PORT TOWNSEND — The MV Chetzemoka will ferry passengers between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island for the first time Sunday, Nov. 14.
And celebrations are heating up on both sides of the Admiralty Inlet route.
“Now that it’s really going to be here, we are thrilled,” said Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval.
The new ferry will begin its regularly scheduled service between Port Townsend and the Coupeville terminal on Monday, Nov. 15. — a week before the week of the Thanksgiving holiday — and will assume the same 20 daily sailings as the Steilacoom II, which now plies the route, beginning with a 6:15 a.m. departure from Port Townsend and a 9:15 p.m. departure from Coupeville.
Ironically, it was Thanksgiving Week 2007 that the state permanently and suddenly pulled its four Steel Electric class ferries out of service — including the two that worked the Port Townsend-Whidbey Island route — because of rust and corrosion on their 80-year-old hulls.
The Nov. 15 startup will be exactly five days short of three years that Port Townsend has been without ferry service except for the single leased Steilacoom II from Pierce County.
Gov. Chris Gregoire, legislators, state and local officials and an estimated 300 invited guests from communities on both sides of Admiralty Inlet will board the Chetzemoka at the Whidbey Island Coupeville terminal for the new ferry’s first sailing.
Anyone attending the ceremony on Whidbey Island from Port Townsend would ride the Steilacoom II, which will be returned to Pierce County the following day, said Marta Coursey, state ferries system spokeswoman.
Guests will take an extended cruise from Whidbey Island on the ferry, stretching out the 30-minute crossing time to about an hour.
“We will take our time, and are planning some special events,” Coursey said, adding that the time of the first sailing has yet to be scheduled but that it would probably be in the afternoon.
Special events will include representatives of the Klallam tribes conducting a ceremony aboard the vessel, which is named for the Klallam Chief Chetzemoka, who signed the 1855 Point No Point Treaty and considered a friend of European settlers on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Afterward, the 750-passenger ferry will be available for public viewing in Port Townsend.
The new ferry is also expected to be part of the Port Townsend Family Portrait, which could take place prior to the time it is put into service, said Christina Pivarnik, Port Townsend’s marketing director.
For the photo, the boat would be parked at the ferry dock, at which time all members of the community will be invited to fill the parking lot for a group picture.
A more detailed schedule of the inaugural-sailing events, which are sponsored by Todd Pacific Shipyards, will be announced soon, the ferries system said.
People from the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island are expected to attend the events at both terminals, the state ferries system said.
The 64-car Chetzemoka will be a permanent replacement for the 50-car Steilacoom II, which the state has leased from Pierce County to service the route for the last three years, and which has racked up sailing delays because of difficulties with the harsh seas of the route.
“We’re really looking forward to having reliable transportation between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island,” Pivarnik said, adding that it will offer “easier travel opportunities for residents and visitors alike to enjoy our beautiful communities.”
The new ferry will go into service two months and 16 days after the original inauguaral sailing date of Aug. 29, which was delayed after excessive vibrations at high speeds were discovered during sea trials. The problem has been fixed.
It will begin work on the route six days short of the third anniversary of the sudden retirement of the Steel Electrics that had plied the route for many years.
The boats, which later were sold for scrap, were pulled from service on Nov. 20, 2007.
The ferry is the state’s first built in 12 years, The total cost of the new ferry — for construction, contingency and construction mangement — is $76.5 million, the state ferries system said.
The Chetzemoka name recognizes the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, now based in Blyn. Chetzemoka, who was known as a peaceful man and a wise diplomat, was believed to be about 80 years old when he was buried in 1888 at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Townsend.
A second ferry, identical to the Chetzemoka, the Salish, is expected to be placed into service in the spring at which times are expected to be expanded.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
