Disappeared News

It's a good thing Dick Mayer got his photos snapped yesterday (see earlier article). Today's trip was canceled (yes, yet another cancellation) due to weather late yesterday, and now the ship goes into drydock for maybe two weeks. I say "maybe" because it seems nothing is certain about this venture.

As to cancellations, won't this be typical? Why should next winter be different from this winter? We're simply seeing what real conditions are for a ship of this design under these operating conditions. And for the passengers. I had checked the surf forecast yesterday morning and was working out the Barf Index based on Brad Parson's new design. I was wondering if the ferry would sail today, or if it did, how the passengers would hold up.

The ferry management could do worse than consult Brad's new index. If they did, they could cancel trips much sooner. By canceling so late yesterday they undoubtedly alienated a new (though small) bunch of potential customers. In fact, that may be the good news. The multitudes are not upset about the cancellations perhaps because there are, well, no multitudes.

The ferry company should have demanded an EIS be completed. We all might have learned a thing or two about the environment.

As to fixing rudders and any other problems they may work on while sidelined (how are the engines doing, for example?), this doesn't bother me too much actually. Assuming the cracks were not caused by hitting sea life, one can expect machines to fail and need fixing. Stuff breaks, whether it's my new Vista computer or a ferry, there is always the possibility of having to adjust, redesign, and repair.

So we won't have a large capacity passenger ferry to kick around for a couple of weeks or so. If you get ferry nostalgia, just check back with Dick's photos.