Glad I wasn't on board...

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Sec...66&TM=25492.92

It happens. It is one of the things that makes life on an island "challenging".

Last weekend the Nantucket car ferry "Eagle", loaded with passengers from cancelled airplanes and fast ferries, had to turn around and return to Hyannis after a couple of hours trying to cross in a major storm. Food was reportedly falling off the shelves in the snack bar, and there were many seasick people. Finally, after 5 hours on what should have been a 2 hour and fifteen minute trip, they were back where they started. The storm lasted another 24 hours while people sat in mainland hotels.

This kind of thing happens every three or four years. We had our own similar trip on Christmas Eve in the late 1990's.

Consider carefully if you can deal with this kind of stuff before you move to an island.

If the bow was underwater, I suppose that means the car deck was awash, as well.

Anything being done, I wonder, to help out the owners of the salt-water soaked vehicles?

I'm not familiar with the Snohomish, but I believe it is a passenger-only ferry---they describe it as an aluminum-hulled catamaran.

They have taken the car ferries off that route for repairs.

Yes, the Snohomish is a passenger-only ferry...Port Townsend is currently without car ferry service, which is a major problem for a lot of folks. Hopefully this will be rectified before the summer tourist season starts, but right now it looks as though even then the trplacement car ferry will have a far smaller auto capacity than previously. The 80 year old "steel-hulled electrics" which served the run previously (and which served the SF Bay area before the Golden Gate bridge was built) were discovered to have rusted-out hulls, and have been permanently decommissioned. Too bad, as these were generally nice old boats with a lot of character.

I'm glad to hear that it's a people-only boat!

Not that frightening a ferry full of people is a good thing. But think how much worse it would have been for those who'd driven on to end the trip by climbing into their salt-water saturated car!

Salt water and delicate mechanical and electronic equipment do *not* mix well!

Even the big ferries sometimes have water wash over the car deck. It happened this past October off Mukilteo, WA:

http://media.komotv.com/images/071019_ferry_wind.jpg

http://www.pcox.net/blog/wp-content/ferry%209.jpg

As Mark Twain said, "the rumors of my death are greatly exagerated". The Puget Sound ferries do have troubles, yes, but most travel in protected waters and are not often subject to heavy seas. They should, certainly, be replaced due to generalized old age but still run dependably for all the many people who use them to commute.