PORT TOWNSEND – The Steilacoom II and her older ferry sister, Christine Anderson, might have left some thinking they were seeing double at the Port Townsend ferry dock Monday.
The 54-car Christine Anderson was up for sea trials on Port Townsend Bay to give the captain and crew some training time.
Under Washington State Ferries’ lease with Pierce County, the 54-car Steilacoom II will tentatively return to Pierce County in September.
As planned, the Christine Anderson will ply the Port Townsend-Keystone route until the first new 60-car Island Home-style ferry is ready for service in spring 2010.
The Christine Anderson, which is 11 years older than the Steilacoom II but nearly identical in design, will be tested today in strong currents on the other side of the Admiralty Inlet ferry run at Keystone Harbor on Whidbey Island.
