— from Amy Scarton, Washington State Ferries —
What a wild week of winter weather – and it sounds like we’re in for more snow, wind and freezing conditions this weekend! I want to give a shout out to all our vessel and terminal crews for braving the winter weather so we can continue to provide our customers with safe service. Despite a few tense moments on Monday, with some ferries reporting 90 mph wind gusts, our captains and crews kept everyone safe. I want you to know that each captain makes the decision prior to each departure and we will not sail if it’s not safe to do so.
A galley window on Puyallup shattered on Monday while on our Edmonds/Kingston route due to strong winds and rough seas.
Lopez Island terminal repairs
Low temperatures caused a mechanical issue at our Lopez Island terminal Tuesday morning, forcing us to temporarily suspend all sailings there. Crews from our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility’s Carpentry, Machine and Electrical shops quickly responded and repaired the problem by evening. Thanks to their hard work in bone-chilling conditions, we were able to resume service to the island by the end of the sailing day and give our customers the option to get back to where they needed to be. I appreciate everyone’s patience that day, as I know it was a challenging situation for Lopez Island residents.
Frozen equipment caused a hoist cable to unravel at our Lopez Island terminal Tuesday morning. Our maintenance crews repaired the problem by the evening.
