Editor’s note: This article is for the April Fools edition of the Journal and is not real news. Satirical articles will be labeled with this editor’s note, while real stories will not include a note about April Fools’ Day.

By Heater Ball-Ding

Gerbil staff reporter

The Washington State Department of Transportation recently announced that as a result of much-needed repair work on multiple vessels, the ferries servicing Anacortes and the San Juan Islands will be down to two boats from June 1 until Sept. 8.

“We did our best to anticipate breakdowns and maintenance this year,” said Bruce Siccamore, Communication director for the WSDOT, noting that the two remaining boats will be the Hyak, built in 1967, which holds 144 vehicles, and the Yakima, built in 1967, refurbished in 2015, also with a vehicle capacity of 144.

“Reservations will be required on all sailings,” Siccamore stated. “With these vessel cutbacks, there will be no extra availability for drive-ups.” People must be in line, he added, three hours prior to departure.

There will be two schedules a week: A Monday-through-Wednesday schedule and a Thursday-through-Sunday one to accommodate the influx of weekend visitors.

“We think this year will be much smoother than last year,” Siccamore said.

Schedule:

WESTBOUND, MONDAY-WEDNESDAY

Anacortes 6:20 a.m., Lopez 7:10 a.m., Shaw 7:30 a.m.. Orcas 7:55 a.m., Friday Harbor 8:40 a.m., Anacortes 7:45 p.m., Lopez 8:35 p.m., Shaw 8:50 p.m., Orcas 9:15 p.m., Friday Harbor 10 p.m.

WESTBOUND, THURSDAY-SUNDAY

Anacortes at 6:20 a.m., Lopez 7:10 a.m, Shaw 7:30 a.m., Orcas 7:55 a.m., Friday Harbor 8:40 a.m., Anacortes 11:25 a.m., Lopez 12:15 p.m., Shaw 12:40 p.m., Orcas 1:05 p.m., Friday Harbor 1:50 p.m., Anacortes at 4:05 p.m., Lopez 4:55 p.m., Shaw 5:20 p.m., Orcas 5:45 p.m., Friday Harbor 6:30 p.m,. Anacortes 8:50 p.m.

EASTBOUND, MONDAY-WEDNESDAY

Friday Harbor 8:05 a.m., Orcas, 8:50 a.m., Shaw 9:15 a.m., Lopez 9:40 a.m., Anacortes at 10:30 a.m., Friday Harbor 5:25 p.m., Orcas 6:10 p.m, Shaw 6:40 p.m., Lopez 7:05 p.m., Anacortes 7:55 p.m.

EASTBOUND, THURSDAY-SUNDAY

Friday Harbor 8:05 a.m., Orcas 8:50 a.m., Shaw 9:15 a.m., Lopez 9:40 a.m., Anacortes 10:30 a.m.,Friday Harbor 12:20 p.m., Orcas 1:05 p.m., Shaw 1:30 p.m, and Lopez 1:55 p.m., Anacortes 2:45 p.m., Friday Harbor 5:25 p.m., Orcas, 6:10 pm., Shaw 6:40 p.m, Lopez 7:05 p.m., Anacortes 7:55 p.m., Friday Harbor 8:05 p.m., Orcas 8:50 p.m., Shaw 9:15 p.m. Lopez 9:35 p.m., Anacortes 10:25 p.m.