Riders should consult new schedule for possible changes to their route
— from Washington State Ferries —
Changing foliage and shorter days aren’t the only things Washington State Ferries’ customers can count on every fall. Seasonal service adjustments start Sunday, Sept. 21, and off-peak fares go into effect Wednesday, Oct. 1. Riders on the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth run will also soon make the crossing aboard a larger vessel.
As summer turns into autumn, fewer tourists and weekend passengers ride the ferry. Accordingly, WSF routinely adjusts the sailing schedule and removes the peak-season surcharge to accommodate expected ridership.
This year, WSF also adjusted the three-vessel Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth schedule to improve on-time performance and allow more loading and unloading time for a larger, 124-car Issaquah Class vessel. The larger ferry will replace one of the Evergreen State Class vessels on the route in mid-November.
Highlights of the 2014 fall sailing schedule:
- Anacortes/San Juan Islands: four vessels in service, similar to spring, with an additional 11:40 a.m. stop in Shaw.
- Anacortes/Sidney, British Columbia: one daily roundtrip sailing via Friday Harbor, down from two.
- Fauntleroy/Vashon Island/Southworth: fewer sailings on weekends and minor sailing-time adjustments.
- Mukilteo/Clinton: fewer late-night and early-morning sailings Thursday through Sunday.
- Port Townsend/Coupeville: two-boat service continues until Monday, Oct. 13; one-boat service resumes Tuesday, Oct. 14.
- Seattle/Bremerton: the 144-car Kaleetan adds more capacity by replacing the 90-car Sealth.
For more information or to make a reservation, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries or call 1-888-808-7977.
Please be aware that on the new sailing schedule, the “tall” quota for the 6:45 a.m. sailing to Anacortes goes down to 16 “tall” spaces (ferry lingo here!), from our current allotment of 26. The tall quota was also 16 on the spring schedule. A vehicle is a “tall” if it is 7 foot 2 inches tall, or longer than 22 feet. Luggage containers atop vehicles, or racks on pick-ups, often mean you are over 7 foot 2 inches. In the spring schedule, it was a nearly daily occurrence to overload talls on the red-eye, as there are a lot of commercial trucks that reserve spaces on that boat, (such as, our garbage haulers, hardware store trucks, etc– local folks we depend on) and this will
certainly continue to be an issue in the fall schedule. It is certainly not fun at all to have to tell the driver of a “tall” who does not have reservations, and gets to the landing at 5:30 a.m., that they will not make the red eye. WSF of course has all our statistics and is well aware that at least 50% of the time, if not more, “talls” are overloaded with this diminished “tall” quota, but they dont seem to care. At present, most 6:45 sailings are already fully booked for “talls.” So, if you are a “tall,” save yourself some grief and come, early, for the next sailing, and dont be shy about asking for a “communication form” to fill out, and let WSF know that this is not okay.