San Juan Islands travelers this spring can now choose to walk aboard a water taxi, rather than wait on Washington State Ferries boats that often run late.
The MV Sea Lion, a whale-watching boat run by San Juan Safaris, circulates seven days a week starting at 7 a.m. from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, to Orcas Island, Lopez Island and Cap Sante Marina in downtown Anacortes, then back, making two round trips per day. It’s a 10-week experiment, funded by the state. Rides are free.
This niche service, using a 49-person boat, epitomizes the desperation of islanders for reliable travel, after hundreds of missed WSF sailings in recent years. WSF faces a chronic shortage of vessels, due to decades of underinvestment and cost overruns, and the state tends to cancel one or two of its four scheduled daily San Juans boats on short notice.
“People were missing doctor’s appointments, surgeries. Life was becoming difficult for a large segment of our population,” said San Juan County Councilmember Kari McVeigh.
She made the inaugural sailing Friday, with a couple other passengers aboard. “It’s a really clean, really comfortable boat,” she said, and provides indoor and outdoor seating.
The 55-foot vessel cruised at 17 knots, the same speed as a state ferry, according to a report in Salish Current. However, owner-captain Brian Goodremont said Tuesday he expects to shave about 40 minutes off the six-hour round trip.
The boat carried at least nine riders Tuesday and at least 27 others had made reservations, said Goodremont. Before calling, travelers are asked to read the reservations website at https://www.sanjuansafaris.com/passenger-boat-service.
San Juan County is planning to end the service June 30. In the fall, then-Gov. Jay Inslee approved an emergency grant worth up to $1.5 million to help the county boost ferry services in three ways.
About $500,000 of that is going to the Sea Lion service, or about $7,100 a day.
The county is using the rest of the money for Outer Island Excursions to provide emergency-only trips if the WSF interisland ferry is expected to be unavailable for more than four hours; and for Pintail Marine to provide emergency barge services during severe state ferry disruptions. Unused funds would be returned to the state.
There’s no local or state money to operate the new walk-on ferry service long-term.
As of last month, WSF had only 21 vessels, five short of a full fleet, and was operating just 18. The ferry Wenatchee is supposed to return in June following a lengthy conversion to add rechargeable electric batteries alongside its diesel motors.
Only 72% of WSF’s Anacortes/San Juans boats — and 84% of its boats on all eight corridors — sailed on time during the 12 months ending March 31.
The county foot ferry’s June 30 expiration, which coincides with the end of the state’s fiscal year, means it will not be available during the peak tour season after July 4, McVeigh said.
However, this spring’s trips ought to benefit students, who can leave Friday Harbor High School at 2 p.m. for homes on neighboring islands, some 60 to 90 minutes sooner than the state ferry’s schedule, she said.
Islanders will get easier access to Anacortes, including health care, since the Sea Lion serves the downtown marina, instead of the state terminal 4 miles away. Sea Lion passengers can also skip the state’s $16.50 passenger fare leaving Anacortes.
The 10-week pilot project will yield valuable data, said Mark Tompkins, a county administrator who led project development.
“I hope the boat’s full,” he said. “It may take some time for people to get used to it.”
More questions remain, Tompkins said, such as whether foot ferries need to be faster than WSF — a key feature of Kitsap Transit’s fleet — and whether they should go to Anacortes, or to Bellingham.
Not to mention, can state ferries improve enough to make local water taxis unnecessary? Last month, there was just one day WSF faltered enough to activate the county’s emergency interisland boat, Tompkins said. Ferry officials say they’ve recently managed to hire a full statewide crew.
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