PORT TOWNSEND — Had strong winds blown the MV Chetzemoka into rocks instead of the soft sandbar it grazed Tuesday night, the Port Townsend-Whidbey Island route could have been without a replacement for a while.
Fortunately for commuters, the 3-month-old ferry was blown by 50 mph winds into a sandbar near the Coupeville (Keystone) landing shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday — and the Chetzemoka was back in service Wednesday morning.
All remaining runs were canceled Tuesday night so divers could inspect the hull to ensure the ferry was undamaged, said Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Marta Coursey.
“If anything were to happen that prevented the Chetzemoka from serving the route, we would have to devise some emergency response option, depending on the timeline that the vessel would be out of service,” Coursey wrote in an e-mail to the Peninsula Daily News on Wednesday.
“The Chetzemoka is sailing strong thus far, but we know this is the most challenging time of year for sailing conditions on that route [and] is difficult for any vessel in the conditions we experience this time of year.”
Divers began conducting a full inspection of the hull at around 10 p.m. Tuesday and finished the inspection Wednesday before clearing the vessel’s return to service, Coursey said.
Coast Guard inspectors also were on-site and cleared the vessel for service after the hull inspection.
Weather conditions at the time of the grounding were severe, with winds at about 44 knots (50 mph) from the southeast and the current running at about 3.3 knots.
The canceled sailings were the 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. sailings from Coupeville and the 6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. sailings from Port Townsend.
The initial Washington State Ferries report characterized the incident as a “soft grounding” and stated sailings would not resume until the vessel was determined to be safe.
Coursey said there are no backup vessels currently available for the Port Townsend-Coupeville route as the Steilacoom II — which serviced the route on an interim basis for three years — has been returned to its owner, Pierce County.
While the route will have no backup through the current windy season, help will come, Coursey said, when the Chetzemoka’s sister ferry, the MV Salish, operates alongside the Chetzemoka.
The Salish is in the final outfitting stages at Everett Shipyard.
“We are extremely optimistic that the [Salish] will be available for the route in early summer,” Coursey said.
There is a hitch:
The relocation of the Salish to a San Juan Islands route has been suggested as a cost-savings measure and will be reviewed by the Legislature when the transportation budget is considered in early March.
Taking the Salish off the Port Townsend route is opposed by Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who through a spokesman Wednesday said she is committed to keeping the Salish crossing Admiralty Inlet as planned.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.