PORT TOWNSEND — Battered by high winds and unforgiving seas Sunday night, the Mystic Sea made its passenger-only service debut Monday afternoon under fair winds and following seas.
The inaugural round trip Monday transported nearly 20 riders — some who waited overnight after extreme weather canceled the final 50-car Steilacoom II car ferry runs after 5 p.m. Sunday.
The 100-foot Mystic Sea will run this month in place of the car ferry, in for its annual Coast Guard inspection and maintenance.
The Steilacoom II will be in dry dock at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle during January, leaving the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run to passenger service only.
Temporary barge
Bad weather Sunday delayed work on a temporary barge that is now being used as a dock with a gangway to adapted the Port Townsend and Keystone car-ferry terminals for walk-on passenger loading.
“If you have 25- to 30-knot winds you’ll have to shut it down,” said Monte Hughes, co-owner/operator of Anacortes’ Mystic Sea Charters with his wife, Cindy.
He drove the vessel across Admiralty Inlet after it launched about 12:30 p.m.
The plan was to launch at 6:15 a.m., but the barge preparation was delayed Sunday night after the Steilacoom II was taken out of service.
“It was brutal. [Waves] were coming over us,” Hughes said after greeting the first eight passengers who bought tickets at the toll booth and walked on.
He said ropes that normally tie up the vessel at the barge broke when winds and high waves swamped it Sunday night.
Heavier lines had to be used.
Maiden voyage
The Mystic Sea smoothly sailed the 25-minute run at 12 knots, and Hughes said, “We can do 15 knots with an easy tide.”
As it is now, the vessel swings around to land at the barge in Port Townsend, dodging dolphin pilings on the way out. It must back out of Keystone Harbor, which is known for its shallow, narrow depth and tricky currents at ebb tide.
That won’t be the main point of concern, said Mystic Charter Capt. Jon Franklin, who is also a commercial fisherman when he is not working for Hughes.
“It’s getting passengers on and off that’s going to be the main concern,” he said, especially with the temporary barge dock in Port Townsend.
“When the weather comes up, passengers are especially exposed in Port Townsend.”
The walk-on gangway and dock have been located at the service dock, next to the car-ferry landing, requiring passengers to walk across the parking lot, down the gangway and onto the barge, with Washington State Ferries workers leading the way.
Passengers boarded safely early Monday afternoon in calm, dry, overcast weather.
The delay that left a sizable gap in Admiralty Inlet ferry travel left some passengers waiting on both ends of the run.
“I tried catching the 5:15 [Sunday] but it got canceled,” said Jeff Willis, or Anacortes, who was visiting Sequim and Port Townsend over the weekend.
Tim and Kelly Powers of Oak Harbor were only planning to visit family Sunday in Port Townsend but ended up staying and were in the terminal waiting room most of the morning doing just that — waiting.
Once they rode the Mystic Sea, they liked the smooth sailing.
Jessica DeGarmo, a Port Townsend resident who will be commuting to Skagit Valley Community College, said she was testing transportation to school and found the ferry ride comfortable as she relaxed listening to music and reading.
“I’m figuring out the bus and ferry schedule,” she said, adding that she would be commuting for at least a college quarter.
“I will be able to get a lot of my studying done on the buses and ferry.”
Dave Grimmer, Northwest Maritime Center board vice president in Port Townsend, took Island Transit and found that it connected with the Keystone ferry from Coupeville with five minutes to spare, allowing him to conveniently board the vessel without having to wait.
“I pretty much got off the bus and walked on,” he said
Washington State Ferries has kept the same number of nine round trips, adjusting the Port Townsend/Keystone passenger-only sailing schedule to meet transit buses on the both sides:
Leaving Port Townsend at 6:20 a.m., 8:15 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:50 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 7 p.m., and 8:30 p.m.
The boat will leave Keystone at 7:10 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 1:10 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 4:35 p.m., 6:10 p.m., 7:45 p.m., and 9:15 p.m.
Customers looking for information on transit connections can call Island Transit at 360-321-6688, extension 3, or toll free at 800-240-8747, or Jefferson Transit at 800-371-0497.
Passenger fares will remain the same at $2.60 each way.
________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com
