PORT TOWNSEND — High season is here. But the added Washingon State Ferries are not.
Usually, the Port Townsend ferry, which departs for Coupeville seven to 10 times daily in early spring, brings a second boat about May 9.
Departures from the Port Townsend dock increase to 15 per day.
This year, the city will have to wait another month before those ferry runs increase for the summer.
Full daily service with two boats will be added no sooner than June 6, WSF government relations director John Vezina has announced.
A short reprieve will come at the end of May, though: “Our goal is to provide two-boat service on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route over Memorial Day weekend, which would be Friday-Monday,” May 28-31, he noted.
“This is still dependent on crew availability,” Vezina added.
And there’s the problem. On the vessels serving this route — each carrying up to 64 vehicles plus foot passengers — 10 crew members must be on duty.
“We’re seeing significant issues with employees testing positive [for COVID-19] and having to quarantine,” Vezina said.
To compound the situation, WSF employees are entitled to take time off to get their immunizations.
That leaves the crew dispatcher with too few people to fill on-deck and engine-room shifts, Vezina said, adding the crew shortage has already led to canceled sailings across the ferry system.
“It’s frustrating for all of us,” he said.
The Port Townsend-to-Whidbey Island route is an important one for commuters — including those who can’t afford housing in Port Townsend, Vezina said.
“We’re people’s link to their chemo treatments, and to use the ferry to get to medical treatment and to Costco,” he acknowledged.
In downtown Port Townsend this past weekend, it looked like summertime already, with sunshine and shoppers from out of town.
“We’ve been open an hour and a half, and we’ve sold seven paintings,” Port Townsend Gallery artist JoAnn Raines said at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
The ferry brings a significant influx of people, she said, adding she hopes for a healthy tourist season, safety protocols and all.
The Port Townsend Gallery has masks and hand sanitizer on its front table and a maximum capacity of eight people. Those measures will “absolutely” stay in place, Raines said, until state and Jefferson County health officials lift them.
A few blocks up Water Street at the Lively Olive, owner Jeremy Wake — who bought the business five months before the pandemic began — is welcoming the new season.
In summer, tourists constitute 70 percent of his business, he estimated; in winter, it’s 40 percent.
“It’s been a tough year … but it’s picked up, almost back to normal,” Wake added.
Most people shopping for olive oils and balsamic vinegars don’t complain about the masking requirement, and the limit of six customers in the store hasn’t been a problem, he said.
“Ninety-nine percent of people understand what we’re going through,” Wake said. “There are a few outliers who give you grief.”
Through the winter, “local support literally carried us through,” he added.
“ ‘Shop local’ is a real thing in Port Townsend.”
In the downtown business district 47 miles west, the ferry situation is more stark. The MV Coho from Port Angeles to Victoria, B.C., has not sailed since March 29, 2020, and the U.S.-Canada border remains closed.
That has hurt merchants such as Cabled Fiber & Yarn, a First Street yarn and craft shop, but owners MarySue French and Beth Witters are beginning to find ways to bounce back.
Last summer, business was down 50 percent, French said, but thanks to local shoppers and the development of an online store, that decrease has slimmed to 20 percent.
Witters and French find that craft shops are meeting people’s need for things to do at home that don’t involve Netflix, as they put it.
“Knitting, crocheting, felting — there are a lot of sock knitters” out there, French added.
Gone are the tourists who would wander in while waiting for the Coho. Shops like Cabled Fiber & Yarn “are having to work harder,” she said.
On Saturday, which happened to be Local Yarn Store Day, Witters gave a heartfelt greeting to each person who made a purchase.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Without you, we wouldn’t be here.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.
