MV Chetzemoka gets ship christening

On Sunday, November 14, the MV Chetzemoka, the newest vessel in the fleet of Washington State Ferries, received its ship's christenting, a 4,000-year old tradition. 

The Chetzemoka is the first replacement ferry for the Port Townsend - Coupeville route.  The vessel is named after S'Klallam Indian Chief Chetzemoka (1808-1888).

Click "Read more..." below for more info and a picture of the new on-board bike racks.

Gov. Gregoire congratulates Port Townsend students for submitting winning vessel class name

Gov. Chris Gregoire visited Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend on Thursday, April 22, 2010 to congratulate students for naming the new Washington State Ferries (WSF) vessel class. WSF conducted a contest to name the new classification of 64-car ferries with fourth-grade students from Chimacum, Port Townsend and Whidbey Island.

Blue Heron student Rose Dunlap submitted the winning entry, Kwa-di Tabil (pronounced kwah DEE tah-bayle), which translated from the Quileute dialect means “Little Boat.” The first Kwa-di Tabil Class ferry, Chetzemoka, is scheduled to begin service in late summer 2010. WSF is building two more Kwa-di Tabil Class ferries, which will begin service in 2011 and 2012. Click here to see photos of the event and construction progress.

JeffConnections - new local site

"JeffConnections" (jeffconnections.com) is a new local Web site with the monniker:

Port Townsend and Jefferson County's source for transportation and event news.

The focus of the site currently is the upcoming six-week Hood Canal Bridge closure beginning May 1, 2009.

The site features bridge closure news updates, links to a wide variety of local transporation and community information sources, transit and ride share information, a discussion forum, transportation-related blogs, and photos and video.

Users may sign up for an RSS feed, e-newsletters, or to be a "JeffConnections blogger." The site will offer various options for those who desire real-time news updates of road and transit conditions during the Bridge closure.

The site is managed principally by the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader. Information on the site is coordinated through a local Hood Canal Bridge closure steering committee.

The site may continue after the Bridge closure as a clearinghouse for transport information.

What does your crystal ball show?

What do you see in the future? What happens after peak oil? What will fuel our transport modes? Will water transport once again play a significant role for our local ports?


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Background info on the "peak oil" theory:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
• http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
• http://www.peakoil.com/
• http://www.peakoil.net/
• http://www.oildecline.com/
• http://www.theoildrum.com/
• http://www.hubbertpeak.com/
• Blog discussions about peak oil
• Peak oil theory debunked