One rainy, grey day earlier this spring, I was just knocking around, driving around, looking at “stuff” and decided to take a few photos of the mainland end of the ferry route between Point Defiance (Tacoma) and Tahlequah (Vashon Island). The mainland end of that ferry route is close to a point of land called Point Defiance, hence the name of the ferry terminal here.
In the photo below, I’m in my truck on the mainland in Tacoma. I’m looking directly at the ferry terminal, and then across to Vashon Island, the other end of this ferry run. In fact, if I were to drive straight ahead, I would drive out onto the ferry dock and my truck and I would fall off into the salt water of Puget Sound. Have no fear though, there are barriers in place even though they don’t show up in the photo below. And, if you look real close, you can see the ferry heading this way … it looks like it has two headlights on, though it doesn’t really have headlights, just looks that way.
There’s a public boat launch ramp off to the right in the photo above, then the ferry terminal and dock in the middle, then off to the left is a parking lot that leads to an Anthony’s restaurant, a large dry-storage building for small boats, and the HUGE Point Defiance Park. I drove to the parking lot on the left, parked, and walked back to take photos of the ferry terminal and dock.
I took the photo below while standing in the middle of the ferry dock, looking back uphill. The lane on the right is the regular up-hill lane of vehicle traffic (including vehicle traffic when it gets off the ferry). The middle two lanes are for regular down-hill traffic (left turn only and right turn only). The left two lanes (where the red car sits behind the black/white barriers) are where vehicles park while waiting to board the ferry. During the week, starting around 4pm, those left two ferry-traffic lanes are jam packed full with commuters returning to Vashon Island. Oh, and the bridge above the street is part of the walking path from downtown Tacoma all the way out to Point Defiance Park.
Above is the ferry terminal building with an office for WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) ferry workers, a waiting room for walk-on ferry passengers, and public restrooms. The blue ramp on the left, raises and lowers after the ferry arrives, to allow for the height of the water/tide. Land is on the right.
If you look at older buildings built out over the water around Puget Sound, you’re likely to see all manner of wiring and tubing and other what-not hanging loose underneath buildings. Current building code requires that everything is routed inside solid conduit … and this ferry terminal building obviously complies.
Hey, that ferry from Vashon is arriving!
In the photo above, you can see the white “wash” from the propeller at the FRONT of the ferry. Just before the ferry gets to the dock, the REAR engine/prop is shut off and the FRONT engine/prop turns in order to act as a brake.
And the ferry glides gently into the slip at the dock.
Large ropes/lines are tied between ferry and dock to secure the ferry, then the ferry’s rear engine/prop is started again and that helps hold the ferry in place at the dock. Small boats need to watch out for that wash when passing close to the stern of the ferry, since the motion of the water can turn a small boat completely sideways.
Because we have so many trees in the Pacific Northwest (and rain which helps create rivers), there is LOTS of debris in the waters of Puget Sound from run-off from all of the rivers. The debris seems to be churned up by the ferry wash.
With the ferry at the dock, all lines securely tied, and the rear engine in low gear, then vehicles drive off the ferry … and then vehicles drive onto the ferry for the return run to Tahlequah (Vashon Island).
Wouldn’t you love to ride along in the wheelhouse above and listen to the workings of the ship? The person with the blue shirt on the left is just a passenger … there’s plenty of room for passengers out on deck and inside several public areas as well (with food and beverage service and restrooms and lots of seating).
You might think the photo above is a photo of two seagulls in the water near the stern of the ferry. It isn’t. This is a photograph of NO PROP WASH. If you are on your own boat and you want to pass astern of a ferry that’s docked, you watch for that prop wash. As long as there is prop wash, pushing the ferry against the dock, then you can pass astern of the ferry. But once that rear engine stops and there is no more prop wash, you better steer clear because that means the engine/prop at the dock end of the ferry is starting and the ferry is about 3 seconds away from leaving the dock … and will be coming right at you!
Above, the ferry has left the dock and the water is churning!
The ferry pulls away from the Point Defiance ferry dock and heads back over to the dock at Tahlequah on Vashon Island. This process gets repeated on a specific schedule about 20 times a day on this particular ferry run.
Most of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are so familiar with ferries that we don’t think about them much. But for people from other parts of the country/world, a ride on a ferry boat can be a highlight. Probably the most impressive ferry ride to take hereabouts is through the San Juan Islands in the northern part of Puget Sound. But even the short ride between Point Defiance and Vashon Island (about 20 minutes) can be extraordinary especially if Mt. Rainier is “out” in the east and the Olympic Mountains are “out” in the west.
Below are two photos, each taken on a day other than this grey day, but on a day when the mountains were out. You can get an idea of the view and you can see why we love the Pacific Northwest.
The Tacoma/Vashon ferry with Mt. Rainier to the east in a soft sunset glow.
(On a straight line, from the top of Mt. Rainier to the ferry dock is 48 miles.)
Looking west at Vashon Island with the Olympic Mountains in the background.
(The Olympics are about 60 miles away.)
Click on photos to enlarge them. Please comment below if you’d like. And … please do come visit this gorgeous part of the world!