PORT TOWNSEND — The Chilkat Express passenger ferry has zoomed riders between Seattle and Port Townsend for more than two months, but company officials say sales are at half-speed.
“We’re running about 50 percent of what our expectations were,” Chilkat Cruises and Tours President Bill Fletcher said Thursday. “It hasn’t taken off quite the way we hoped.”
Empty seats have been the norm on the 63-passenger ferry, which has averaged between 10 passengers and 20 passengers per trip, Fletcher said.
The catamaran hydrofoil can cruise up to 40 knots and make the crossing from Port Townsend to Seattle in 45 minutes.
Chilkat Cruises, which is based in Haines, Alaska, is running the new service from November through March in Port Townsend.
The passenger ferry makes one round-trip run on Fridays and two each on Saturdays and Sundays, departing from the fuel dock at the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven.
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