Washington State Ferries (WSF) are looking ahead—twenty years as a matter of fact. Department staff have been making the rounds of ferry-served communities and the ferries themselves with copies of the department’s draft 2040 Long Range Plan. They displayed some of the plans recently on Lopez Island and the interisland ferry.
Sadly, those goals require decommissioning older vessels, and M.V. Tillikum is slated to be the next to retire in 2022.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled WSF is exploring ways to “green the fleet” and improve service reliability. Two recent Executive Orders direct WSF to “begin the transition to a zero-carbon-emission ferry fleet” and to “explore strategies to quiet ferries to protect the struggling orca whale population.”
But I admit, I’ll miss some things when this vessel goes into mothballs. The M.V. Tillikum features a number of design elements common to the 1950s era in which it was constructed.
I’m charmed by the amount of brass on board and the wooden slat benches on the bow and stern. And then there’s the “Ladies’ Room,” complete with a dressing table with swivel chairs.
I expect WSF will replace M.V. Tillikum with a modern, fuel-efficient, quieter vessel to ply these waters of the Salish Sea. While the interior likely will be different, I also know some of the most important characteristics will stay the same—the helpful and friendly crew, the calming ride, and the inspiring views.
Writing the Interisland 
Iris, I’m amazed we happened to sit together @ Fish First!
Would you consider having another writer join you? Would WSF? I’d love to come write with or near you when you ride the interisland.
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Yes, I was delighted to meet you at that event, Kathleen. I don’t have a regular schedule on the interisland, but if we could find some days that match up, I’d love to have a writing companion. I see that you’re on Facebook, and we have many friends in common. I’ll message you there with contact information so we can connect. Thanks for the followup!
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I hope they don’t retire it anytime soon the other day I went on it going out of vashon and when I walked on I immediately fell in love with the vessel and it felt cool to be on a piece of history in the wsf system
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I enjoyed reading your postt
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Thanks, Bianca! Hopefully we’ll have a new Writer-in-Residence later this year with more tales to share.
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Kyler. I’m glad to hear you got to ride the Tillikum; now you know why I love it so! I believe it’s the oldest vessel in the WSF system and was due to retire a number of year ago. We’ll see how much longer it lasts.
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