Friday was a bad day for Whidbey Island ferry users as the MV/Cathlamet crashed into the Mukilteo ferry dock for reasons not immediately known.
Service on the busy Mukilteo/Clinton route was suspended temporarily after the 6 a.m. collision, stranding hundreds of Whidbey Island commuters making their morning run to their jobs on the mainland.
Shirley Wilson, owner of Shirley’s Kitchen, the trailer-based eatery on the Clinton ferry dock, was too busy to talk more than a few seconds just after noon on Friday. “I’m so busy I don’t know where to turn,” she said by telephone, noting that the ferry dock was full of cars and people waiting for the next boat.
It was a long wait, as a single boat, the MV/Kitsap, was carrying cars and passengers between Edmonds and Clinton. Edmonds substitutes for Mukilteo whenever that dock is out of commission.
“It’s two hours between boats,” Wilson said. “I gotta go!”
Normally, it’s only half an hour between boats on the short Mukilteo-Clinton route.
Marta Cursey, Washington State Ferries communications director, said in a news release that the 130-car Cathlamet “landed hard and damaged a dolphin,” the large group of pilings that guides the ferry into the slip.
The impact caused the dolphin to collapse and block the boat. A tug was dispatched to clear the dolphin out of the way. State Ferries hoped to resume service between Mukilteo and Clinton by Friday afternoon, always a busy time as hundreds of weekenders head for the island.
Ferry officials were fully aware of an impending traffic nightmare on the route. “We understand this is a high traffic route and that a nice Friday afternoon will see many travelers headed to Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula,” said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, director of marine operations, in a news release just before noon on Friday. “We’re working hard to have full two-boat service up and running again this afternoon.”
One of the two smaller boats serving the Keystone/Port Townsend run, the MV/Quinault, was dispatched to the Clinton route, meaning Whidbey Island’s second ferry route would also be overwhelmed by Friday traffic. Five scheduled Friday afternoon departures from Keystone were canceled as a result. The same thing happened on the Port Townsend side.
State Ferries described the cause of the accident as “unknown at this time,” and an investigation was under way in collaboration with the Coast Guard and State Patrol. No injuries were reported.
The Cathlamet is one of the Issaquah Class boats that had computer propulsion problems when they first entered service in the ‘80s. Several dock collisions occurred in both Mukilteo and Clinton, but this is the first such incident in years.
