For the most part, riding the Washington State Ferry service is a pleasant affair. You drive onto one end of the ferry, let the workers chock your car, then you head up into the passenger cabin for a snack, something warm to drink, and if it’s a nice day in the Puget Sound region, you can head out onto one of the decks and enjoy the cool salt air as you cruise to your next destination. The ferry system that Washington State has is impressive and every time I’ve used them, I’ve enjoyed the trip.
Then again, I haven’t ridden the ferries in the middle of a windstorm. Earlier this week, a windstorm swept through the Puget Sound region, bringing gusts that varied between 40 and nearly 80 miles an hour. Traveler Shari Ray was on board one of the ferries that traveled between Anacortes, Washington, the San Juan Islands and Sydney, British Columbia as the winds whipped up and got a way-too-close look at the waves crashing over the roll-on/roll-off port and into a GM SUV and a Ford Escape. If the visuals of salty water cascading off of the fenders isn’t enough to hit you in the stomach, let me put it into context: I have never, ever heard a Washington State Ferry captain or safety officer come over the P.A. system to tell everyone to remain seated…ever. Next stop: high-pressure car wash with under-car sprayers…
Video courtesy KOMO-4 (Seattle)’s YouTube channel.
Having taken the 15mile trip on the Cape May Ferry numerous times, it can get a little “sporty”… this was getting extreme. It seemed the captain altered his course but there will still be ” clean ups in axle 7″.
When I was on the USS Nimitz deployed in 2007 we were in a typhoon off of the coast of India, we actually had swells going over the flight deck that week. Needless to say all flight operations were cancelled.
Wow up here in BC a sea gull farts and they cancel the ferries that looks like a good time