Official Number: 643291 Call Sign: WRA9001 Length: 328' Beam: 78' 8'' Draft: 15' 6'' Horsepower: 5,000 Speed in Knots: 16
Max Passengers: 1076 (SOLAS) Vehicles: 124 City Built: Seattle ear Built/Re-built: 1981/2004
Name Translation: From the Chelan language: Tsill-ane, meaning
"deep water." The tribe lived along Lake Chelan, which is very deep. A city, county and river also bear the name.
Drawing by Johan Iversen.
Cut free from Kingston, the Chelan was often used as the “spare” Issaquah while the others in the class went into the yard for being overhauled and having the upper car deck added to increase capacity. Summers would most often find her working in the San Juan Islands.
It became apparent that the Evergreen State was nearing retirement, and as such a replacement ferry would need to be upgraded to SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) standards to work the international route between Anacortes and Sidney, British Columbia. The popular tourist route has been operating since 1922, and was generally handled by the Elwha, but the larger Super Class is very uneconomical to run. A downward turn in the number of passengers also suggested that upgrading a smaller vessel (as the Kaleetan had originally been considered to be SOLAS upgraded) seemed to be the wisest move.
The Chelan was chosen to fill the role. The first step in the SOLAS upgrade was to expand her to carry 130 cars (with the addition of more safety equipment, revised to 124.) She emerged from the yard in 2001 with gleaming white paint (the last time she was painted, which is very evident today) and the expanded car deck.
Four years later, after the Sidney run was discontinued, then restored to 9 month service, the Chelan went in for the conversion work. At the same time as the additional safety equipment was added, the passenger cabin was totally refurbished.
Unlike the other Issaquahs, the Chelan does retain some of her original “rainbow” color which had been orange. Added to the palette were teal, black and a powder blue. Historic copies of “Lake Chelan” brand apples adorn the walls, along with historic and contemporary photos of the Lake Chelan area, and quilt artwork by Erika Carter.
After being the conversions were done, the Chelan was scheduled to take over the International run in the fall of 2006. However, on April 7th, 2006 the Elwha suffered at catastrophic failure of a drive motor and would spend the next 15 months out of service. The next day the Chelan was hurriedly moved up to Anacortes to take over the route. With the exception of one fall season in 2007, she has been there ever since. The Elwha is currently not certified to sail the international route and may not be again—currently there is no money to pay for the repairs needed to recertify the vessel.
The Chelan spent the winter schedule of 09/10 at Todd Shipyard. Part of her annual maintence included her first paint job since 2001. The rust that had become an embarassment has been erased and the ferry looks sparkly new and ready to serve the Ancortes-Sidney run with her head held high.
The Chelan is scheduled to be returned to Anacortes on March 1st 2010. She'll operate in the the #3 slot until the Spring Schedule starts when she will resume her place on the Anacortes-Sidney run.
