"We love our ferries." They connect us to the mainland with just enough inconvenience to keep us safe from "suburbia". Frankly, after even the shortest ferry ride, urban tensions drain away.
Two ferry routes serve Whidbey Island. The Mukilteo-Clinton run is the most heavily traveled of Washington's ferry routes, with 4.4 million person/vehicle "passengers" during 2000. The trip takes only 15 minutes. Keystone (Whidbey) to Port Townsend is also served by smaller, older ferries. This trip takes about 50-minutes.
The heart of Puget Sound and Whidbey Island are served by the ferry fleet of the Washington State Department of Transportation and are part of the largest ferry system in the United States. The Mukilteo (mainland side; when you live here, we say "America") to South Whidbey route is served by two of the states' six "Issaquah"-class ferries. One, the "Kittitas" (meaning "shoal people" in Chinook jargon), is an identical sister to the "Cathlamet" (named after a Chinook tribe). Each displace about 2,500 tons and are 328 feet long.
They carry up to 1,200 passengers and approximately 125 motor vehicles, on average. These vessels built at Seattle in 1980 and 1981, are powered by two diesel engines driving generators that power electric motors attached directly to the propeller shafts at either end of each vessel. When under way, the shafts at both ends "drive" reversible-pitch propellers through gear boxes with electronic controls. While auto ferries are esthetically "bulky", these vessels are extremely maneuverable for ships of this size - except in high winds.
Smaller and older ferries, more nautically-traditional, are used on the Keystone route (near Fort Casey) to Port Townsend, an interesting tourist town and once the major seaport in Washington. The smaller vessel, "Olympic", built in 1938, is diesel powered and holds approximately 55 vehicles. Others in use on this run were built earlier or later but have been refurbished. The trip takes 35-40 minutes, depending on wind and currents.
The Mukilteo-Clinton ferry operates every half hour from very early in the morning until late at night. The Keystone-Port Townsend ferry have only about 12-15 passages per day scheduled, depending upon tides and currents. The ferry system maintains toll-free information telephones. Call either 1-800-542-7052, or 1-800-542-0810.
A bus system, Island Transit, operates around most of Whidbey, north and south. The system is free to all riders. Scheduled buses leave the Clinton dock during the business day every half hour to take passengers along local South Whidbey routes and as far north as Oak Harbor, and beyond, to the Deception Pass State Park near the high bridge to Fidalgo Island and the mainland. Buses run daily, except Sunday and holidays. For more information on Island Transit, phone 360-321-6688, or 360-678-7771.
Copyright 2001. All rights reserved
