WSF weekly check-in | “Starting to look at our ability to increase service”

||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

Giving thanks to our employees

I want to start this week by asking everyone to join me in recognizing and thanking our hardworking and dedicated employees. The last 19 months have created tremendous strain on our workforce and many of my colleagues have put ferries before family, sacrificing personal life and struggling with mental and physical exhaustion to ensure hundreds of thousands of our customers get to their destinations safely.

Our ninth class of new deck employees in 2021 finished training this week and are now working out in the fleet. We then immediately began training this year’s tenth class.

We are starting to look at our ability to increase service as we aggressively conduct outreach to fill vital vacancies throughout our entire organization. Any schedule changes will factor in much-needed vessel maintenance and preservation as well. In the meantime, we will add supplemental service on a route-by-route and day-by-day basis when crewing allows us to temporarily increase our number of sailings. Check our travel alert bulletins and Twitter page for the latest updates on service by route.

Thanks again to all our employees for your commitment to each other and to the communities we serve!

Welcome aboard, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral and U.S. Naval War College

It was a busy day aboard Tacoma as we hosted two tours to showcase how we operate the nation’s largest ferry system. This morning, we gave a tour of the vessel to representatives from the U.S. Naval War College. We wish them safe travels as they tour the region.

Students from the Naval War College hopped aboard the Tacoma to see how we run our ferry operations in the Puget Sound.

Then this afternoon, I met with U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Melvin Bouboulis and members of his staff at Seattle’s Colman Dock to take a tour of Tacoma and our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility on Bainbridge Island. It was a great opportunity to familiarize the new head of the USCG’s Pacific Northwest region with our marine transportation highway system and for him to meet the employees that keep our ferries and terminals in operation. We regularly meet with the USCG for oversight and support for vessel maintenance and certification, as well as security and licensing for our professional crews.

A few members of the WSF Executive Team and I with 13th District Commander Rear Adm. Melvin Bouboulis and other U.S. Coast Guardsman.

Interpretive board on our shoreline restoration efforts at Tahlequah terminal

Our Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility crews recently installed a new interpretive board at Tahlequah terminal on Vashon Island that outlines our shoreline restoration efforts there. The recently completed project created a better forage fish habitat in the area. Forage fish feed the local salmon population which in turn, feeds our resident orca whales.

New interpretive board at our Tahlequah terminal outlining our recently completed shoreline restoration project in the area.

Chetzemoka, Suquamish and Kitsap crews to the rescue

Our crews are not only trained to transport people across the Sound safely, but they are also trained to become first responders when emergencies occur. Last Monday, Oct. 11, crewmembers aboard Chetzemoka launched a rescue boat to retrieve a kayaker in the water near our Point Defiance terminal. The kayaker was OK.

Recent emergencies have highlighted why our crews’ first-aid and rescue training are so vital. We’re lucky to have them on the water!

Then on Sunday, Oct. 17, the crew working Suquamish used a rescue boat to get a paddleboarder out of the water near our Mukilteo terminal, took them onshore and transferred the person to the care of emergency medical personnel. Thank you to all our highly skilled crewmembers for your commitment to our number one priority – safety!

#FerryFotoContest winners

The cover of our Winter 2022 sailing schedules will feature beautiful photos by @Postalleyprints, @joemalach and @aaxlu. In our #FerryFotoContest, their shots received the most “likes” on our @wsferries Twitter feed. Thank you to all the great photographers who submitted a pic, as well as everyone who connected with us on Twitter for this contest. And of course, congratulations @Postalleyprints, @joemalach and @aaxlu!

Our three #FerryFotoContest winners will be featured on the cover of our Winter 2022 sailing schedules.

“I would like to thank the staff at WSF who have been working hard through this difficult time. It is my understanding that many WSF employees have been picking up overtime to cover staffing shortages, which helps keep the ferries running. Throughout the pandemic (and long before it!) I have found staff to be friendly, courteous and helpful. […] Thank you!!”

-WSF customer