly as possible.  A new date for the inaugural sailing will be set as soon as possible.

Interisland afternoon sailings canceled

Washington State Ferries sent out a ferry alert notice outlining service changes at 2:40 p.m. this afternoon:

Due to ongoing repairs on the Hyak, there will be an unscheduled 6:35 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and an 8:15 p.m. sailing from Friday Harbor to Anacortes.

The 6:35 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Lopez is cancelled.

The 7 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Shaw and Orcas will also stop at Lopez. This will delay the 9 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Lopez, Shaw and Orcas.

The scheduled 8:20 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbor is cancelled and will be replaced with an unscheduled 10 pm sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.

This will cancel the following interisland sailings: the 3:05 pm and 4:35 p.m. sailings from Orcas the 3:20 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. sailings from Shaw and the 3:55 pm. sailing from Lopez. Interisland service will resume with the 5:40 p.m. sailing from Friday Harbor.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Our maintenance teams are working hard to return the Hyak to service. Updates will occur as conditions change.

WSDOT Ferries Division Assistant Secretary David Moseley

Thanks to all of our customers who commented on the two proposals for the Anacortes/San Juan Islands/Sidney, B.C. fall schedule, which we provided for your review in June. We read all of your suggestions and made adjustments where possible, given our objectives to improve schedule reliability and adhere to U.S. Coast Guard crew endurance requirements. Some changes that reflect customer input include:

• Providing a 6:00 p.m. sailing from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.
• Providing a 4:30 p.m. sailing from Shaw to Anacortes.
• Loading only walk-on traffic at the 11:45 a.m. stop at Lopez.
• The 8:25 p.m. sailing from Anacortes will stop at Lopez and Friday Harbor and the 8:55 p.m. sailing from Anacortes will stop at Shaw and Orcas.

The feedback we received from the Ferry Advisory Committee is that these changes resolved the majority of customer issues. To get a copy of the final fall 2010 schedule, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/Service/ScheduleProposals.htm.

Town & Commercial Loads will Ferry to Orcas

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

Beginning Monday, July 5, the solid waste transfer station on San Juan Island will be open only to self-haulers who can throw their trash directly into a container, similar to the way it is done in the recycling area and at the County drop box facility on Lopez.

Packer trucks, including those used by franchise hauler San Juan Sanitation and the Town of Friday Harbor, will have to dump at the Orcas transfer station or on the mainland.

The decision to change the San Juan Island solid waste operation was needed after the County and Town failed to agree on the terms for revisions to the County’s lease for the transfer station property. The Town, which owns the property, has offered to construct a roof over the transfer station’s tipping floor – one of the basic steps required by the Department of Ecology to renew the variance which allows the facility to operate as a transfer station – but the County Council, after meeting in closed session Tuesday – did not accept the Town’s proposed package of changes to the existing lease.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) is planning in advance for heavy traffic this Fourth of July holiday weekend as many locals and tourists attend the various fireworks displays in the Puget Sound Region, from Lopez Island to Point Defiance. The heaviest traffic is expected westbound Thursday, July 1 and Friday, July 2, and eastbound Monday, July 5. Sailing schedules will vary by route.

Anacortes/San Juan Islands
The annual Lopez Island fireworks display attracts a large crowd. Travelers should plan for delays as traffic is heavy. WSF encourages customers to walk on instead of taking their vehicles. WSF will not provide free parking at the Anacortes terminal this year. The Anacortes/San Juan Islands route will operate on its regular summer sailing schedule throughout the weekend, supplemented by the following additional service:

• On Wednesday, June 30, there will be a 6:35 p.m. departure from Anacortes to Lopez. This will result in the 9:00 p.m. sailing from Anacortes departing at 9:45 p.m.
• On Thursday night, July 1, the Evergreen State will operate a Friday night schedule with additional departures from Anacortes at 9:50 p.m. and 11:55 p.m.

For more ferry system information, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

San Juan County’s Ferry Advisory Committee has established a new “feedback” web page to accept comments on ferry service and draft ferry schedules. The feedback page address is: sanjuanco.com/committees/FAC/FAC-Feedback.aspx.

The web page was put in service Thursday, June 17, as Washington State Ferries and the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) called for public comments on two options for the Fall 2010 schedule (available online at: sanjuanco.com/Docs/FallFerryOptions.pdf).

Both options take into account new Coast Guard-mandated constraints on operations, including the elimination of “touring watches”.

Another limitation compared to spring operations is the 130-car Chelan will be out of service for maintenance and be replaced by the 150-car Elwah on the international run.  The 100-car Sealth will then sub for the Elwah on the mainland run, reducing capacity on those sailings.

The “Option #1″ schedule is very similar to the Spring 2010 schedule.

The “Option #2″ schedule shifts the Sidney run earlier in order to provide more capacity in the afternoon. This results in some changes to sailing times which will help some, but may cause problems for others.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) will begin operating its summer 2010 sailing schedule on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 20, with additional vessels, sailings and service hours on the more popular tourism routes. The increased service levels will help locals and tourists alike take summer trips to the San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, Vashon Island, and the Olympic Peninsula. The summer schedule runs through Sept. 25.

The new red 2010 summer schedules are available at all ferry terminals and on the vessels. Summer service changes include:

Anacortes/San Juan Islands: an additional vessel and increased hours of service. Customers should note a change from the printed schedule: the 5:50 a.m. sailing from Friday Harbor will stop at Lopez Island at approximately 6:25 a.m. and load Anacortes-bound traffic. This Lopez stop was added after the schedule went to print, in response to customer feedback.

Anacortes/Sidney, B.C.: two daily trips instead of one

Customers should begin planning ahead for the busy Fourth of July weekend. The heaviest traffic is expected westbound Thursday, July 1 and Friday, July 2, and eastbound Monday, July 5. Reservations are available now for the holiday weekend on the Port Townsend/Keystone and Anacortes/Sidney routes.

Susannah Frame of KING-News reported on June 1:

Fare increases for ferry riders have been put on hold because of the waste of taxpayer dollars exposed by the KING 5 Investigators in a continuing series “Waste on the Water.”

At its last meeting, the Washington State Transportation Commission voted unanimously to “delay further consideration of ferry fare adjustments.” The commission sent a letter to Governor Chris Gregoire about its decision on May 19th.
….

Transportation Commission Chairman Carol Moser wrote the letter to the governor.   The Transportation Committee decided it wasn’t prudent or fair to the public to proceed with hiking prices to ride the ferries until the reviews prompted by KING 5  [“Waste on the Water”] are complete.

A 2.5% fare increase is currently assumed in the WSF budget.

To read the full story, go to king5.com/news/investigators

Washington State Ferries officials issued the following notice on May 24:

Customers are advised to plan ahead for a temporary capacity reduction on the San Juan Islands inter-island ferry route beginning Monday, May 24 through Memorial Day weekend.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) is participating in a full-scale marine rescue response exercise with the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday, May 25. This critical emergency response exercise requires the use of two state ferries – the 124-car Chelan, and the 87-car Evergreen State. To provide these vessels for the exercise and cover service will require six vessel moves. This required exercise must be completed before the summer to avoid disrupting service during the highest traffic volumes of the year.

The 144-car Elwha, currently serving the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route, will fill in for the Chelan on the Anacortes/Sidney B.C. route. The 144-car Kaleetan will provide domestic service in place of the Elwha. The 34-car Hiyu will replace the Evergreen State on the San Juans inter-island route. Travelers should expect a significant vehicle-capacity reduction on the inter-island sailings and are advised to arrive early and allow extra time while the Hiyu serves the inter-island route.

By WSDOT Ferries Division Assistant Secretary David Moseley

WSF has recently been the focus of criticism in the media, and I would like to address what has been going well and what we are doing to improve operations at the ferry system.  Thanks to our employees, WSF has an outstanding safety and reliability record. Our employees are the backbone of the organization: responsible for the safe passage of our 23 million customers each year, and keeping our aging fleet and terminals operational.  I am proud of what they do and I highly value their contribution to the system.

In my two plus years here, we have reduced consultant spending by $14.8M on the management side, but there is a lot more work to be done. Going forward, with the support of the Governor and the Secretary of Transportation, I am committed to:

• Work with the State Auditor’s Office to review payroll improvements made to date, and seek to identify further improvements in our ferries payroll and data system.
• Convene an independent five-member panel of public and private passenger-vessel industry leaders to review and assess the implementation of previous ferry audits and studies, assess Ferries Division operations and practices compared to other ferry systems, and recommend any best-practice changes.
• Eliminate travel time and mileage for future “special project” activities and recently required that approved special projects have a defined timeline with a deliverable product within that time;
• Eliminate the practice of some employees receiving both overtime pay and vacation pay if they were working during a scheduled vacation.
• Managers will have, as part of their personal performance appraisals, written expectations on the WSDOT management-union working relationship and the requirement that all interactions be handled with respect and impartiality;
• Management will develop overtime guidelines to significantly reduce overtime, unless it is essential for safe and effective operations;
• Initiate a more effective way for employees to expose unsafe, unethical or unwise practices.
• Produce a new quarterly “red flag” report for all WSF employees making more than their base pay, to ensure oversight on what led to the extra pay and how we can manage it through collective bargaining or through ferry manager approval of past and current pay practices;
• Immediately fill the vacant Deputy Director position with a person who has maritime experience.  This person will manage day-to-day operations of the ferry system (the largest in the nation), and oversee implementation of ferry employee contracts while ensuring management/union/employee relationships continue with respect;
• Immediately return to the practice of regular ferry management/union meetings to discuss ferry budget, operations and topics important to both to maintain good relationships.

As we work together to make this a stronger, better system, we want our customers, ferry served communities, and employees to know that they are valued.  During the coming months, you will continue to see WSF’s commitment to a streamlined, efficient and well-managed ferry system that meets the needs of ferry communities, and that serves the broader economic interests of our state.   I am firmly committed to see that it happens.

From the Seattle Times
By Susannah Frame, KING 5 News

State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond on Wednesday announced changes at Washington State Ferries aimed at addressing waste and lack of accountability.

The changes come in the wake of a series of stories aired on KING-TV that found ferry employees on “special projects” had been paid to drive to and from work for years.
…

Hammond said she and Gov. Chris Gregoire have instituted the following changes to address the issues:

• Hiring a deputy ferries director to hold managers more accountable.
• Implementing a new “red flag report” that will come out every quarter showing who’s making questionable overtime and why.
• Stopping the costly travel-time perk for special projects, which has been in effect for 30 years.
• Requesting the Passenger Vessel Association’s assistance in assembling an expert panel of ferry operators to conduct a management review. The Passenger Vessel Association is a national organization that “focuses on issues and concerns most relevant to owners and operators of passenger vessels,” according to its website.

“We’re not letting people get away with special deals, if it happened in the past, it’s stopping now,” Hammond said.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) reminds travelers to prepare for heavy traffic on all ferry routes during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, Thursday, May 27 through Monday, May 31.

Ferry riders should note schedule adjustments for the holiday weekend and consider traveling outside of peak times to avoid the longest waits at the terminals. Customers should be prepared for waits of 2 to 3 hours or more heading westbound on Thursday afternoon and Friday, and eastbound on Monday.

Anacortes/San Juan Islands:

• On Friday, May 28, WSF will provide an extra sailing from Anacortes to Orcas at 2:05 p.m.
• On Monday, May 31, the 2:20 p.m. sailing from Friday Harbor will go directly to Anacortes instead of making its usual island stops.
• On Monday, May 31, WSF will also provide an extra sailing from Orcas to Anacortes at 3:20 p.m.

On May 7, WSDOT Ferries Division Assistant Secretary David Moseley’ commented on recent television news coverage regarding overtime pay expenses for ferry crews:

This week I was interviewed for a KING 5 news story on compensation of WSF Staff Chief Engineers who are responsible for keeping the engines operable on our vessels. The story aired Tuesday and focused on overtime pay practices that increased the pay of some of these employees.

We anticipate additional coverage on the costs to taxpayers associated with compensation practices for WSF employees. I recognize that these media reports have concerned WSF customers and the communities we serve, and I would like to reassure you that we are pursuing every possible avenue for reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of the ferry system.

My focus during the last two years was to reduce expenditures in administrative and support services. We made progress in this area by eliminating positions and cutting consultants; however, these costs account for just five percent of WSF’s budget.

From Island Hospital [Anacortes] magazine, “Heartbeats”

San Juan County residents can now get free round-trip taxi svc from the ferry terminal to Island Hospital or any hospital-operated clinic or out-patient service, including

• Anacortes Family Medicine
• Fidalgo Medical Associates
• Island Surgeons
• Island Hosp. Physical Therapy & Rehab
• Island Hospital Sleep Wellness Center
• Cardiopulmonary Care Center
• Cancer Care Center

Those who wish to use this service need only call Mert’s Taxi at 360-299-0609 to be met at the ferry.

Thanks to Susan Malins

By Lance Evans, Executive Director
Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce

Washington State Ferries will hold another public meeting on-board the inter-island ferry tomorrow, Thursday, May 6.

According to the WSF, the meeting will cover the following topics: new vessel construction; vehicle reservation systems; improving on-time ferry service; fare changes; and the new summer schedule.

As a member of the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee, the Chamber of Commerce will be attending the meeting and reporting back to our membership the details of what was discussed.

Orcas Islanders can join the meeting by boarding the 12:25 pm sailing from Orcas to Lopez.  You will then take the ferry back to Friday Harbor, and return to Orcas at approximately 3 pm.  The WSF page link to the meeting is at  wsdot.wa.gov/News/2010/04/Communitymeetings

Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division Assistant Secretary David Mosely announced on April 30:

The peak season begins Saturday, May 1 at WSF with an additional 25 percent surcharge applied to full fare vehicle/driver tickets. The peak season surcharge does not affect passenger fares or frequent user multi-ride fares, except on the Anacortes/San Juan routes.

Summer parking rates at Anacortes also go into effect on May 1. On the Anacortes/San Juan routes passenger single fares are increased 20 percent during the peak season and vehicle/driver fares go up 35 percent. These routes also have day-of-the-week pricing, making travel less expensive from Sunday through Tuesday. For more information, please visit wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fares

Lance Evans, Executive Director of the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce, recently wrote to Chamber members:

The folks at Washington State Ferries are putting the finishing touches on the upcoming summer ferry schedule for the San Juan Islands. This is a daunting task, given the limited resources (number of ferries) and the need to serve all the islands.

Please read the comments below, and share your thoughts with the County Council and the Chamber. My thanks to Deborah Hopkins at the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau for her outreach to her membership on this issue.

You can see a portion of the DRAFT schedule as proposed by clicking on this link to the San Juan Islander: sanjuanislander.com/state/wsf/fac-summer-draft-2010.

The Orcas/Anacortes  sailings being proposed are noted below.

Please submit comments ASAP to council@sanjuanco.com and copy the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce at info@orcasislandchamber.com. (Lance Evans is an alternate member of the County’s Ferry Advisory Committee – FAC).  Councilman Howie Rosenfeld is the new Chair of the FAC.

Proposed Sailings: Anacortes to Orcas

6 a.m. departure – 7:20 a.m.

The first draft of the Summer ferry schedule has been in the media. It’s important to point out that there is always a big difference between the first draft ferry schedule and the final schedule. This happens every time and is what our Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) is tasked to accomplish: to take the draft WSF proposes and work with them to adapt it to our needs.

Recent Coast Guard and union rule changes have made keeping the schedules we’ve become used to a challenge to maintain. If we make something different happen in the morning, like getting the 8:10 am mainland boat we’re accustomed to, which wasn’t in the first draft Spring schedule, we ended up losing the 6:30 pm return. Push on one end and something pops out on the other, which is why we describe this as a puzzle. Just so many boats, crew shifts, and the many routes in our islands.

Now that we know the Coast Guard and union rule changes, we need to consider those parameters along with the needs and preferences of our ferry riders.

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

The San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) works with schedules in which every action seems to create a dozen reactions. In the recent resignation of 7-year FAC veteran Robert DeGavre, the committee lost a puzzle master.

San Juan County Council Member and incoming FAC chair Howard Rosenfeld said, “Rob leaves big shoes to fill. As the FAC’s scheduling committee chair, Rob was extremely dedicated and did a great job understanding all the many variables, like labor issues and crew overtime that often trump our service needs.”

The committee’s work is considered vital because it works with the State Department of Transportation and San Juan County Council to shape the ferry schedules that affect everything from scholastic sporting events to commerce at every level.

The Ferry Advisory Committee generally meets once per month and occasionally holds special meetings to deal with urgent matters. Members serve 4 year terms; the term of the open position expires in December of this year. Candidates for the vacant position must reside on San Juan Island.

Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Secretary David Moseley announced that repairs and sea trials have been completed on the Sealth and the vessel returned to service on Friday, Jan. 15. The Evergreen State will replace the Hiyu on the inter-island route early this evening.
“This service disruption was a hardship to our San Juan Islands customers for the past two weeks and I appreciate your patience. Thank you to our staff who worked hard to return the vessel to service prior to the holiday weekend,” said Moseley.
The Sealth experienced damage to the engine output shaft on Jan. 5 and has been out of service since then.