Cathlamet by auntietk
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Description
This is the Cathlamet, one of the boats in the Washington State ferry system. (It's pronounced kath-LA-met. Short a, like in apple.) In this photo the Cathlamet is pulling in to the Mukilteo ferry dock. You can tell it's pulling in and not leaving by the disturbance patterns in the water.
These ferries are such a normal part of life here that I barely know what to tell you about them! Everything about the ferry seems so obvious to me.
There are a lot of them, and they come in different sizes. Some routes, or crossings, as they're called, are quite busy and require large ferries. Some aren't so busy and have very small ferries. The Washington State ferry system has the largest fleet in the United States. All the boats, regardless of style and size, are green and white.
The ferries don't have a bow and a stern, they have an End 1 and End 2. They never turn around, just go back and forth. You drive on, the boat goes across to the destination dock, you drive off. You can walk on and off, as well.
There are two car decks on the larger ferries. The main deck is at the level where you drive on. There are upper decks on either side of the boat. You drive up a ramp and park, and then drive down a ramp on the other end when you get off.
When the pilot docks the ferry, the end of the boat bumps the pilings at the dock. Some of the pilots are so good at this that if you're standing on the car deck waiting to walk off, you barely feel the nudge when it hits. Everybody braces themselves, though, just in case!
Many people use the ferries as part of their daily commute. They live in Bremerton and work in Seattle, or live on Whidbey Island and work on the mainland. On nice, sunny days sometimes we drive down to the ferry and park the car, walk on to the boat, and ride back and forth just for the fun of being on the water on a nice day!
I hope this has been at least mildly entertaining! Wikipedia has a pretty good entry for the Washington State ferry system, if you're interested. For you boat nuts out there, if you look at the Wikipedia entry under "Fleet" and click on "list of Washington State ferries," you'll be able to wallow in classes, types, length, beam and draft statistics to your heart's content!
p.s. The only postwork on this was the crop. Straight photo, right out of the camera.
I made this nice and big so you'll be able to see more if you click the full view.
Comments (21)
vaggabondd
beautiful shot of a ferry. I have never actually ridden on a ferry. Looks like fun. Very nice
MrsLubner
I've looked these ferries and thought about taking one to Comox before but never have gotten around to it. We have a ferry in Galveston though that I loved to ride just for the experience. Lovely shot and great information!
helanker
Nice ferry. It can be very cosy taking a little ferry from one place to another. On our last trip we had a ferry turn too in only 20 minutes. It was very nice. Beautiful shot, Tare and thanks for sharing. :)
acquilon
the same type of ferry are working in the Messina straight, my city very nice pic brava
prionbrain
It's a very nice boat!!! What's that brown thing in the water? Too bad there was no sunshine that moment!:(
rainbows
A wonderful shot of the Ferry, Tara. Intersting information too. I love to be on the water :-) Would enjoy a little trip on this beauty.. Hugs. Diane.
NekhbetSun
I'm always more than mildly entertained by your bon mots dear Tara :o) Interesting info and cool pic ! ~ Huggeeze ~
alhak
great shot..love riding on the ferries,although i guess if you had to do that everyday you wouldnt appreciate it
auntietk
The brown thing in the water is a wooden structure designed to keep the back end of the boat from swinging too wide while it's docked and the cars are driving off. The lack of sunshine is no momentary thing! It's like that most of the time here. Standing around waiting for the sun to come out, you could starve to death! It wasn't raining - that's the best one can hope for in April.
hipps13
they are so fun to be on Years ago Seattle to Canada raining only one on deck drenched to the skin searching and feeling felt so warm
visionart
Superb Capture Of This Ferry! The Information You Wrote About This Boat Is Very Interesting....Thanks For Sharing Tara.........!
Merrylee
Very interesting info...I love to ride on ferries....Randy been around the world and never rode a ferry...what's wrong with him?...Thanks for sharing.
criss
Wonderful view!
Onslow
I love the boats and sea so everything about it and just being around them is a joy to me. Nice shot here with lots of details. I've got an album somewhere of shots and momento's taken from around this area in the 1940's by my father who was there waiting on repairs to his UK Royal Navy ship torpedo'd in the pacific. I have always promised myself one day I must go see it for myself.
goodoleboy
OMG, it's the Good Ship Lollypop! Or a reasonable facsimile. Wonderful balance in this capture, young lady, plus a highly informative narrative on the operation and purpose of this fine boat. The atmospheric conditions do not appear to have been the brightest. I wonder what would happen if automobiles were constructed with no front or back, just an End 1 and End 2. There would be swivel seats and twin dashboards in the cars, etc.
lwperkins
Oh, I never gave the ferry a though..can you tell I used to live in Seattle?:-) It's nice to see it with fresh eyes!
RobyHermida
;O) A spectacular picture....!! A beautiful composition and the wonderful colors!! Beautiful everything!!! Very well fact!!!! A 10 for you!! Thank you to share your art with this whole beautiful family of Renderosity Roby ;O)
Cosine
Very nice capture of this palindromic boat. I took a ferry to and from Victoria a few summers ago. What a nice way to travel, at least in good weather. :-)
jocko500
this is wonderful I been on ferrys but not much. I like them. Just because yiou see them all the time would mean you would know what to shot on them as what be good for a photo. In other words I read a pro say He tooks so good landscapes photos is because he would learn the land like the back of his hands. I been to places a million times but each time I see something diff. Hope I had my camera with me to take the photo.
Janiss
A very nice capture!
Indianfairy
wunderful pic to trave by water the slowest art and wunderful.. i like it (my english is not so good, sorry) thank you Fairy