WSF | Anticipate cancelled interisland sailings coming up in next few weeks

||| FROM DANA WARR for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

Over the next few weeks, we have a number of unfilled positions on one of the Interisland vessel’s watches.  We’ve worked hard to fill them, with some success, and will continue to do so, but it’s likely there will be sailings cancelled due to a lack of crewing. 

A cross-departmental team just finished discussing service options when the Interisland ties up.  With a focus on students traveling to/from Friday Harbor and allowing them to travel without going through Anacortes, we’ve developed a series of alternate schedules, using mainland boats, to move interisland customers.  Because the watch covers a wide part of the day, the coverage plan is complicated, based on available vessels, so we’re not sharing it publicly.  We’ll encourage San Juan Island’s customers to follow passenger alerts closely.

We obviously know the frustration and consternation this will cause San Juan Islands customers who rely on our service for travel – essential and non.  We will continue efforts to crew every watch and when we can’t, we’ll communicate robustly, so passengers can plan successfully.