11:05 PM – Aaron from Navagear.com here, reporting on my extreme commute while the Hood Canal Bridge is closed for six weeks. Just getting underway on the M/V Kitsap…I made a reservation by phone a week ago (you can reserve a spot for a vehicle up to a week in advance). It’s an older, Issaquah 130 class boat, which rattles and shakes from the 5,250 hp diesel engines…
11:15 pm – A little background: Port Townsend is my home, but I’ve been working for a certain software giant in Redmond, which often requires my presence four days out of the week. My normal routine is to drive to the Kingston or Bainbridge ferry, and then stay in Seattle Monday through Thursday. If I avoid peak ferry traffic times, it’s about a two hour trip. With the main artery to the Olympic Peninsula shut down while the Hood Canal Bridge is being replaced, the commute is a bit more challenging.
11:28 – A walk around the car decks and, well, the boat is not full! A couple lanes are open on the upper levels, and there are just four freight trucks (six can be accommodated). And there are even a few intrepid motorcyclists.
11:32 – If this was my usual ferry ride, it would be over by now, but there’s still more than an hour to go. The coastline is much darker along Admiralty Inlet than at the usual routes, so not much of a view to report. Many passengers are asleep on the bench seats.
11:48 – So I was just wondering about which route the Kitsap is usually assigned, thinking it seemed like one of the Bremerton route boats. According to the evergreenfleet.com, it’s actually usually a reserve boat, but is in fact most frequently used on the Bremerton run. Of course, the really interesting bit is that it…
…probably boasts the most notorious event in the Issaquah Class history that actually wasn’t mechanical in nature: a full fledged riot on board, that resulted in some $40,000.00 in damages after some punk rockers got out of hand returning from a concert in Bremerton…
12:00 – I’m posting these updates while underway as we make our way down Admiralty Inlet and into Puget Sound and ultimately to the Edmonds ferry terminal. I’m using a Sprint wireless broadband card on my laptop, and the connection has been pretty good along the way. I’ve found Sprint to be a good choice for wireless internet in the Western Washington…even Sucia Island!
12:33 – The Edmonds fuel pier is in sight. Almost there! Time to wake up sleepyheads…
12:38 – Announcement on the PA: “Since the terminal staff have gone home for the night, all passengers will need to disembark from the car deck.”
