Busy prison buys bigger boat to ferry McNeil Island workers

McNEIL ISLAND, Pierce County — The state's buying a bigger boat to ferry workers to this island's Special Commitment Center for sex predators.

The state paid almost $875,000 last week for the SS Goodtime, which has been a charter boat with Seattle-based Argosy Cruises. Officials intend to rename it.

Among those who need to be ferried to the island are state employees and others who counsel, guard and feed the inmates. Their numbers are expected to jump from about 180 to more than 300 in the next two years, said Marc Seling, the center's superintendent.

In February, a new 268-bed facility will open on the island for sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences but have been committed to state custody. The center is operated by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

As of last week, 183 sex offenders were living at the center, which eventually will house 400.

The Goodtime will run during peak hours, such as shift changes at the commitment center and the 1,400-inmate state prison nearby. It's in dry dock undergoing work that will boost its capacity from 125 to 460, and when it emerges in November it will be rechristened the M.V. Neil Henly, after a boat builder who lived on McNeil during the 19th century.

The Goodtime will replace the 87-passenger M.V. Steilacoom, a 1943 wooden vessel that might be sold or could be used as a backup to the McNeil Island fleet.

The Goodtime was built in 1967 in Rhode Island. Argosy bought it in 1971 and brought it to Seattle.

The prison operates three ferries, three tugboats and two barges and transports, carrying more than 450,000 passengers a year.