Official Number: D1061310  Call Sign: WCY7938 Length: 460' 2''   Beam: 90'   Draft: 17' 3''   Auto Deck Clearance: 16'  Horsepower: 13,200  Speed in Knots: 18   Max Passengers: 2500   Max Vehicles: 202   City Built: Seattle  Year Built/Re-built: 1999 Name Translation: From the Puyallup language: "generous people." The Puyallup tribe had a reputation for generosity in dealing with traders and travelers. Early settler Ezra Meeker renamed his town from Franklin in 1877 looking for something unique. Besides the tribe and town, the name "Puyallup" is also used for a river and a  glacier on Mount Rainier. Drawing courtesy of Johan Iversen.
The "Great White Watcher" of  Puget Sound,  Koma Kulshan, aka Mt. Baker watches over the Puyllaup as she sails toward Edmonds.  Photo  courtsey of Khristopher LaPlante.
The Puyallup takes to the water for the first time.  Photo courtesy of WSDOT>
	Last of the Mark II trio was finished early and went into service in 1999 as planned.  The M/V Puyallup was sent to the Kingston-Edmonds route where the larger car carrying capacity was greatly needed.       Still under construction when the vibration problem was uncovered with her sisters, the Puyallup benefitted from having the problem corrected while still being built instead of retrofitted like the other two.  As a result, the Puyallup is the quietest, smoothest running ferry of the three.      The  name Puyallup is not one  that readily slips off the tongue.  Pronounced   PEW-AL-UP, and while certainly of noble meaning and an accurate reflection of the tribe, it does manage to cross-up tourists who do not routinely speak the numerous Native American names in Washington State. ( And as a result can be quite entertaining to those of us who grew up around here and have been hearing names like Puyallup, Twisp, So Duc and geoduck  all our lives.)      The Puyallup has been on the Kingston-Edmonds run for most of her career, though as noted she will move south when one of her sisters is "in the shop" for annual maintenance.  The vessel is the largest ever to work  the Kingston-Edmonds route and for a short time  she made short work of full parking lots and back ups on either side of the run.  However it was short-lived.    Traffic quickly caught up.  The Kingston Edmonds route not only gets a lot of traffic from the north end of Kitsap County but practically all of the north end of the Olympic Peninsula as well.  With the Port Townsend Keystone route  down to the tiny Steilacoom II and beyond that one boat for the next couple of years, traffic on the run has dramatically increased.      Plans for a fourth Mark II were brought up in the state legislature, but never made it.  A fourth Mark II couldn’t readily be justified as the boats are really only capable of working two routes.    In the reassessment of the fleet, it was determined that ferries carrying about 145 cars and 2,500 passengers would fit readily in to nearly any route, from the San Juans to Vashon on Island.  The idea of a fourth Mark II was quietly dropped.      There were some collective sighs of relief.  Allegedly the  fourth Mark II that was going to be named Sequim-- a name that still sparks arguments by its own residents on how to pronounce correctly. Just shy of her 10th birthday the Puyallup went in for a much needed painting.  With security systems and Wifi updated, the ferry went back to work on the Kingston-Edmonds route where her absence had been greatly missed for many months.
								A winter scene worthy of a postcard was captured by Khris LaPlant as the Puyallup sailed into Kingston.   Photo courtesy of Khris LaPlante.
								Perhaps the best of the trio, the Puyallup's passenger cabin is slighltly set apart by the use of red in the floor tile.  Photo courtesy of I. S. Black.
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								Lights aglow, the Puyallup sails for Kingston on a gloomy winter morning.  Photo courtesy of Khris LaPlante.