Memorial Day traditionally means the arrival of summer crowds desiring to board a Washington state ferry en route to a long weekend of fun.
Adding sunshine and blue skies to this three-day weekend can mean traffic backups on Friday afternoons and evenings westbound and again on Monday, eastbound, as travelers return home. To meet these additional demands, the state Transportation Department’s Ferries Division will provide extra service on key routes but travelers should still expect some delay at their ferry dock.
On May 22, the Sealth, working as the inter-island ferry in the San Juan Islands, will drop off traffic at Lopez Island at 7:05 p.m. and head to Anacortes to make an extra 8 p.m. sailing to Friday Harbor. The Hyak will pick up traffic at Lopez at 7:25 p.m.
On May 23, the Chelan will make an extra sailing to Lopez Island at 3 p.m.
On May 26 — Memorial Day — the Anacortes/San Juan Islands routes will operate on a Sunday schedule, which will provide an additional sailing from Orcas Island in the afternoon at 4:15 p.m. The inter-island ferry Sealth will pick up Anacortes-bound vehicles out of Friday Harbor at 5:40 p.m., Orcas vehicles bound for Anacortes at 6:30 p.m., Shaw traffic at 6:45 p.m. and Lopez traffic at 7:05 p.m. (after dropping off any inter-island traffic) and will sail to Anacortes, arriving at 7:45 p.m. The Hyak will pick up inter-island traffic from Lopez Island at 7:25 p.m.
For information on schedules and up-to-date traffic information, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries, or call 1-888-808-7977 or 511.
Sealth replaces Hiyu on Sunday
The 34-car Hiyu is being replaced by the 90-car Sealth on the inter-island Sunday evening.
With this change, the following actions will occur:
— The Hyak will no longer make an Eastbound 11:35 a.m. stop at Lopez.
— The 11:40 a.m. inter-island sailing from Friday Harbor will have no restrictions, with all inter-island stops allowed.
— The Sealth will add an unscheduled stop eastbound at Shaw at 9:35 a.m. (This stop was removed off the inter-island spring schedule to accommodate the slower Hiyu).
— The Sealth will also make an unscheduled stop westbound at Shaw at 4:15 p.m. (This stop was also taken off the schedule due to the slower Hiyu).
