PORT TOWNSEND — The 64-car ferry Chetzemoka was towed Saturday morning from Todd Shipyard in Seattle to Everett Shipyard where it will undergo final outfitting for six-weeks of sea trials some time after June on the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
(See video — http://tinyurl.com/yemj5td)
After sea trials, the ferry will begin, sometime in August, to serve the northern water link on Admiralty Inlet between the North Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.
Final outfitting involves the installation of all major system components, including engines, ventilation and heating components, plumbing, wiring, furniture and lighting among them.
A second 64-car ferry, to be named by the state Transportation Commission later this year, is scheduled to serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route beginning in spring 2011.
“Work on the second vessel has already begun at Todd,” said Marta Coursey, Washington State Ferries spokeswoman.
Tom Thiersch, a Jefferson County Ferry Advisory Committee member, has proposed the name, Salish, for the second ferry, a name also endorsed by the San Juan County Council.
The Chetzemoka, suggested by Jefferson County Historical Society members, was placed in the water for the first time on March 2 at Todd Pacific Shipyards’ graving dock on Harbor Island in Seattle.
The state has leased the Pierce County-owned, 50-car ferry Steilacoom II as the only vehicle ferry that will work for Keystone Harbor’s challenging conditions to serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route.
The car ferry temporarily replaces the more than 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries that were declared unsafe and pulled from the Port Townsend-Keystone route on Nov. 20, 2007.
The two 64-car ferries will fill the water transportation void left with that loss of the Steel Electric ferries.
The city of Port Townsend is planning a marketing effort to coincide with the launch of the first new Kwa-di Tabil class ferry this year.
The ferry classification was named by a Blue Heron Middle School four-grade class in Port Townsend, which won the state’s naming contest.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
