Tag Archives: ship

Elwha Looks Rough in Storage

After a trip out one weekend, we were heading home and waiting for the ferry at Kingston. We had a bit of time before our ferry was due in, so I was stretching my legs around the terminal. To one side of the main loading ramps, an old ferry was in storage. This is the Elwha. Apparently, after a large amount of corrosion issues were identified, it was decided to retire the ferry rather than repair it. It was laid up in Kingston and I don’t know what the future holds for it.

I think it must have been sitting there for a while now. The name has been painted over but far more conspicuously, the sides of the ship are looking really scruffy. One end of the upper superstructure must be in the shade most of the time as it has developed a lot of lichen growth. It looks like it could have quite an ecosystem developing there. I imagine there will be a plan for disposal at some point but, until that time, I wonder just how it will end up looking.

What is This Boat About?

Leave a reply

Nancy and I were having lunch at a great pub on Spice Island called The Still and West. I would certainly recommend it if you are in the area. We were watching the many different boats as they came in and out of the Harbour entrance. One boat was heading out which seemed curious. It was a low profile vessel, looked like it was designed to look suspicious and, when you look closer, it has a FLIR installation on the bridge. Since this is Portsmouth, it could well be a military vessel but that doesn’t preclude it being one for an overseas customer or just a company or individual with rather specialized interests. I wonder which it is.

A View of a Ferry You Don’t Normally Get

Leave a reply

When I visit Anacortes, I almost always take a trip to the shipyard to see what sort of interesting things are up on the area near the road. Normally it is tugs or support vessels, but a recent trip provided something a little different. The Washington State Ferries vessel Chetzemoka was in for some work. Seeing a vessel of this size up close and from below is rather cool. The props had been removed and there were supports welded to the hull for the duration of the work. It was a slightly gloomy day, but I had my phone, so I got some shots. I wonder how long it will be before she is back in service.

Seabus

Leave a reply

While in Vancouver in November, we made a trip to North Van to see some friends. That meant a trip on the Seabus. The tricky thing about getting images of the Seabus is that you can’t really do anything if you are traveling on it. The dock is enclosed and the views are restricted so you don’t really have any options (or at least I haven’t worked out what they might be). However, I did go to the heliport which is very close by and this does provide a better view of the comings and goings of these ferries.

It’s not the most elegant of vessels but it does the job effectively. Back and forth without turning since it is a bi-directional vessel. It’s all about shuttling across the harbor as efficiently as possible. I did also shoot some video of it but it is safe to say that there is nothing terribly dynamic about it that makes for an exciting video!

Take Your Car With You

Leave a reply

I have seen countless RVs on the highway with a small vehicle hooked on the back. Having something more usable when you get to your destination makes a lot of sense. What about if you have a boat? How are you going to get around when you reach your next port? Why, bring a car with you of course! This ship was in the harbour at Bristol while we were visiting. The car was sitting on the deck, ready for use whenever it was needed!

SS Great Britain

Leave a reply

Bristol Docks are the home of the SS Great Britain. The first iron hulled ship with screw propulsion, the Great Britain ended up in Port Stanley. It was rescued in the 80s and brought to Bristol where it was restored over many years. Now it is in something like its original condition. It was not open to the public on the day we were there but it was visible from the opposite side of the docks as we walked down and then, as we came back up the other side, I could get a quick glimpse through the fence.

Tanker Dwarfs the Ferry

Leave a reply

The Guemes Island ferry was busy operating across the strait between the mainland and the island while I was there. Just as it was readying to depart for another crossing, a tanker was making its way up the strait towards Anacortes. I was wondering whether the ferry would make a quick dash across before it got there but they decided the discretion was better than valor and instead headed up the strait to turn and cross behind the tanker.

The closer that they got to the tanker, the more apparent the difference in scale between the two vessels became. When you see large ships at a distance, it is easy to lose track of just how large they are. Put something you can appreciate the scale of close to them, though, and you rapidly see that they are really big. This isn’t even a big tanker by the scale of tankers. The biggest vessels are truly enormous. I remember as a kid that one of the largest tankers was berthed in Southampton for a few years when it wasn’t in demand. That thing was massive!

Steam Cleaning a Hull

Leave a reply

Whenever I go to Anacortes, I always swing by the shipyard to see what they are working on. This was a quick visit but there was a large vessel up on the yard with a crew of people steam cleaning it. I don’t know whether this was the precursor to some work or the end of some. I did like the shaping of the screws on this vessel though. They looked pretty sweet.

Arriving Container Ship

Leave a reply

Nancy and I were walking along the shore in Stanley Park in Vancouver during our visit over the Thanksgiving weekend. As we got closer to the lighthouse, I saw the prow of a ship start to come into view. A quick switch to video and I recorded the arrival of a container ship to the harbor. Large vessels like that coming through a narrow entrance to a harbor look cool to me. Once the harbor opens out a bit, it is just another large ship in open water so the scale is lost. In that phase when it comes into view, though, it looks as substantial as it really is. Get close and you are left in no doubt about these ships.

Guemes Ferry Needs Some Paint

Leave a reply

During the pandemic, I got to take photos of a lot of ferries. One of the ferries I checked out was the Guemes Island ferry in Anacortes. After I had finished my visit up in Anacortes, I had my lunch with me and was looking for a spot to eat it. I figured I would go to the parking lot by the ferry and see if it was in use. It certainly was and seemed to be operating more regularly than I expected. I did get a few photos and videos of it coming and going. The ferry looked a little scruffier than I recall from previous visits. I wonder whether it is due to be dry docked soon for a repaint!