They were originally powered by gas turbine water jets but were converted to diesel engine propeller drives in 1983–1985. More efficient diesel engines were installed in 2001 and 2002. The "Marin" was refurbished from November 2006 to July 2007. The catamarans the MV "Del Norte", MV "Golden Gate", MV "Mendocino", and MV "Napa" All have a capacity of 450 passengers except the 400-passenger "Del Norte". The 1998-built "Del Norte" and 2001-built "Mendocino" were built for Golden Gate Ferry to allow faster and more frequent service than the monohull ferries. The "Napa" (formerly "Snohomish") and "Golden Gate" (formerly "Chinook") were purchased from Washington State Ferries in January 2009. The "Napa" underwent refurbishment starting in late 2009. In late 2018, Golden Gate Ferry reached an agreement to lease the MV "Millennium" from Rhode Island Fast Ferry for one year for $2.5 million. The "Millennium" will allow full service to continue while the "Marin" and "Sonoma" have major work and other ferries are repaired. When the M.S. "Golden Gate" retired in 2004, she had made 42,108 round trips between Sausalito and San Francisco, carried 21 million passengers and traveled nearly .