❖ OLD SCHOOL QUALITY & A PROUD CREW ❖ SO LONG HYAK ❖

M.V. HYAK
Sister to the ELWAH, the YAKIMA, and the KALEETAN,
called the "Super Ferries."
The HYAK 1967-2019.

M.V. HYAK
approaching Lopez Island, San Juan County, WA.
Built by National Steel & Shipbuilding Co
San Diego, CA. Launched in 1967 to
sail the coast to her new home in Seattle,
entering the state service on the Seattle-Bremerton run.

The news on the waterfront is the Washington State Ferries has lost a workhorse boat as we head into the busy summer travel season. 
      The organization has retired the ferry HYAK after nearly 52 years of service. She is being decommissioned because the state legislature decided not to fund costly maintenance, WSF said. Lawmakers instead chose to fund new boats.
      The mothballing of the HYAK means the state is soon down to 22 vessels.
      "This boat could just keep running, we could get ten more years out of this thing," said staff chief engineer Dave Knutsen. Like the HYAK, Knutsen is also retiring after 42 years with the WSF. He worked on the HYAK for 12 years. Knutsen, "there's a lot of life left in this boat. The hull is in great shape. They replaced a lot of the keel, a lot of the plating on the hull is new. 
      Knutsen, as part of her crew, credits the reliability and longevity over the years to the KISS simplicity of her guts, its old-school build quality, and a proud crew. 
      "There have been some really good people on the boat over the years, that's key. You've gotta have people who care. It's got an old feel to it, even the smells, the sights, the sounds and everything about it is old. Personally I kind of like the nostalgia, like the history. It's a neat old boat, but you've gotta make room for the new stuff eventually.
      Over the past one-half century, HYAK has sailed almost every WSF route. 
      She will have her usable equipment removed and be prepared for sale at WSF's Eagle harbor maintenance facility.
      The $6.5 million HYAK was the first of the four 'super ferries' to join the fleet––ELWAH, KALEETAN & YAKIMA followed as part of the fleet modernization effort by WSF.
      Time crept on but the HYAK stayed basically the same. The boat relied on an old-school telegraph system, which the pilothouse used to signal down to the control room for throttle adjustments. 
Source: Ted Land, King5 News and Nathan Pilling, Kitsap Sun.