WSF Weekly Report | Amber Alert child on board; honoring employees with 50 years of service; fall reservations open Tuesday

||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

Staying alert is key to keeping our customers, employees and the communities we serve safe. An Amber Alert quickly shares information about missing or abducted children. It helps law enforcement and the public work together to find them. On Friday, the program helped save a three-month-old child. Soon after an Amber Alert went out, a passenger aboard Issaquah saw people who matched the description of the infant and suspect. They told a crew member, who quickly contacted law enforcement and coordinated with them to ensure they were on site when the boat landed. The police safely recovered the baby when the ferry arrived at Colman Dock. This underscores how important awareness and teamwork can be in protecting our most vulnerable. I am continually impressed with our crew who prioritize safety in every situation. 

A watchful passenger and our responsive crew aboard Issaquah helped bring a child to safety on Friday following a Bremerton to Seattle sailing.

Behind every safe sailing is a team of dedicated vessel crews and terminal staff. They go through a lot of training to keep everyone safe on the Salish Sea, both on our ferries and at our terminals. If you want to join a team who cares about safety, service and protecting our beautiful waters, apply for one of our job openings. We’re now recruiting for new deckhands and terminal attendants to start this fall.

A golden tribute to 50 years of service

We paint a gold ring on a ferry’s smokestack when it turns 50 years old. When one of our employees reaches half a century of service, we celebrate with even more pride. Today, we’re honoring two terminal attendants – Carol Stearns and Frank “Bill” Fletcher – for their five-decade careers at Washington State Ferries. To show our appreciation, we temporarily renamed two of our vessels after them. Kaleetan on our Seattle/Bremerton route is M/V Carol Stearns. Kennewick on our Port Townsend/Coupeville run is M/V Frank Fletcher. Carol and Frank have shown strong dedication, great customer service and have been great teammates. We’re proud to thank them for 50 amazing years.

Carol Stearns (center wearing lei) at her 50-year service celebration at Colman Dock today. Seattle Terminal Supervisor Dan Brown said, “I’ve worked with Carol for 20 years now, she helped me grow not just as a worker but as a person. She means the world to me, and I couldn’t imagine working all these years here without her. My first day at Colman Dock was very scary, Carol was the first person to talk to me. She asked me if I had family that worked here and I said, ‘yes I did.’ She knew my dad and made me feel very welcome.”

Bill Fletcher (center holding certificate) at his 50-year service celebration at Port Townsend terminal earlier this month. A colleague said, “Bill is a leader for the whole crew in Port Townsend; all the sellers and traffic attendants look up to him; the history and knowledge he has is phenomenal. He still carries the same passion for his job that he did on day #1.”

Reminder: Fall reservations open 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5

We’re five days away from opening fall sailing season (Sept. 21 through Dec. 27) vehicle reservations. Like past seasonal releases, we’ll use a virtual waiting room to help things go smoothly during this busy time. The waiting room helps avoid website overload and makes sure everyone gets a fair chance. If you’re placed in the waiting room, you’ll see your spot in line, how long the wait might be and you can choose to get a message when it’s your turn to book. For our Anacortes/San Juan Islands route, we’ll open 30% of vehicle reservations space. Another 30% will be available two weeks before each specific sailing and another 30% two days before. The two-week and two-day release times are at 7 a.m. For our Port Townsend/Coupeville run, we’ll open 80% of vehicle reservations space. For both routes, all remaining vehicle space is kept open for emergency and stand-by vehicles.

As soon as this fall, our Port Townsend/Coupeville route will be the first to use our new ticketing and reservations system. We’ll have more details next month.

Navy band rocks Tacoma for Fleet Week

The Navy Band Northwest Woodwind Quintet played music during a roundtrip sailing between Seattle and Bainbridge yesterday. Ferry riders enjoyed the special show on the sundeck of Tacoma. The group came aboard for the afternoon commute to help celebrate Seattle Fleet Week. They gave passengers a chance to enjoy live music during their ride. Thank you to the musicians for making the trip more enjoyable!

Five members of Navy Band Northwest performed on board Tacoma yesterday.

Park rangers on select sailings in the San Juan Islands

Park rangers from Washington State Parks are now aboard select sailings on our Anacortes/San Juan Islands route. They give short talks and hand out materials to help passengers learn about the area’s maritime history. This summertime educational effort is a partnership with the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area. There are more than a dozen state parks in the San Juan Islands. The rangers also share tips on how to visit these places responsibly. This helps protect the land and water for the future. This campaign complements our existing summer marine naturalist program with Orca Network volunteers. They teach passengers about the area’s marine life and ecosystems.

State Parks employees Kathy Jacobson and Emily Jacobs with educational materials in the Chelan passenger cabin.

Sailing stats for week of July 21-27

For the week of July 21-27, we completed 97.6% of our 3,124 scheduled sailings. This figure is separate from on-time performance. Of the 77 cancellations, 36 were for schedule resets (when a boat is so far behind schedule, we cancel a sailing to get it back on schedule, providing predictability for customers), 26 due to tidal currents, nine because of other miscellaneous reasons, four for weather and two due to crewing.

For comparison, during a similar week last year (July 22-28, 2024), we completed 97% of our 2,829 scheduled sailings. Of the 85 cancellations that week, 41 were for schedule resets, 34 due to crewing, eight because of tidal currents and two for other miscellaneous reasons.

Customer kudos

“I want to compliment the Triangle route ferries, crew and dock workers on their friendly and efficient work this spring and summer. What a difference to have 3 boats again, and they are doing a great job keeping on time. I commute for work, and am a 27 year resident on Vashon. I see such a positive difference in their interactions with both drivers and walk ons. Keep up the great work- it doesn’t go unnoticed!!”

-Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route customer