Moving 95,000 tons of Navy might is the easy part.
The USS Abraham Lincoln leaves for Bremerton today, but the real flexing starts Wednesday as the Navy shifts hundreds of sailors to the other side of Puget Sound in a daily back-and-forth commute between Naval Station Everett and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
The Navy will use two private ferries and several chartered buses to get sailors to work at the warship each weekday just before 8 a.m.
The commute comes with a price tag. The Navy has budgeted between $4 million and $5 million for the buses, ferries and other commuting costs.
All told, the Navy will spend about $300 million for the
shipyard session, said Lt. Cmdr. Mark Suchsland, the ship’s maintenance manager.
Planning for the commute began in early May, the week the Nimitz-class carrier returned from a history-making 290-day deployment, including the war in Iraq.
The Lincoln will spend 10Z\x months at the shipyard, the first time the ship has been back in Bremerton for extended repairs since October 2001.
For sailors, that means about three hours every day will be spent getting to and from work.
"We can’t dismiss the fact they have to commute," said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Hull, the transportation officer who has been planning bus and ferry services for sailors.
The Navy, though, is looking to make the commute as hassle-free as possible.
"It went well last time, but we’re trying to do even better this time," Hull said. "We’re trying to bring some of the lessons learned to this go-round."
The Lincoln has a crew of approximately 3,000 sailors, but not all of them will have to commute. Many will continue living on board the ship, moving to a barge with built-in sleeping accommodations once the carrier goes into dry dock.
Some sailors started making plans years ago for the Lincoln’s time in the shipyard and already have gotten homes in the Bremerton area, Hull said. They kept their homes on the peninsula when they had prior duty assignments in Bremerton or at the submarine base in Bangor and were later assigned to the Lincoln.
"Now they’re happy because they’re going to get some payback," Hull said.
About 750 sailors will need a ride to work, however.
Two ferries, "The Spirit of Adventure" and a Catalina Jet catamaran, will be used to take sailors between Naval Station Everett and the shipyard. Several buses will carry the early birds to Bremerton who have to report for work before the ferries arrive.
On the ferries alone, the Navy has saved enough seats for the sailors. The Catalina Jet can carry about 500 passengers and the Spirit of Adventure holds 250.
Hull said sailors will probably try to make the most of their travel time — studying to pass promotion tests, completing college courses or catching a few extra winks. A one-way trip on the Catalina will take about 90 minutes and the Spirit about 10 minutes longer.
Sailors will board the ferries at Pier E at Naval Station Everett, and the ships will carry them to the pier next to the dry dock where the Lincoln will be repaired.
"It’s a short walk to work," Hull joked.
Reporter Brian Kelly:
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