M.V. ELWHA Offical Number: 512324  Call Sign: WY3960 Length: 382' 2''   Beam: 73' 2''   Draft: 18' 9''   Auto Deck Clearance: 16' Horsepower: 10,200 Speed in Knots: 20 Max Passengers: 1076 (International), 1782 Domestic,   Max Vehicles: 144 City Built: San Diego  Auto Deck Clearance: 16' Year Built/Re-built: 1968/1991 Meaning of Elwha: Native American/Chinook: "elk." Drawing courtesy of Johan Iversen. "Hanging on a roll" is what they call it when a ship doesn't return to an even keel quickly because of being top-heavy.  The Elwha, making a routine turn, shows the effect.   Author's photo.
	Of all the vessels in the Washington State ferry fleet, the  Elwha is probably the most well-known.  Or perhaps the most notorious. She has an established dislike of ferry docks,  chewing them up with  gusto and regularity that  hasn't been seen  since the Kalakala.        The Elwha has the distinction  of having both a  geographical landmark and a drink named after her for her antics in the San Juans.      The first of the Supers to be refurbished, the Elwha (much like the Klickitat which was first for the Steel Electric refurbishment project) got a much different rebuilding then the Yakima and Kaleetan that followed afterward.   Part of it was due  to having to repair the extensive damage she suffered while being rebuilt in the winter of 1990.  Hurricane-force winds descended on the Puget Sound region in December of 1990 (later dubbed the "Arctic Express") which left thousands without  power and extensive damage throughout the state.  The Elwha, without power, partially  broke free of her moorings and was slammed into a concrete pier for hours until being cut adrift.  The resultant damage led to her interior not being done over so much as updated, with new floor tile but all the original hardware remaining in place, albeit with new upholstery and paint.      Up until the last few years the Elwha served as the international ferry between Anacortes and Sidney, British Columbia.  Falling numbers of travelers and the greater expense of running the Super have led her to be replaced by the slightly smaller (a difference of 20 cars) and far more economical Chelan.  In addition, the Elwha's well documented stability issues (she is top heavy, though in the last few years some mitigation has been done to correct this)  make her less the ideally suited for the route in the fall months when seas in Haro Strait can become quite violent.      On April 11th, 2006, the Elwha suffered a major mechanical problem when her drive motor burned out.  The ferry spent 15 months out of service, not only for the repair of the drive motor, but also to have propulsion upgrades made.  She finally returned to service in the fall of 2007--but with a six month SOLAS certificate.  She was granted an extension on the SOLAS certification pending more work done to her plumbing system.  In the winter of 2009 WSF canceled the project and the vessel surrendered her SOLAS documents.  Later, as part of a federal grant, the repairs were made and the Elwha was re-certified, working the Anacortes-Sidney run in the fall of 2010.  For the 2011 fall schedule the Elwha is scheduled to take the international run again--due mainly to the address the domestic capacity issues for the rest of the service day that the Chelan has difficulty catching up with.  It's a difficult call, as quite often after the Canadain Thanksgiving, traffic to Sidney can consist of as little as ten cars in either direction, but for the domestic runs in the evening, she can be full up.
Left, , the Elwha at Anacortes on a fall afternoon. Photo by the author.  Above, the damaged steel after the Artic Express of 1990.  All the bent steel in this photo had to be cut out and replaced.  Courtesy of Brandon Moser.
Left, the lower pasenger cabin, with the same uncomfortable chairs placed on her in 1968, only now sporting blue and dark brown upholstry.  Right, the ferry no longer has the same table tops, but does sport a fair amount of colorful photography and some excellent examples of Salish artwork  WSF has done an excellent job of having such artwork throughout the fleet.     Photos by the author.
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