New Ferry Takes the Torch on Historic Columbia River Crossing

“The last of the dairy farms on the island shut down because it wasn’t worth sending a truck down to haul the milk,” said Capt. Ray Peek when asked about the economy on Puget Island, a flat piece of verdant meadows and sloughs in the Columbia River.

- Alan Haig-Brown

While life may have slowed on the island, which is joined by bridge to Cathlamet on the Washington shore, the state’s Wahkiakum County has shown tremendous support and recognition of the ferry link between the island and the Oregon side of the river.

When the county, with fewer than 4,000 residents, decided that it needed a new ferry, it employed a grant writer who raised the funds necessary to get the process going. After a long and involved effort, the county was able to contract Elliott Bay Design Group to design a new steel-hulled vessel capable of carrying 23 cars in four lanes of deck space. The 115-by-47-foot Oscar B was built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Wash.

The vessel, the last cross river ferry on the Lower Columbia, went into service in February 2015. It replaced a 12-car ferry built by Nichols Boat Works in Hood River, Ore. The final cost of Oscar B, approximately $6 million, included state and federal grants.

The ferry’s name, like the boat itself, is a fine tribute to a professional mariner. Oscar Bergseng ran vessels on the route 365 days per year for 17 years starting in 1948. In 1962, he was instrumental in having the county take over the ferry from a series of private-sector operators. Bergseng continued as a manager for the ferry until his death in 1985.