Accidentally I left the Washington State Ferries (WSF) alerts system on. Most folks use this while booked on an upcoming ferry ride. Of course, I went to turn it off and was inundated with a huge number of alerts, mostly about late-running boats but also lately, about many canceled runs. Of course, islanders know this first-hand, but for some lack of restraint on my part, I left it on, letting it become almost a form of entertainment.

The excuses are the same ones you have been hearing for years, so the repetitive words “Crew shortage” “Inconvenience” “Breakdown” “Shortage” “Running 20/40/90 min late” and “Cancelled” do get ludicrous.

It seems WSF also has problems with an “IT Department.” Well sure. I think the Canadians must have a good ferry IT Department; maybe we could use that one? Yes, and maybe we could cede the Sidney run to the Canadians, and maybe like jurisdictions bundling their police car/fire truck/ambulance type orders, we could bundle our boat orders with the Canadians since they have far better boats at 2/3rds what we pay. Yes, let the Canadians do it all.

I wish I were joking.

Pete Groves

San Juan Island