PORT TOWNSEND — The new state ferry that pulls into the Port Townsend landing for the first time Aug. 29 will be greeted with townsfolk ready to party, city officials say.
Late Thursday’s news from the state Department of Transportation that the MV Chetzemoka — already Port Townsend-connected after it was named for the town’s revered 19th century Klallam chief — was met Friday by promises from the mayor and city’s marketing director of a “community celebration.”
“From our neighbors on Whidbey Island to our tribal friends to the broader Olympic Peninsula community, everyone pulled together to work with Washington State Ferries and ensure the future of this route and the local economy,” said Mayor Michelle Sandoval in a statement.
“We . . . look forward to reconnecting on board the Chetzemoka.”
Participants in the opening-day sailings will include a blessing delivered by representatives of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe — with which Chetzemoka’s great-great-grandson is a member — and Gov. Chris Gregoire, city Marketing Director Christina Pivarnik said Friday.
Details of the community party along with Whidbey Island’s will be formulated over the coming weeks, she said.
The 64-car MV Chetzemoka, built in Seattle and now being outfitted in Everett, will make largely ceremonial runs across Admiralty Inlet between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island on the Sunday, Aug. 29, debut date.
Then the first state ferry to be built in the 21st century will begin regular service the next day, state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said Thursday night.
The $65.5 million vessel will replace the smaller, leased Steilacoom II, which has been plying the route since early 2008 — about two months after Hammond yanked the four octogenarian and leaking Steel Electric class ferries from the fleet.
The abrupt mothballing for safety reasons occurred just two days before Thanksgiving 2007 and caused a commercial slump in downtown Port Townsend for the holiday season because of the lost link to Whidbey Island and points east.
Some merchants reported up to a 50 percent sales falloff because of the unexpected ferry service loss.
The state brought in an emergency passenger ferry from Seattle to help save the retail holiday season in 2007, but the car ferry loss plus the five-week closure of the Hood Canal Bridge in May-June 2008 and the approaching Great Recession took their toll.
The mothballing also broke state Highway 20, the longest numbered route in Washington that extends from Discovery Bay to the Idaho border, severing tourism from the east.
A smaller ferry meant for calmer Pierce County waters, Steilacoom II, has been leased by the state to make the difficult run across Admiralty Inlet since January 2008, but it frequently fills up with vehicles and is often docked because of treacherous tides and winds.
Nonetheless, having any car ferry service in the three-year interim has been appreciated, Sandoval said.
“The city of Port Townsend would like to thank Pierce County for their support with the lease of the Steilacoom II ferry,” she said in her Friday statement.
Nearly all reservation slots for this Independence Day weekend are taken, for example.
A sister ferry to the Chetzemoka is under construction and will be added to the Port Townsend-Keystone route to give Port Townsend two-ferry car service for the first time since the Steel Electrics were yanked.
More information about the Chetzemoka and the other new Kwa-di Tabil Class ferries is available at http://tinyurl.com/27fxjkd.