What is going on with the ferries ? If you call WSF, or look at the WSDOT website, you get an identical message that the ferries are on an alternate schedule “due to a global mariner shortage made worse by the pandemic.” Really ? That’s not what the Sounder says. My local newspaper says it’s because they fired 121 staff members due to vaccination issues, when they were already having staff shortages. Seriously ? As someone who has used the Washington State Ferries since the early ’70s, I can tell you there was a time when the ferry system was a matter of great pride to this amazing state. Now it seems like a running (or not running) joke. It doesn’t have to be, and overall, the ferries are still the lifeblood of the islands, but please get it together WSF, and tell the truth while you are at it.

Tom Wheeler

Eastsound