Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 16, 2006 12:46:34 GMT -5
By Bainbridge Review staff
www.bainbridgereview.com/
Mar 15 2006
A fast ferry to Bremerton
Development of a passenger-only ferry that carries people between Bremerton and Seattle in 30 minutes could be in operation in two and a half years, according to its supporters.
“This will happen in steps,” said Kitsap Transit Director Dick Hayes. “It will create a very powerful market if we can develop a connection between speed and price. And as Bremerton grows, it becomes more apparent that a fast ferry can be a tremendous asset.”
Much of the preparation focuses on wake tests to determine the impact on the shoreline from the boats that pass Bainbridge Island through Rich Passage.
The most important aspect is the development of a high-speed low-wake boat, which will not only decrease local shoreline erosion, but provide a framework for other ferry transit systems around the country, Hayes said.
Kitsap Transit ran several years’ worth of wake tests using the Spirit, a high-speed, low-wake hydrofoil vessel, and such tests will continue this summer.
Bellingham-based shipbuilder All-American Marine will construct a prototype vessel in March 2007, which will incorporate the data gathered during wake tests conducted this year.
Harry Hosey, manager of Pacific International Engineering, said the resulting boat could be known as “a Rich Passage-class vessel.”
“The research coming out of these tests will be of tremendous value to the entire industry,” he said.
To conduct the wake tests, Hosey’s company is seeding four of the most sensitive areas in Rich Passage with radio-equipped rocks that will allow the development of a computer model of the tide patterns.
By tracking the path of the rocks through metal detectors on each beach, the county can determine the path of an impact of the wake as it pertains to the individual boat.
Hosey would not specify how many such rocks will be used or their exact location, to prevent kids from adding them to their personal rock collections.
This summer, the Spirit will accommodate passengers twice daily to test the economic model.
Other trips will be used to gather and measure additional wake data.
– Charlie Bermant
www.bainbridgereview.com/
Mar 15 2006
A fast ferry to Bremerton
Development of a passenger-only ferry that carries people between Bremerton and Seattle in 30 minutes could be in operation in two and a half years, according to its supporters.
“This will happen in steps,” said Kitsap Transit Director Dick Hayes. “It will create a very powerful market if we can develop a connection between speed and price. And as Bremerton grows, it becomes more apparent that a fast ferry can be a tremendous asset.”
Much of the preparation focuses on wake tests to determine the impact on the shoreline from the boats that pass Bainbridge Island through Rich Passage.
The most important aspect is the development of a high-speed low-wake boat, which will not only decrease local shoreline erosion, but provide a framework for other ferry transit systems around the country, Hayes said.
Kitsap Transit ran several years’ worth of wake tests using the Spirit, a high-speed, low-wake hydrofoil vessel, and such tests will continue this summer.
Bellingham-based shipbuilder All-American Marine will construct a prototype vessel in March 2007, which will incorporate the data gathered during wake tests conducted this year.
Harry Hosey, manager of Pacific International Engineering, said the resulting boat could be known as “a Rich Passage-class vessel.”
“The research coming out of these tests will be of tremendous value to the entire industry,” he said.
To conduct the wake tests, Hosey’s company is seeding four of the most sensitive areas in Rich Passage with radio-equipped rocks that will allow the development of a computer model of the tide patterns.
By tracking the path of the rocks through metal detectors on each beach, the county can determine the path of an impact of the wake as it pertains to the individual boat.
Hosey would not specify how many such rocks will be used or their exact location, to prevent kids from adding them to their personal rock collections.
This summer, the Spirit will accommodate passengers twice daily to test the economic model.
Other trips will be used to gather and measure additional wake data.
– Charlie Bermant