WSF weekly report

||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO, ASSISTANT SEC’Y, for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

Youth Maritime Collaborative aboard Tacoma

I had the pleasure of meeting 10 bright minds and possible future mariners on Friday! That’s when we hosted members of the Youth Maritime Collaborative’s (YMC) Accelerator Project on a tour aboard Tacoma, where they explored the inner workings of our vessel and the people behind its operation. YMC’s summer internship program connects young community members with the maritime industry in our region. With half our workforce eligible for retirement soon, it’s more important than ever to find our next generation of employees! Big thank you to our Tacoma crewmembers and Fleet and Facility Security Officer Chris Kennedy for sharing their maritime knowledge and experience with our visitors.

Ten members of YMC’s Accelerator Project aboard Tacoma, during a tour of the vessel, as well as a meet and greet with our crewmembers.

Before the tour, I stopped by Colman Dock to meet with Central Region Manager Trevor Sharp, as well as Seattle terminal supervisors Joe Laybourne and Kevin Burtchett.

South Dearborn Street near Colman Dock reopens

If you drive around our Seattle terminal, you’ll be happy to know that South Dearborn Street reopened today, Aug. 26! The street and northern sidewalk between Alaskan Way South and First Avenue South has been closed since Aug. 2 for sewer, drainage and paving work.

Construction crane in vehicle holding lanes at Seattle’s Colman Dock

It’s hard to miss if passing through our Seattle terminal, especially while boarding or disembarking a ferry in a vehicle. On Monday, our Colman Dock project crews moved a construction crane into a small portion of the Bremerton vehicle holding lanes to complete in-water work nearby. While there are now 16 fewer vehicle holding spaces on the dock, terminal crews will continue to process and load vehicles to meet departure times. The crane will be at the head of lanes 4 through 7 from time to time through October.

There are no changes in bicycle, motorcycle, pedestrian or accessibility access at Colman Dock due to this construction crane.

Behind the scenes of the Weekly

Ever wonder how I single-handedly write so much material for the Weekly? Here’s a secret, I don’t! I have a hard-working team that explores, gathers and writes up all the great stories about WSF that I review and approve each week. While there are numerous people who contribute to this process, there’s one that I want to highlight: Meet Justin Fujioka. Justin, with help from the communications staff and other employees, compiles this newsletter each week. Justin is the leader of this effort and I wish to thank him for being the unsung hero of the Weekly.

Justin grew up in Hawaii and is a meteorologist who once delivered sunny forecasts on a Honolulu TV station. After that he worked in communications for one of Hawaii’s governors before moving to cooler climates here in the Seattle area. Justin worked in WSDOT communications at Northwest Region based in Shoreline before his move to Ferries in 2017.

Thank you, Justin, for all your efforts in getting the Weekly out every week. This may be one of the few articles you didn’t write!