This is some important information when you stay in Sequim on vacation and plan to take the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island. We did that several times in the past not just to see our friends from Hawaii on Whidbey but also to get to know the island. Whidbey Island is beautiful and definitely worthwhile a visit, and so is Port Townsend.
Here is what happened. The two older ferries - already 80 years old - were taken out off service last year November for safety reasons. Now it's only the 325-passenger, 54-car Steilacoom II, which is replacing 2 ferries. To help dealing with traffic from Port Townsend to Whidbey a ferry reservation system has been started by the Washington State Ferries, which seems to be working, at least so far and proved valuable over busy Memorial Day weekend.
However, the busy vacation time on the Olympic Peninsula and surrounding areas has just started. Time will show whether the reservation system will hold up for the busy summer vacation time, when cars have been ling up in the past. Here is how you can make your ferry reservation from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island in order to save yourselves trouble and inconvenience waiting for a ferry you can get on.
You can go online to the Washington State Ferries Internet home page or by phoning 888-808-7977 (toll free), 206-464-6400 or 5-1-1 between 7am and 9pm daily to make sure to get on the ferry you have pllaned to take. I read on the Peninsula Daily News that the passengers who made the reservation received preferred boarding which makes sense when implementing this reservation system.
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