Wave Energy Evaluation of Passenger Only Ferries in Rich Passage

The Rich Passage Passenger Only Fast Ferry Study is investigating the feasibility of restoring passenger only fast ferry (POFF) service between Seattle and Bremerton. This report documents the first phase of the Study, conducted between June 2004 and February 2005. Rich Passage shorelines are compartmentalized into several discrete littoral cells of varying dimension and sediment characteristics. Beach response to POFF operation is a result of POFF and non-POFF wakes, large water level variations and currents, and wind waves. The complexity of the problem and sensitivity of the community and environment, require a multi-disciplinary effort with tasks that include outreach to waterfront property owners and the general public, numerical model development and application, physical and biological monitoring, data analysis, coastal engineering, and research testing of candidate vessels. In the first phase of study, new physical and biological monitoring data were collected as a baseline for the current studies and for comparison against previous POFF operations. Model applications include: tidal circulation, wave climatology, beach profile evolution, and a new wake prediction model for high speed vessels. The wake model predicts the generation of wakes and transformation by tidal currents and bathymetry between vessel and shore. Wake data from trials of various POFFs were acquired to assist in model development and for successful validation. The wake model will be used to study the spatial variation in shore impacts from alternative candidate hull forms. In-situ testing of a foil-assisted catamaran was initiated to provide data for model validation and enhancement.