Even as tourists travel to Port Townsend for the summer’s local events, Washington State Ferries have run the numbers and opted to reduce the Port Townsend/Coupeville route from two ferries to one at the end of this month, for at least a week, and possibly longer.

Ian Sterling, public information officer for WSF, grew up in the area and acknowledged that reducing ferry service during this time of year represents “bad timing” for Port Townsend.

“Between four to six sailings per day will be affected out of Port Townsend, depending on the day.”

All sailings on the Salish will be suspended, but fortunately, that’s the vessel that ties up first in the evening, when demand drops off.

While the Salish is capable of carrying 748 passengers and 64 vehicles, Sterling noted WSF never reaches its passenger capacity on the Port Townsend/Coupeville route, whose average passenger count, including drivers, for the month of June is around 100 people per sailing. “Vehicle space often fills up, though,” Sterling said. “Hence, the lower number of sailings cancelled,” Sterling said.

Sterling suggested traveling during off-hours, to avoid traffic, as well as taking advantage of the ferry’s capacity of walk-on riders.

Sterling says the Legislature declined to fund continued service for the ferry Hyak for the next biennium, which means it will remain in service through June 30, and then be decommissioned, leaving the WSF fleet with 22 vessels.

John Vezina, government relations director for WSF, said during the summer months 19 vessels are required for service, while two undergo planned maintenance and the last is used as a service relief.

“However, during the next couple of weeks, unexpected repairs identified during regular maintenance will keep two additional vessels out of service for the week of June 23, and perhaps longer, resulting in service reductions,” Vezina wrote in a note to legislators June 12.

Not only does the 39-year-old Kitsap require an overhaul and renewal of its ship service generator, which is currently 6,000 hours beyond its scheduled overhaul target of 40,000 hours, but the 60-year-old Tillikum requires an overhaul of both main diesel engines, which are 16,000 hours beyond their target overhaul interval of 30,000 hours.

To offer a sense of perspective on how old the Tillikum’s equipment is, Sterling explained the drive motors are World War II surplus.

“All these engine overhauls had previously been deferred from earlier scheduled dates,” Vezina said. “Further deferral places the agency at an unacceptably high risk for unplanned service disruptions during the summer season.”

Because the 38-year-old Cathlamet was delayed in the shipyard, due to structural repairs caused by previously deferred preservation work, Vezina acknowledged the sacrifices WSF has made to get that ship out of the shipyard before July 3.

Likewise, Vezina reported the 37-year-old Sealth requires extensive repairs to its main diesel engine block, based on inspections performed during its engine overhaul this May, which was deferred from October of last year.

In light of the condition of these ferries, as well as ridership and revenue analysis, Sterling is letting WSF riders know that service on the Port Townsend/Coupeville route will be reduced from two boats to one for the week starting June 23, and possibly longer, at the same time that WSF assigns a slightly smaller vessel to the San Juan Islands inter-island route.

“This was not our Plan A,” Sterling said. “The San Juan Islands still need a ferry, but Whidbey Island still has a bridge and the Edmonds/Kingston ferry, so it’s not as isolated an island.”

Vezina cited those analyses to tell the public the Port Townsend/Coupeville route has both the lowest estimated ridership and the lowest net revenue loss during this time of year.

“And while the San Juan Islands are incredibly busy in the summer, and they have already had a capacity reduction this spring, with four boats out of service, we don’t have another vessel available for the inter-island route,” Vezina said.

“Customers are strongly encouraged to make a reservation if they plan on sailing during this week,” Sterling said. “Space for standby vehicles will be available, but wait times could be significant. Travelers can also use Edmonds/Kingston as an alternate route.”

While existing reservation holders, whose original sailings have been cancelled, can change their reservations to a different sailing, Sterling added that those passengers also have the option to use their existing reservations to sail on the next departure after their original sailing.

To save yourself a spot, log onto secureapps.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Reservations/Vehicle/default.aspx