The MV Evergreen State is a decommissioned Evergreen State-class ferry that was operated by Washington State Ferries from 1954 to 2015.
She was named for the state of Washington, whose nickname is "The Evergreen State". When delivered in 1954, the Evergreen State was assigned to the Seattle-Winslow run serving Bainbridge Island. She was reassigned to the San Juan Islands in 1959 where she remained for the majority of her active career for Washington State Ferries. However, the ferry also was used as a relief vessel on the Seattle to Winslow runs in the 1960s.
From June 2000 until the retirement of the Steel Electric class in November 2007 this ferry was used as a relief vessel. The sudden retirement of the Steel Electrics forced the full-time reactivation of the Evergreen State. After reactivation, the Evergreen State was the inter-island service vessel in the San Juan Islands.
The Evergreen State left the San Juan Islands for good on June 29, 2014, replaced by her sister ship MV Klahowya, and made her last sailing from Friday Harbor at 2:15 PM and from Lopez Island at 3:05 PM. Following that sailing, she sailed to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. A month after 'retirement', a substantial fleet shortage resulted in the reactivation of the Evergreen State,[3] and for some time thereafter the vessel was intermittently in service - usually on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth triangle route. Galley Service has not been provided on the Evergreen State since the mid 2000s.
On January 14, 2016, Washington State Ferries issued a press release stating that the ferry "has been decommissioned and will soon be put up for sale."[4][5] The vessel was sold in March 2017 to Jones Broadcasting for $300,000, with the intent of using it in the Caribbean Sea.[6]
The ferry was moored at the Port of Olympia in preparation for its move to Florida, but Jones failed to move the vessel for more than a year and fell behind on dockage payments.[7] Evergreen State, renamed "The Dream", was listed on eBay in January 2020 with a starting bid of $100,000.[8] The auction ended with 130 bids and a final price of $205,100 from an unnamed buyer,[9] who planned to convert it into an art studio. The auction was nonbinding and the vessel was sold to another owner, Bart Lemetta, instead.[10] Lemetta moved the ferry to Langley and began refurbishing it into an electric vessel in 2021.[11] It has been moored in Bellingham since 2022.[12]
References
- ^ The Evergreen State class today - M/V Evergreen State, evergreenfleet.com
- ^ Vessel info - M/V Evergreen State, WSF, WSDOT
- ^ "Damage to ferry Tacoma more extensive than believed". Kitsap Sun. August 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ "State's oldest ferry officially decommissioned" (Press release). Washington State Ferries. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ DeMay, Daniel (January 15, 2016). "Oldest state ferry officially retired". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ Lee, Jessica (March 1, 2017). "State's oldest ferryboat is sold; heading to the Caribbean". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ Boone, Rolf (May 16, 2019). "Port of Olympia could seize former state ferry after owner falls behind on payments". The Olympian. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Boone, Rolf (January 22, 2020). "You know that ferry moored at the Port of Olympia? It's for sale -- on eBay". The Olympian. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Halverson, Alex (February 3, 2020). "First ferry built for Washington state system sells—again—for $200K". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ "'We are bummed': Winning eBay bidder for Washington state ferry says owner sold vessel to someone else". KING 5 News. February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- ^ Brown, Andrea (February 15, 2022). "He's the guy who bought a boat — a big old $290,000 state ferry". The Everett Herald. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ Alexander, Jemma (December 14, 2022). "What's the Deal With: The ferry moored in the Port of Bellingham?". Cascadia Daily News. Retrieved December 3, 2023.