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ALMOST THERE -The ferry Delphinus rolls slowly onto the barge that will transport it to Anacortes. It returned to La Conner today to undergo its final testing before delivery.
After a weeklong wait for the right tide and weather conditions, the aluminum ferry M.V. Delphinus left Monday night in a tricky operation conducted under rented klieg lights.
No crane in La Conner is big enough to lower the 130-foot long, 36-foot wide, 30-foot tall aluminum catamaran into the water. Dunlap Towing barged it to Dakota Industries in Anacortes, where a Syncrolift will place it in the water.
After transferring sister ferry M.V. Dorado to a barge in February 2022, Mavrik Marine staff changed some equipment and procedures. This week's transfer went smoothly. At 6:57 p.m., with staff standing by, Mavrik owner Zach Battle began "driving" the custom-fabricated, 18-wheel, remote-controlled hydraulic dolly under and between the catamaran's two hulls. The dolly was connected to a wrecker from Dick's Towing. Should anything go wrong, the tow truck driver would keep the ferry from rolling off into the channel.
By 7:28 p.m., the front wheels had crossed the temporary steel bridge linking bank and barge, and were on board. At 7:34 p.m., about half the ferry had boarded. At 7:46 p.m., the inch-by-inch operation was complete. An hour later, at 8:45 p.m. the cargo was heading north up the channel.
The size of the M.Vs. Dorado and Delphinus made their manufacture "a killer project," said a retired marine carpenter watching the transfer, who had worked on both vessels. "This company is wonderful."
The ferries were built for the San Francisco Bay ferry fleet. When the M.V. Delphinus left Mavrik's 60-foot tall, 17,226 square-foot building on Pearle Jensen Way, the hull of a third ferry took its place. The new ferry will be the 91st boat the company has built by the count of shipbuildinghistory.com.
Mavrik will build four ferries for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which operates the Bay Area ferry system.
Asked whether Mavrik staff were earning double time, a young man cheerfully responded, "No, they say they are going to buy us food. I'm down with that. I hope it's Taco Bell."
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