Napa County News

A new high-speed passenger vessel entered service for the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) on Monday.The newbuild, Dorado, is the first in a series of four new ferries being built for WETA by Mavrik Marine in La Conner, Wash. Construction on the second vessel in the Dorado class, Delphinus, is underway. Vessel construction was funded through the Federal Transit Administration and the State of California’s Proposition 1B in collaboration with the California Office of Emergency Services.

The money went to North Bay Ferry Service of Larkspur, which is owned by Skip Berg, a former owner of Infineon Raceway who also owns the Port Sonoma marina. The port sits on the Petaluma River at the Sonoma and Napa County lines, near the race track. None of the major transportation agencies in the area were made aware of the grant, including the Bay Area Water Transit Authority, which is developing a comprehensive ferry system for the region. The project still needs to clear other hurdles, as apparently other ferry service plans from Port Sonoma have been declined due to environmental concerns. If the project proceeds as planned, it should launch in 2009 or 2010.