“Whidbey Island residents can catch the “water bus” to Seattle in mid-February.The “bus” will take islanders to downtown Seattle’s waterfront, bypassing traffic congestion and other public transit transfers. On the way home that afternoon, rather than a hectic commute they will face a pleasant 80-minute boat ride on Puget Sound.No, this isn’t an Island Transit bus with waterwings. It’s the St. Nicholas, the Mosquito Fleet boat that has been providing temporary passenger-only service between Clinton and Mukilteo since November.Michael Bennett, president of Everett-based Mosquito Fleet, said the St. Nicholas’ contract with Washington State Ferries will expire in mid-February. At that time, he will start the short trial run for his “water bus” to Seattle.During the weeks the St. Nicholas has served Clinton/Mukilteo, Bennett has been handing out questionnaires to patrons. Answers to those questions suggest an interest in passenger-only ferry service, according to Bennett.“Commuters have been expressing a lot of interest lately in a direct Seattle connection, so it seemed like a good time to test the market,” Bennett said.Trial runs from Whidbey Island to Seattle are nothing new for Bennett. The previous Mosquito Fleet owners offered similar tests between Langley and Seattle several years ago. Bennett remembers, because he drove the boat. Later, he bought the company.Nothing came of those early trial runs, but it’s an idea Bennett has kept kicking around. “I’m tired of talking about it,” he said Wednesday. “We’ll lose money but we’re used to it.”Mosquito Fleet’s main source of income is whale-watching trips.“We need to at least break even,” Bennett said.The St. Nicholas seats 150 passengers, and Bennett said it will have to average 70 to 80 percent capacity on the trips to Seattle to break even.Marty Behr, a former Mosquito Fleet owner, tried for years to obtain federal subsidies to make a passenger-only ferry pay. That effort ultimately failed and the company was sold to Bennett two years ago.Bennett would still like to see the state or federal government help pay passenger ferry expenses, but he holds out some hope that fares alone could support such service. He was happy to to see Washington State Ferries announce it will double its passenger-only ticket rates this spring for runs in the Seattle area.“This is a test to see if passengers are willing to spend what it really costs to do,” Bennett said.When the test begins Feb. 19, the St. Nicholas will leave its Everett port at 6:30 a.m. and arrive in Clinton at 6:45. The cost from Clinton to Seattle, via Edmonds, will be $10 one-way or $16 round trip.Bennett is in the process of obtaining a temporary state permit to operate on the route. The Port of South Whidbey has already approved use of its Clinton dock for the experiment.If the trial runs prove popular, Bennett hopes they can some day become permanent, perhaps starting next fall with two-boat service.“There will be passenger-only ferry service,” Bennett said.The only question is when, and Bennett hopes his trial service will help provide the answer.—————Mukilteo dock work nearly doneThe Clinton-Mukilteo ferry run is almost back to normal.Washington State Ferries announced today that the construction project that caused mid-day closures at Mukilteo and sent ferries from Clinton to Edmonds will be completed Friday, two weeks early.“No organization likes to inconvenience their customers and we know our Whidbey Island customers are as thrilled as we are to return them to their regularly scheduled service early,” said Russ East, director of terminal engineering for Washington State Ferries.The passenger-only service between Clinton and Mukilteo will end at 3 p.m. Friday, when normal ferry service is reinstated on the route. “