It's a great day for Southeast Alaska.  This is the first, the inaugural cruise onboard the Motor Vessel Prince of Wales from Hollis to Ketchikan.  There's two humpbacks spouting along the horizon, while an eagle soars over a small island.  Quietly moving through the channel in Kasaan Bay toward Clarence Strait, the passengers are surrounded by breath-taking scenery.

This particular sailing event has been in the dreams of many the people who have had a part in the transportation project in Southeast Alaska that will link two island communities with daily, reliable transportation.  This will be a two-ferry system.  The first ferry provides passenger and vehicle transportation from Hollis to Ketchikan.  (Service to the island has been diminished for the last ten years.)  The second one will provide passenger and vehicle ferry transportation from Coffman Cove, on the northern end of Prince of Wales Island, to Wrangell and Petersburg.  Construction for the second ferry, the M/V Stikine, is to begin in 2002, with service as early as 2003.  This entire program gained the support of Alaska's Department of Transportation for both routes in 1998.  Funding for the $13 million M/V Prince of Wales came mainly from federal grants and matching funds provided by the  Inter-Island Ferry Authority member communities.  The state of Alaska provided $596,000 toward the cost of the M/V Prince of Wales.

Kent Miller, Project Development Coordinator for IFA, started working on the project in the spring of 1994.  He established the conceptual plans for service, with Craig's City Manager Tom Briggs and Mayor Dennis Watson.  Jim VanAltvorst, Administration Consultant of Ketchikan, was instrumental in developing the organizational framework.  Collectively, they put together the recommended design for the project: the concept of a locally developed public operation authority.  The City of Craig took up the project and formed a steering committee to organize the ferry authority.

In 1997 the voters of six the communities in Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay, Coffman Cove, Wrangell and Petersburg passed parallel ordinances establishing the IFA by a 70% margin.  It took almost five years to go through the process of contracts, design and construction of the vessel.

State of the art M/V Prince of Wales is the first of two identical passenger/vehicle ferries designed by Elliott Bay Design Group located in Seattle.  The construction was done by Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington.  Passenger facilities include a forward observation lounge with comfortable recliner chairs, a reading room equipped with 110-volt/60 cycle AC connections for laptop computers, a quiet room for passengers needing rest or privacy, a play area for children and a full-service galley and restaurant.  The food service is operated by BaCar'S restaurant, formerly of Juneau, who are famous for their home baked bread and wide variety of menu selections.  The vessel has a rear deck solarium, an elevator and is handicapped accessible.

The vessel's length is 198 feet with a beam of 51 feet.  It is certified to carry 150 passengers with vehicle capacity of 30 standard autos, or 15 autos and ten semi-trailers.  It will carrying about 200 tons of vehicles on the car deck in one sailing and also moving a good share of Prince of Wales Island freight traffic as well.  Twin 1500 horsepower Catepiller diesel engines drive the M/V Prince of Wales at a speed of 15 knots.

According to Stu Vincent, Operations Manager for IFA, the M/V Prince of Wales will run seven days a week, 365 days a year, with attention to foul weather contingency and weather routing. It will take about three hours to make the voyage from Hollis to Ketchikan.

The two schedules IFA will follow are fall/winter/spring and summer.  Beginning May 1, 2002, the summer schedule will depart Hollis at 7:00 AM and return at 8:30 PM allowing people to stay in town for about 7 1/2 hours from May through September.  The fall/winter/spring schedule departs Hollis at 7:00 AM and returns at 5:40 PM.  By offering one trip a day, Prince of Wales residents can at least take advantage of getting to town and back without having to overnight in Ketchikan. Since the start-up schedule was pushed into the winter months, the IFA decided to begin with one 12-hour shift for the crew to economize the workday instead of two eight hour shifts.  Residents and tourists are already making reservations for summer months.

The crew consists of the captain, mate, lead deckhand and two deck hands.  Barbi Armstrong of Craig, the only woman on an all-male deckhand crew remarked, "I am glad to be a part of the venture and the crew we have is great to work with."  She explains that each crewmember has assigned positions and knows different rescue scenarios as well as fire drill maneuvers.  They completed a week of intense training in Ketchikan at the US Coast Guard approved STCW Basic Safety Training facility.  In addition, they spent many hours on board going through docking procedures and drills.  They work twelve-hour shifts, four days on and four days off.

Patrick Foy, lead deck hand, has spent the last 17 years on tug boats and cruise ships, big and small.  He left a lucrative career in Seattle to come here and speaks very highly of the ship designer and the shipyard.  "I was very impressed with the ship when I first saw it," he notes.  His duties on board include everything that goes on in the engine room from switching the electrical power to changing generators and pumping water to getting the vessel on line to sail.

One of the captains, Tom Powers, of Hollis remarked, "The designers did a fabulous job.  This is state of the art indeed."  He began his career with Allen Marine in 1987 in Sitka, working on tugs, fishing boats and later on ferries with older electronics.  He has a 100-ton license to operate the vessel and notes, "It takes a lot of knowledge and common sense to sail this vessel.  It's all a learning experience."

From the looks of things he says,  "People are excited and impressed.  I see it as a good thing for Southeast."  He recalls the first few times he came to Prince of Wales Island and was stranded in Ketchikan and couldn't return for days because either the planes weren't flying or the other ferry only had weekly service.  He can relate to how the people on the Island feel.  In addition, it will give the people of Ketchikan a chance to come here to spend the weekend to fish, hunt, hike, kayak or just visit friends.  "It will help the economy and open it up for the tourists.  I know it will be a noticeable thing to everyone," he concludes.

The other captain, Jim McComas from Wrangell notes, "The boat is excellent.  The crew is great and the IFA are great people to work for."   He has worked on tugboats for the past 20 years and holds a 500-ton mate's license and a 200-ton captain's license.  As he stands in front of what looks like a StarTrek movie set, he explains some of the controls: "This state of the art NobelTec chart blotter takes the GPS signal from the satellite and puts the vessel on the map.  It indicates exactly where the ship is, within a few feet."  Next to the chart blotter is a Furuno radar system, which picks up land, logs, buoys and other large objects like whales.  It even has a feature that indicates if anyone goes overboard.   Another computer chart shows water, sewage and fuel levels in the vessel.  It takes about 950 gallons of fuel for a round trip.  Other controls include throttles for the main engines, pitch controls (forward and reverse) and bow thruster (left and right).

Passenger Barb Stanton, who runs the Klawock Bay Inn in Klawock, was returning from a trip to New Zealand.  She exclaimed, "The facilities are wonderful and it's so nice to have a ferry every day on our island. It will be great during the summer.  We haven't had a ferry system like this and it's been in the works for many years.  We are grateful to the many people that have put hours and hours into this project."  After being gone for three months, Barb remarks, "It's good to be back home!" and she looks forward to using the ferry quite often, not only for herself, but also for the guests staying at her inn.

Dennis Neill, Public Affairs Officer for the Tongass National Forest states, "It certainly is a wonderful advance for recreation and tourism as far as the US Forest Service is concerned. There are many unique opportunities on Prince of Wales Island with the extensive road network.  If you are on a vacation here you can now legitimately plan a few days on our Island where before a lot of people skipped coming here because it was difficult to get here.  Professionally and personally, I am very excited.  This is, indeed, a great day for Southeast Alaska!" Dennis concludes.

Nick Popely, Director of Marketing for the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, just moved here in September of 2001.  He's a retired automotive advertising executive from Rochester, New York.  He has been here several times to visit his daughter and when the job opportunity opened for the KVB position, he accepted it.  He has never been to Prince of Wales, so he feels he has a
lot to learn about the Inside Passage area and he can't wait for the chance to see the Island and fish its uncrowded waters.

Everyone warned Nick about the weather here, but he concludes that as a fisherman he can adapt, but adds, "When the sun comes out, we are reborn.  I am amazed that people here wear short sleeves and sandals all year long.  Kids don't even pay any attention to the rain."  Residents of Southeast Alaska know that if you see someone with an umbrella, they must be a tourist.  "It's just a way of life for all you 'Sourdoughs'.  I'm still a 'Chichaco', " Nick adds.  "Sourdough" is term used to describe the people who came to Alaska to pan for gold.  Their unsuccessful adventure turned "sour" and they didn't have the "dough" to return home so they remained and made the best of it.  Chichaco, which some say was a native pronunciation of Chicago, are people who have resided in the 49th state less than one year or have not made it through one winter.

 "I am very, very impressed!" Nick admits, "I have never seen Ketchikan from the water.  The ferry is comfortable and convenient.  It will help cross-pollenize the communities of Prince of Wales and Ketchikan."  Many people have resided in Ketchikan for years or for their entire lives, and never been to Prince of Wales. In addition, the ferry will facilitate people from Prince of Wales to enjoy the shopping, events and amenities in Ketchikan.

For the community of Hollis, on the eastern shore of Prince of Wales Island, the ferry has changed their town.  "We are excited to have the new ferry," states Morgan Kelly, President of the Community Council in Hollis.  It is a big change compared to the previous Alaska State Ferry System because the M/V Prince of Wales is home ported in Hollis.  "We all knew it was going to be here, but when I saw it for the first time, it hit home to me.  It is actually here!  This ferry is in Hollis and that's where it belongs.  It is an exciting thought!" declared Morgan.  The community is looking forward to growth with the many crewmembers and their families who have bought or rented homes in Hollis.

"Prince of Wales Island is truly an outdoor paradise and a must for visitors to see," boasts Len Laurance, IFA Marketing Manager.  He adds, "Recreational opportunities include miles and miles of roads to hike, clean waters to fish, mystic mountains to hunt."  Prince of Wales is the third largest island in the US, (Kodiak is the largest, followed by Hawaii) and boasts 2,231 square miles of heavily forested and coastal mountains with pristine rivers and lakes and 990 miles of coastline. Many areas are yet undiscovered.

The cost for individuals traveling on the ferry during the summer schedule is $29.00 one way.  Children ride for $17.00 and seniors for $14.00.  Family discount passes are available from IFA by purchasing ten one-way adult passenger fares for use by members of the immediate household family for $200.00.  Schools also can qualify for the discount rates.  Vehicles need to check in at the terminal at least one hour prior to sailing.  Walk-on passengers should board 30 minutes prior to sailing.  Departure time may be affected by some weather conditions. Reservations are required for vehicles and groups of 10 or more traveling together.  There is taxi service between Hollis, Klawock and Craig, which provides connecting transportation.  The Ketchikan Gateway Borough bus provides service from the terminal in Ketchikan to the Shoreline area, downtown and Saxman.

For vehicle or group reservations call toll-free 866-308-4848.  For reservations on Prince of Wales call 907-826-4848, or in Ketchikan 907-225-4838.  Their web site address is www.interislandferry.com.