Many islanders no longer trust the Washington State ferry system, as frequent cancellations and chronic delays continue to cause major disruptions to the islands’ only connection to the outside world.

For San Juan County residents, ferries are the lifeblood of the community, serving as the county’s transportation highway system, and that lifeblood is being drained drop by drop, delay by delay, cancellation by cancellation.

“The ferries need to be more dependable,” says longtime islander Steve Buck, owner and CEO of Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands. “If somebody doesn’t show up and it cancels a ferry, that’s just not right. So if we’re lacking a Coast Guard documented worker then the Coast Guard should be supplying people for the ferry to run the ferry. The governor needs to declare a state of emergency! That’s what should be done. They need to have people to run these ferries so they’re dependable.”

Sadly, the county’s only marine highway has deteriorated to a point that island residents are forced to take drastic measures to be certain they can even make a mainland doctor’s appointment, a lifesaving chemo treatment, airplane flights, important sports events, and so much more.

Jerry Alhadeff, owner of the Palace Theater in Friday Harbor, shares Buck’s grave concerns. “My wife, unfortunately, is experiencing cancer. Due to ferry cancellations and delays, it’s difficult for us to get to the appointments necessary. And you have to get your treatments. When the ferry doesn’t show up, can you imagine the turmoil? It’s very serious!”

During the COVID pandemic in 2020 Washington State Ferries, under Gov. Inslee’s directive, laid off over 200 crew members ranging from captains and mates to engineers and deckhands, citing safety concerns for refusing to take the vaccine. While the Governor and the ferry service will now welcome these experienced former ferry employees back, they must start out at the bottom rung, losing all seniority and any benefits associated with their former position.

“That was a stupid decision on his part, and you can quote me on that,” adds Buck. “What they should have done was mitigate instead. They should have said okay, if you don’t want to get vaccinated, because that’s a personal right, if you don’t want to be vaccinated then you have to be tested every day and you have to wear a mask every day at work. That’s how they should have mitigated it. They shouldn’t have fired those people. And they should be able to put those people, who are already trained, back into the positions they were in.”

Meanwhile, as the ferry service is actively recruiting new employees to work on the vessels, there is widespread expectation that this will take years to train people up to the requirements necessary to safely operate the ferries, and many expect that the new hires are going to primarily fill the positions of those retiring in the next several years, and not backfill the much-needed employees lost during COVID. This could mean the situation in the islands is going to continue to be bad for the next several years.

That’s unacceptable to many that live and work throughout these ferry-dependent island communities, and the employees that operate the ferries, as well.

Ordinary Seaman Bart Christie, who has worked on the San Juan Islands ferries for much of his career, says his biggest frustration is how ferry cancellations and delays are disrupting the community. “This is my biggest beef, and I’m ashamed of this. Here and Vashon are the only two places that need a ferry boat. Vashon has two accesses, Point Defiance to the south and Fauntleroy to the north. Everybody else you can drive around.”

“My beef is that this is their marine highway system for those two places, especially the San Juan Islands. I’ve talked to people that have been up here that have missed dialysis treatments. They’ve missed chemo treatments. Because of our lack of prioritizing. We are the marine highway system. That’s what we’re labeled as, and we are the only way for the island people to get off. That’s it!”

Christie suggests that when there is a shortage of crew in the San Juan’s “Shut down one boat, shut down two boats, heck shut down the entire system down sound, they can drive around if they have to. Obviously they wouldn’t shut down the whole system,” adds Christie, “but the point is you get the people up here, the crew you need to run the boat.”

“Last fall the Friday Harbor football team were playing Lynden, and they come down to get back home, and the last boat is canceled. The school district had to put them up in hotels. The coaches had to take money out of their own pockets to give them food. If I was a parent of a 15 or 16-year-old I would have been screaming at the Governor, screaming at the legislators.”

Friday Harbor resident Warren Appleton shared his frustration with the ferry service while offering a suggestion. “Our ferries are insecure in timing. We have appointments that we have to keep. Let’s say you want to go tomorrow morning, but the ferries aren’t running and there’s a ferry tonight, but you already have a reservation for tomorrow. You should be able to use (your reservation) tonight, and not be charged $19 tomorrow for not picking it up.”

“Instead of having just one day it should be from your ferry reservation 24 hours either way. You can say I’m going a day early but I don’t want to get charged because I didn’t cancel by five tonight. I’m going to catch the eight o’clock and going over the mainland so I can be at my doctor’s appointment and not depend on the ferries that may not run.”

Another suggestion floated by Christie and other ferry staff is to take the flex crew recently requested by the Governor’s office and “Let’s take all those people that we’ve got, an extra 60-70 people, and let’s put them on as actual crew on the vessels. So if somebody doesn’t show up, you’re covered. If we’re parked at the dock and the Chelan needs somebody we can give it to them, but we’re at the minimum of where we can sail, so if one person is gone, we’re gone.”