Lengthy ferry strains mark sunny, heat vacation weekend – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

At peak times, the waiting time for a ferry on Saturday was up to three hours.

Nice weather, fewer boats, even some migrating whales put pressure on the state ferry system.

Lines were long, especially compared to last year at the height of the pandemic.

And with the beautiful weather, crossing the Puget Sound was a magnet for many people.

Even if you didn’t know it was a bank holiday weekend, given the long ferry lines, you could probably have guessed it.

“My waiting time today was maybe about an hour,” said Robin Chaloupka, who drove to Poulsbo. “I assume that we will wait a little longer before we continue.”

“Yeah, we waited an hour in line just to get here and now wait another 30, 40 minutes,” said Ryan Fuller of Edmonds. “Happy Memorial Day!”

And that’s relatively short. Some waiting times reached their maximum of three hours on this Saturday.

Still, a Washington State soldier who sniffed his K9 explosives and found none says traffic has declined compared to before the pandemic.

“We saw less traffic yesterday I think,” said trooper Scott Legler. “Ordinarily, the traffic we see today would have been a lot more yesterday as well.”

And they expect even more on Sunday and Monday.

“It’s been a busy weekend across the ferry system on all of our routes,” said Dana Warr, a spokeswoman for Washington State Ferry. “We have some tide cancellations because of the King Tide that is in progress.”

Not to mention “pods of orcas and gray whales that slowed the ferries down a bit,” he said.

In addition, there are some boats that are in operation and some are being replaced by smaller ships. The best advice?

“Be patient,” says Warr. “Be nice to the people out there trying to get you from A to B.”

This is something an Edmonds woman did by walking into a long line.

“You know, sleep in,” said Emily Peterson, “doing a few loads of laundry and enjoying my coffee felt a little nicer than rushing to the door.”

Even if it might not look or feel like it, we are still in the middle of a pandemic.

So the same federal rules apply on board the ferry: wear your mask, stay in your vehicle, and only travel if absolutely necessary.

But for the pandemic wearies, travel became essential this Memorial Day weekend.

© 2021 Cox Media Group