||| 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 #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.
Actually, that’s Saturday, August 28 (not Friday the 27th as the WSF “Alert” states) for the Yakima.
But then, what’s one day plus or minus between friends? . . .
Nope, not a record.
Back in the good old days before they built the ‘holding lot’, when the ferry-bound cars lined up on the side of the road all the way back past Warm Valley, I decided to go to Anacortes, walk on. Can’t remember why. The boat was to depart at 2:30; I waited in the coffee shop of the Orcas Hotel with a dozen other people and watched the ferry come in & the cars get off & the other cars start to get on. Ten or fifteen minutes after 2:00, all of us left the hotel & walked down to the dock to board — only to see the boat pull out ten minutes early, leaving all of the walk-on passengers standing on the dock. Turned out that this was not the 2:30 ferry at all. It was the 10:00 boat, running late.
End of the tale is that an extremely assertive older woman in the group gave ‘em such hell that they actually pulled back to the dock & let us on. True Story. Wacko ferries are a fact of life…
Doggone it!!! I was writing a good sequel to Thea’s comment, about my adventure with a ferry in 1964 (call me if you want to hear it), was just about to click the post button, and I lost it.
I know I should write these things first in Pages, then copy.
Let that be a lesson to you good storytellers out there.
Margot! We still need to hear the story.