❖ 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.

❖ MOSQUITO FLEET RACING FOR TRADE ❖

S.S. VERONA
207675
112.9' x 22.8' x 7.3' 
Undated photo from the J.A. Turner Collection
S.P.H.S.©

"While Puget Sound history recalls dozens of spectacular steamer races, none could have been more heated that the rivalry between the HYAK and the VERONA about 80 years ago––near the end of the "mosquito fleet" era.
      The sleek HYAK, built at Portland in 1909, was the flagship in the Kitsap County Transportation Co.'s fleet of passenger and freight vessels, that served Bainbridge Island and docks of call beyond––including Poulsbo, settled by immigrant Norwegians in the early 1880s.
      The VERONA, built at Dockton on Maury Island in 1910, was acquired by a Poulsbo cooperative when travelers became dissatisfied with the Kitsap company's schedules and fares. Thus the stage was set for intense competition, and races between the rivals.
      In those days, numerous docks jutted out from shore in all Puget Sound waterways––flag stops, where passengers and freight embarked or disembarked.
      On the Seattle-Poulsbo route, stops were made at such points as Scandia, Keyport, Brownsville, Venice, Enetai, Gibson, Westwood, Crystal Springs, Pleasant Beach, South Beach, Fort Ward, Seabold, Agate Point and Port Madison.
      Especially on Saturdays, trade was brisk––with farmers along the route taking their produce to Seattle for sale in places like the Public Market. And frequently the farmers found time to see a show and do some shopping.
     

S.S. HYAK
206294
Built 1909 at the Supple Yard, Portland, Or.
134-ft, 195 t.
Triple expansion engine (12,18,32 x 18) with steam
at 225 lbs working pressure and developing 750 HP.
In McCurdy's Marine History, it is said she attained a speed of
c. 20 mph, at times, on her voyage up the coast.

S.S. HYAK
206294
Both HYAK original photos by J.A. Turner
Archives of the S.P.H.S.©

Accordingly, the first steamer out of the Poulsbo overnight stop skimmed off the cream of the trade––except that the VERONA, the "farmers' boat," had a popularity advantage over the big company's HYAK.

      Generally, the VERONA and HYAK left Poulsbo on the same early morning schedule and then raced to see which would get to Scandia first, and so on, from dock to dock.
      Capt. Alf Hostmark skippered the HYAK and Capt. Torger Birkeland was master of the VERONA, at that time. They were friends, yet determined rivals. On at least one occasion the two vessels collided while hustling toward a dock.
      To get maximum speed, safety valves on the steam apparatus were tied or braced down, and once the VERONA's stack got so hot she caught fire. (No serious causalities.)
      On weekends, the two vessels also carried commuters to their summer homes at such places as Crystal Springs and Westwood––and to a dance hall resort at Venice.
      The competition ended in 1923, when the KCTC bought out the VERONA's owners and the latter vessel donned the 'white collar' around her smokestack.
      Soon, though, shovel-nosed automobile ferryboats took over the trade. The building of roads and he automobile doomed the 'mosquito fleet––ending an exciting and picturesque era in Puget Sound transportation."
Above words by Ross Cunningham. Published by The Seattle Times. 25 May 1976.
Below from Steamer's Wake. Faber, Jim. 
"One of the Mosquito Fleet's key roles was that of serving as a farm-to-market highway for settlers. To farm women particularly it was a welcome role, one that introduced a measure of warmth and companionship into an often dreary rural setting. The steamers serving farms on Bainbridge, Vashon and Whidbey Islands and other stops, furnished bright swatches of color on market day in Seattle. Here produce houses, and by 1906 the Pike Street Farmer's Market, provided a bazaar within walking distance of Colman Dock and Pier 3 where most steamers docked. Writes Murray Morgan, co-author of The Pike Place Market:
      When the boat whistled its approach, the farmers or their wives would gather on the dock, bringing chickens dressed and wrapped in cheese cloth; butter molded into rose patterns, wrapped in butterpaper, and packed in wooden boxes; eggs nestled in straw baskets; root vegetables in burlap sacks; milk in galvanized cans; crates of fruit; bundles of rhubarb."

❖ WASHINGTON STATE FERRY AGROUND AT ANACORTES❖

WSF ferry HYAK, 

14 April 1986,

Captain Terry Lee

Location: reef near the ferry landing,

Anacortes, Fidalgo Island, Skagit County, WA.

Photo by Richard S. Heyza for the Seattle Times©

Original photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S.

Like its sister ships the ELWHA, the HYAK will go down in San Juan folklore for running aground. Unlike the ELWHA, the HYAK's tale of woe is not romantic.
      The HYAK ran aground not because of a lady in the wheelhouse but because of paint in the wind and a captain's concern for the working conditions of his crew.
      Skipper Terry Lee was trying to keep the wind off workers while they were painting the outside of the deck. So after stopping at Lopez, he headed to Anacortes without turning around, as usual, to keep the wind to their backs.
      When he arrived at Anacortes on schedule at 10:40 AM he swung the boat in toward shore before heading away from the landing so he could "back" in.
      The boat got too close to shore and went aground on a reef a few hundred feet from the dock, ferry spokeswoman Pat Patterson explained.
      Chairs slid to one side, a video machine that was not secured wobbled, and riders were caught off balance. Some vehicles slid into each other on the car deck and were damaged.
      There was a minus 0.6-foot low tide at 1:37 pm at Anacortes, so the water beneath the big boat continued to drop. The vessel tilted until it had more than a 15-degree list. A tug secured a line and pulled to help keep it upright.
      The boat sat there, helicopters and planes buzzing around all day. Finally, at 6:30 pm when rising tides and two tugs worked in tandem, the HYAK came free. 
      "It was like a fair ride––when we first hit, the deck started going up and up. It felt like an earthquake. The whole boat shook," said Tim Thomsen of Friday Harbor, who returned to San Juan on the 7 PM ferry.
      "They announced for everyone to put on life jackets. That was scary. Then they said not to abandon ship until we were told to. That was really scary," said Marty Robinson of San Juan.
      Response to the crisis was excellent, riders said. The Red Cross showed up. The ferry system paid for some inconvenienced customers to stay overnight in motels. The system paid for meals and long-distance phone calls.
      Ferry officials also took photos of every vehicle so the damage could be recorded.
      Patterson said she expects claims to come in soon. Several vehicles were damaged slightly. No one was injured. Two persons were taken to Island Hospital to meet their doctors' appointments.
      Patterson said the ferry system is investigating the mishap. The HYAK will be put up on blocks in Seattle. A rudder and propeller appear to be damaged.

WSF M.V.  HYAK, 

at Todd Shipyards 

18 April 1986.

According to Don Schwartzman,

 ferry system marine superintendent, 

new plating may be needed for 

a 40-50-ft gash in the hull.

Photo by Vic Condiotty for the Seattle Times©

Original from the archives of the S. P. H. S.

The superclass ferry could be back in service next week if the damage is limited, Patterson said.
      The ELWHA (that ran aground off Orcas in 1983), was called in to replace the HYAK temporarily.
      From the air, the mammoth ferry looked uncomfortable leaning on one side with a line extending to a tugboat that was keeping the ferry from listing any further on the reef, about 200-ft from shore.
      "It's really listing," said pilot Si Stephens, who flew circles over the boat with county commissioner Doug Corliss. 
      There were 250 passengers and 127 vehicles on the ferry when the mishap occurred. Passengers were evacuated by a Coast Guard ship, a fishing vessel, a tugboat, as well as by lifeboats [from] the ferry.
Above text by Allison Arthur, Friday Harbor Journal, 16 April 1986.

Washington State Ferry HYAK:
1967: One of four superclass ferries built this year at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co.,  San Diego, CA.
382'2" L x 73'2" B x 18'6" D. Four diesel-electric engines. 
2,704 G.t./ 1,214 N.t. (admeasurement)

      A reporter from the Seattle Times wrote that there were only four 15-passenger life rafts on the HYAK at the time of the stranding.
If anyone was a passenger this day and would like to leave a comment, it is easy to do in the space below this post.