Out of dry dock, Virginia V, Puget Sound's last steamship, readies for centennial celebration

Josh Farley, Kitsap Sun
·4 min read

SEATTLE — The famed steam whistle aboard the wooden-hulled Virginia V is just about ready to toot once more.

The steamship, the only such vessel of its kind to survive on the shores of Puget Sound, has emerged from a Ballard shipyard just in time to celebrate its 100th birthday. The ship's first voyage for its busy centennial of sailings will be July 10, a circumnavigation of Bainbridge for the island's historical society.

What was the key to its longevity, where others perished?

The Virginia V emerged from dry dock at the Pacific Fisherman Shipyard in Ballard at the end of May. Public tours and sailings will commence in July.
The Virginia V emerged from dry dock at the Pacific Fisherman Shipyard in Ballard at the end of May. Public tours and sailings will commence in July.

"For whatever reason, this particular ship made some really important friends over its lifetime," said Debra Alderman, executive director of its managing nonprofit.

Case in point: when the fledgling foundation was attempting to buy the ship in 1979, Ivar Haglund, founder of the famed Seattle restaurant chain, stepped in to help raise half the funds needed.

Other proponents over the years include former Washington State secretary of state and Bainbridge Island native Ralph Munro.

The wheelhouse aboard the Virginia V. The ship made its maiden voyage 100 years ago, on June 11, 1922.
The wheelhouse aboard the Virginia V. The ship made its maiden voyage 100 years ago, on June 11, 1922.

"Lots of crazy people like me who never figured out a boat is a hole in the water you pour money into," Munro joked. "I’m very proud of her. She’s weathered it all."

The Virginia V is one of only two vessels left of what was known as the "Mosquito Fleet" that shuttled people and goods between Puget Sound towns in the days before well-defined roads and the prevalence of automobiles. The other, the Carlisle II, still serves Kitsap Transit's Port Orchard-Bremerton foot ferry run.

A fungus in the wood that surrounds its hull was rotting the ship. Roughly 80% of its planking and 40% of its frame had to be replaced, as did the ship's vertical plumb stem, at a cost of nearly $2 million over the last 15 months.

Inside the Virginia V, the only steamship that remains in operation in Puget Sound.
Inside the Virginia V, the only steamship that remains in operation in Puget Sound.

"She’s floating free and almost ready to go," said Doug Dixon, marine engineer and manager of Pacific Fisherman Shipyard in Ballard.

Dixon said the shipyard donated almost $400,000 to the cause of getting Virginia V restored. The boat was re-floated on Memorial Day.

Dixon echoed others in pointing out it has been the ship's connection to so many different people that have opened their wallets to save her. Dixon himself happens to have gotten married on the ship in 1978.

The steamship was the latest in a line of Virginias owned by a company that at the time sailed to communities of the lesser-traveled western side of Vashon Island. The so-called “West Pass Transportation Company" had the Virginia V built just south of Olalla, where Anderson & Company sourced old growth for its hull, the foundation says on its website.

Eighty percent of the planking on the Virginia V was replaced during a 15-month period in dry dock at Pacific Fisherman shipyard in Ballard.
Eighty percent of the planking on the Virginia V was replaced during a 15-month period in dry dock at Pacific Fisherman shipyard in Ballard.

The maiden voyage, from Seattle to Tacoma down the west side of Vashon, came exactly 100 years ago Saturday. The ship would make the same trip each day for about 16 years, though a fall storm that crushed its top decks into the dock at Olalla in 1934 took it out of service for repairs.

The ship's traditions helped make it an icon. Seattle's "Camp Fire Girls" made trips to Camp Sealth on Vashon from Seattle each year until 1970. During World War II, the Virginia V carried workers at the Keyport Naval Torpedo Station between there and their homes in Poulsbo. It even spent a stint on the Columbia River ferrying people between Astoria and Portland.

Through various owners, the Virginia V always seemed to find people willing to invest in the necessary repairs and refurbishments to keep her going.

The Virginia V, Puget Sound's last steam-powered ferry, spent 15 months in dry dock for restoration work at Pacific Fisherman shipyard in Ballard.
The Virginia V, Puget Sound's last steam-powered ferry, spent 15 months in dry dock for restoration work at Pacific Fisherman shipyard in Ballard.

It was in 1976 the Steamer Virginia V Foundation formed, four years later purchasing the boat for $127,000. In the time since, it has put millions of dollars into the vessel, a National Historic Landmark, raising about $250,000 every two years.

Today, the ship calls South Lake Union home, though it will be seen frequently on Puget Sound this summer and fall. Alderman said it's also possible the ship will find a saltwater-based home on the Puget Sound in the off-season, as it is easier on its wooden hull than the freshwater of Lake Union.

A unique challenge has been to find workers who understand its complex and rather arcane inner-workings as a steam vessel, Alderman said. Its diesel-powered steam engine is actually older than the ship itself, at 118.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Virginia V, Puget Sound's only remaining steamship, turns 100