Commuters found themselves stranded Monday when the ferry Klickitat broke, prompting officials to cancel further runs until the boat is fixed.

When the old ferry will be fixed still wasn’t known Tuesday afternoon when the boat was headed to Todd Shipyards in

Seattle for repairs.

“The news is looking a little better this morning than yesterday,” said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, director of marine operations for Washington State Ferries, on Tuesday. She said repair crews will know how long the work will take once the boat enters the dry dock.

The problem started early Saturday morning when maintenance workers discovered a five-inch crack along an old weld seam on the Klickitat’s hull during a routine inspection. The crack canceled ferry runs until 3:45 p.m. that day when temporary repairs were complete.

However, upon further inspection Monday, officials decided to take the ferry out of service at 2 p.m. and look for a spot to make permanent repairs to the 80-year-old vessel.

Even though ferry runs ended Monday, oblivious motorists were still heading to the terminal, only to see a sign telling them the route has been suspended.

Ferry officials had difficulty finding available dock space to send the ferry for repairs. It wasn’t until Tuesday that they found space available in Seattle.

Canceling the ferry run left commuters trying to find alternatives to get home from work Monday night.

To get home from her teaching job at Broad View Elementary School in Oak Harbor, Mary Obee ended up taking the Clinton ferry to Mukilteo, driving to Edmonds, taking the ferry to Kingston and then driving up to her home in Port Townsend. She wasn’t able to make it to work Tuesday.

“There’s just no way I could do that everyday,” Obee said of her commuting experience on Monday.

She wasn’t the only commuter affected by the cancelation.

Jerry Mingo, who works for the Island County Public Works Department, normally takes the Keystone ferry every morning from his home in Port Townsend. When he arrives on Whidbey Island, he rides his bicycle to work at the transfer station south of Coupeville.

Monday, he spent the night in a hotel. He is working with a fellow commuter to get to the other side.

Mingo was surprised to learn there wasn’t a backup boat available to serve Keystone. Other vessels not used on routes are in dry dock undergoing annual inspection and repairs before the busy spring and summer season.

The four antiquated Steel Electric class vessels are the only ones in the ferry fleet capable of serving shallow Keystone Harbor. The second boat that serves the run in the summer, the Quinault, is currently one of three vessels serving the Edmonds ferry route while a larger vessel undergoes maintenance.

Having three vessels serve a route with two docks while the Keystone route is canceled doesn’t seem right to some.

“I don’t think I swallow that from the ferry system,” Mingo said.

Obee said moving a boat back to Keystone will at least allow commuters to get to work, even if it causes some delays for commuters using the Edmonds route.

“Maybe they will have to wait a little longer, but at least they’ll get to work,” Obee said.

The ferry system’s Brewer-Rogstad said the Edmonds / Kingston route currently has a very high demand while Port Townsend / Keystone is normally slow this time of year. The two smaller vessels are needed to match the capacity of the larger one that isn’t in service at Edmonds.

She said officials are working to balance the service throughout the system.

There are two other Steel Electric boats that could be used. However, one currently serves the San Juan Islands while the other one is out of service. It would take a week to get that boat ready for the route.

By that time, another boat could be available as inspections and maintenance work on other vessels conclude, Brewer-Rogstad said.

Ferry officials hope the repairs to the Klickitat can be completed quickly and safely.

“We hope the service suspension will be short,” Brewer-Rogstad said in a written statement. “However, until we know for sure what the schedule will be, we must be clear that safety is our first concern. Our duty is to work with the vessel crew, the shipyard and the Coast Guard to make sure that when the vessel returns to service, it does so with everyone’s complete confidence as to its seaworthiness.”