Extremely high winds and rough seas forced a weekend closure of the Keystone ferry run to Port Townsend, though not before boat returning on Saturday morning crashed into “the dolphin,” the bumper that guides the ferry into the dock.
Poor conditions continued into the week, with some runs also being cancelled Monday and Tuesday morning.
Washington State Ferries custom service spokesman Larry Keyes said there was no damage to the Saturday ferry, which returned to Keystone at about 10:50 a.m. After the collision, the boat was forced around 180 degrees from its original direction, after which the skipper backed it into the dock.
Keyes said that repairs to the dolphin, which had been hit “pretty hard,” would probably commence Tuesday afternoon.
“Hopefully we’ll get it done by the end of the week,” he said.
After the incident, regular service was completely cancelled due to the inclement conditions. Usually, ferry routes are cancelled on a run-by-run basis, which may give an indication of the unusually strong winds that blew throughout the Northwest this weekend.
“This weekend was different because of the severity,” Keyes said, adding that gusts had reached 50 and 60 miles per hour. “There was no service, period.”
With less adverse weather conditions pertaining Monday morning, ferry service was momentarily resumed at 7a.m.
Port Townsend resident John Bryant, who was waiting on foot for the 10:45 ferry to return home, said that he had been stranded by the closure.
“I got stuck here for one day,” he said.
Karl Ostling, a resident of South Whidbey who was also waiting for the 10:45 ferry, said that he was worried the route might still be closed on Monday morning due to severe winds.
“It was wild,” said Ostling about the stormy gusts. “We have those winds every so often.”
However, Ostling said that he didn’t think folks were overly panicked by the weather or the ferry closures.
“I think people are patient,” he said. “They live on the island, and they expect these conditions.”
Gordon Bowlby, who drives a van for Security Services, said that with the closure he was forced to drive around by land from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on Saturday.
“It just ended up being a 13 hour day instead of a five hour day,” said Bowlby.
Brenda Rogers, who words at Casey’s Cove Cafe next to the Keystone ferry landing, said that the restaurant closed two hours early on Saturday due to a lack of business. She said they only did about $2 per hour that day.
“We’re dependent on the ferry traffic,” said Rogers. “If there’s not a lot of ferry traffic, there’s not a lot of business.”
She said that the closure didn’t affect business on Sunday, because the cafe is usually closed that day anyway.
The 9:30 sailing from Keystone landing was cancelled on Monday due to continuing high winds, and on Tuesday ferries were running 25 minutes late.
Anyone wishing to check the status of ferry routes can call WSF customer service at 1-800-843-3779, or go to the web site at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.