Here are pictures of my roundtrip on the Kingston water taxi today.
Kingston lies north and west from Seattle, across Puget Sound on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Looking north along Alaskan Way from the temporary skybridge along Columbia Street. Some time in 2023 the permanent skybridge along Marion Street will be completed. Look for a plywood-encased pillar for the new skybridge in the left-of-center of the picture.
The new MV (Marine Vessel) Commander at the passenger-only (no vehicles) facility at Colman dock, ready for departure. The MV Commander plies the Seattle-Kingston route with its 65-ft (20 m) aluminum catamaran hull. There are six return crossings every day, and one way takes 40 mins.
There is only one level of seating inside the MV Commander, with a seating capacity of 149. It’s 7:55 am, and earlier a few dozen commuters from Kingston had arrived into Seattle. Now the empty water taxi was heading back to Kingston. Bryan and I had just boarded, and there was exactly one more passenger for this return trip back to Kingston!
This is the front of the vessel, as we are pushing back from the terminal. (No, those are not flying saucers with aliens— just the reflection of the lights inside the cabin).
Arriving at Kingston, 40 minutes later. On the left is the older MV Finest, built in 1996, that had been in service on the Seattle-Kingston route before being replaced with the MV Commander. In the middle is MV Hyak, constructed in 1966, and decommissioned in 2019 after 52 years of service. On the right is the MV Spokane, constructed in 1972, and providing regular ferry service for the Edmonds-Kingston route.
This great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on the rocks at the Kingston ferry terminal was not cooperating for my photo, and fussing with its chest feathers instead.
Entering the walkway to the MV Commander (on the right) for the return trip to Seattle.
Here comes the Emerald City, the skyline bracketed by the Space Needle on the left and Smith Tower (white exterior, pyramid top) on the right. The cruise ship is the Carnival Spirit , guest capacity 2,124, getting ready to sail out to Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska, before coming back to Seattle.
The Blue Angels (F/A-18 Super Hornets) are putting in a few final practice runs for their performance for the upcoming 2022 Seafair Weekend Festival this weekend.
Stepping off the MV Commander at the passenger-only terminal, Pier 50.