PORT TOWNSEND – The ferry Nisqually will be taken out of service on Monday to remove concrete from the vessel’s hull for Coast Guard inspection, cutting the Port Townsend-Keystone route to one boat.
Only the ferry Klickitat will operate between Port Townsend and Keystone on Whidbey Island.
The seasonal change to one ferry is generally 20 days later, so the change is happening earlier this year.
“We are advising people to check the wait times online, which are going to be updated regularly to give people a feel for what traffic is like in Port Townsend and Keystone,” said Hadley Green, Washington State Ferries community relations manager.
Schedules, ferry wait times and other information are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.
The two-boat run will continue through the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival this weekend, which ferries officials say is one of the busiest ferry traffic weekends of the year for the route.
The early one-ferry run is the result of Coast Guard inspectors declining to approve another extension for the Nisqually to have concrete in its hull removed.
The Coast Guard ordered the move more than a month ago, but permitted extensions at the request of State Ferries.
The Coast Guard, which is the agency responsible for certifying the ferries as seaworthy, is complying with tighter maintenance and inspection regulations.
No date has been set for the Nisqually to return to service, Green said.
