AN IRRATIONAL ACT ....

Words by Matt Pranger
Published by the Journal of the San Juans

10 September 1999

 Remembering the Elwha 

Cartoon from the
Journal of the San Juans
for this article by Mr. Pranger
10 September 1999.

The Washington State Ferry ELWHA is immortalized in song and as a geological feature. 

        A rarely seen rock was named for the ELWHA, which rammed it on 2 October 1983. Located 500 yards west of Grindstone Harbor off Orcas Island, Elwha Rock is visible at zero tide. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names officially christened the rock on 14 June 1990.

        A Native American word for elk, the ELWHA has a tragic-comic history. In a sworn affidavit, the ferry's captain said he was showing a woman her home in Grindstone Harbor about 6 p.m. when the vessel hit the rock at 17.5 knots–full speed for the 382-ft, 2,813 G.T ship.

        Calling it a "totally irrational act," the ferry system manager  compared the crash to a "Pan Am pilot flying a 747 jumbo jet under the Tacoma Narrows ridge on the way to SeaTac."

        After the crash, the captain proceeded to Shaw Island, unloaded and picked up passengers, and headed to Orcas before his vessel lost steerage. 

        According to a passenger, the ferry did a donut in the middle of [Henry Cayou] Channel. The crash rattled windows on shore, but no announcement was made to passengers that anything extraordinary had happened until 35 minutes later when the boat docked at Orcas.

        The ferry skipper, who had a history of skimming the shoreline and tooting ship's horns for female islanders, retired and was forced to turn in his pilot's license. The woman was dubbed the Siren of the San Juans.

        

The Island City Jazz Band
Lynda Travis with
Tom Skoog, 
Possibly: Don Anderson, Bill Bassen,
Roger Jensen, Vern Conrad?
This press photo was published by the 
sponsoring Jazz Festival in 1985.
We'll work on these names.
Photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

        "Elwha On the Rocks," was penned by island musician Gary Provansha. His group, the Island City Jazz Band, recorded the tune with George Burns and it became popular in island watering holes and Seattle area radio stations. "A light-hearted joke at what the Island City Jazz Band considers the best ferry system in the world, run by some of the most professional captains, skippers, and pilots. What can be said of a system that has safely carried millions of people through small islands, over shoals and sandbars, with no major incidents–well, almost no incidents," the band stated on the 45 rpm record's jacket.

        Drinks, called "Elwha on the Rocks," were poured in local bars, and residents of the shoreline near the rock dubbed a half-mile road west of Grindstone Harbor, "Elwha Road."

        The ELWHA also made headlines in January 1994, after it lost power and drifted sideways into the Anacortes dock, causing $500,000 in damage to the ferry loading bridge. The ship was out of service one week after that rash.

        The ferry's most recent notable mishap occurred three years ago when it grounded briefly at the south end of San Juan Island. The vessel, servicing the international run from Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., was making a rare trip through Cattle Pass.

        ELWHA, a Super Class ferry, went into service in 1967 and underwent a $25 million renovation in 1993. She was retired in 2020.