||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR |||


Ferry Alert: Ana/SJs – Update – Samish Running 40 Hours Behind Schedule – 11 p.m. Ana Delayed

theOrcasonian does not routinely post the delayed Washington State Ferry (WSF) sailings on any given day, for a couple of reasons. The first reason would be that there are too many of them on any given day to keep track of. Secondly, that any good islander already knows there will be ferry delays most any day; it’s built in to our island way of life. If you don’t know that, yet, stick around long enough and you will. You will learn to accept it, or you will leave; island life is not for everyone.

Yet, when I received the headline above in what would otherwise be a routine notification, it seemed that it cried out for public notification due to potential impact on loyal islanders and their loved ones.

The #3 Samish is running an estimated 40 minutes {well, which is it? 40 minutes or 40 hours?} behind schedule. The vessel departed Anacortes at 7:24 p.m. and is estimated to arrive in Lopez at 8:08 p.m..

    This also affects the following sailings:

    • 7:35 p.m. Lopez to Anacortes
    • 9:00 p.m. Anacortes to Lopez
    • 9:50 p.m. Lopez to Shaw
    • 10:10 p.m. Shaw to Orcas

Due to fueling at the Anacortes terminal, the 11:00 p.m. Anacortes departure will be delayed by an estimated 80 minutes.

     This also affects the following sailings:

    • 12:00 a.m. Lopez to Orcas
    • 1:10 a.m. Orcas to Friday Harbor
The next missive from WSF had the Samish only two hours behind. Man, that’s some cosmic/quantum water-speed record they set there. Makes you kind of wonder how they could ever be late if they have that startling capability.
This was followed by two more notifications advising that two boats will be out of service tomorrow because of staffing problems:

The #1 Suquamish will be out of service Saturday, August 28 due to a lack of Coast Guard documented crew.

    This affects the following sailings:

    • 6:10 a.m. Anacortes to Friday Harbor
    • 7:50 a.m. Friday Harbor to Lopez
    • 8:30 a.m. Lopez to Anacortes
    • 9:35 a.m. Anacortes to Lopez
    • 10:45 a.m. Lopez to Anacortes
    • 11:55 a.m. Anacortes to Friday Harbor
    • 1:55 p.m. Friday Harbor to Lopez
    • 2:40 p.m. Lopez to Anacortes
    • 4:45 p.m. Anacortes to Friday Harbor
    • 6:30 p.m. Friday Harbor to Anacortes
    • 8:20 p.m. Anacortes to Friday Harbor

Followed by:

The #2 Yakima‘s first roundtrip sailing on Friday, August 27, is cancelled due to lack of Coast Guard documented crew. 

     This affects the following sailings:

    • 4:10 a.m. Anacortes to Friday Harbor
    • 5:40 a.m. Friday Harbor to Lopez
    • 6:20 a.m. Lopez to Anacortes

And, yeah, I’ve only been here 30 years, but that’s pretty much a record for the SJIs, if not system-wide.


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