M/V Sally Fox- Vashon Water Taxi

So we have a new Water Taxi (as of April 2015).

The M/V Sally Fox is a lovely vessel.
In the past the 5:30 has often been full during midweek rides.  Thus, being turned away after the last minute and having to wait an hour for another boat.  However, with the larger capacity (over 200!) of The Sally Fox  no one will beturned away from a full boat.  Ridership is up (so maybe over time we will fill it??) and I get why.
No more super stinky bathrooms.
No more damp (and moldy?) carpeting.
No more anxious fear that you aren't going to get on.
No more leaving work a bit early to make sure you get in the front of the line...


Thanks King County Tax Payers.
I really appreciate your support!

Want to know more:

King County Water Taxi
Wikipedia link on the water taxi

More on the Commute details...

REVISION: As of April 2015 there is a new larger capacity Water Taxi.  The information regarding capacity is incorrect. For my updated post look HERE

I got a received several questions about some of the details of our daily commute to/from Vashon by way of the Water Taxi.   I figured I would offer the answers here...

 I'm a bit worried to hear that the 5:30 fills up.....do they often turn people away?  

     So it is true that the 5:30pm boat does sometimes fill up, but not often!  Because of that people line up a tad bit earlier, but in general this is now pretty rare.   Just over 2 years ago the Melissa Anne (the name of the PO boat) got approved to take on more passengers which apparently helped significantly. I think that the story that the 5:30pm boat fills up a lot is a leftover from that.  Again, it does happen but not all the time.

     Apparently, there is another boat being built that will hold more people.  . Often I arrive at the line at 5:25 and am fine. In two years time I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen people get turned away.  The 4:30 does sometimes also get filled up, but again not very often.   In fact, that is the one time I have been turned away and granted I was rushing down the pier at 4:29...

     Keep in mind that major events can impact this.  If there is an early Seahawks game on TV people want to get home and watch it- they also want to get out of the city earlier.  Also, my impression is that Tuesdays and Wednesdays there are more commuters to/from Vashon. I think that a lot of Islanders have jobs that have flexible work days- but most people who work in Seattle go in on one of the those days.  I also once heard one of the Water Taxi Workers jokingly say, "I am not sure that anyone who lives on Vashon works on Fridays."

how early folks assemble for the morning ride....any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated!"

People don't line up for the 8:15am boat.  It's a pretty chill affair at 8:15am.  I just get off the bus and walk onto the boat usually.  So there is no early assembly.

The 7:10 and 6:10 are a tad bit different of a story...These boats do not regularly fill up now that the boat capacity is larger, but people line up and wait to get on the boat.  From what I've been told (thanks Stephanie!) you can run down the dock at 7:09am and be just fine...

Any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated

Finally, the most important thing is to go onto the KingCounty Water Taxi Webpage and sign up to get text alerts if anything is weird about the boats.    Thus, if a boat is cancelled, delayed, broken down etc you get an alert beforehand so then you can troubleshoot. You can call work, work from home, catch a ferry, try to drive to work etc.

This is really important! This past winter we had weeks and weeks of cancellations, or delays. These texts saved our sanity.


Life on an Island with boats and water is wild! We had one day where the boat filled up, went to the Island and then the waters were too rough to land, so everyone hauled it back to Seattle....things like that are just part of the flexibility you must have!  Our childcare provider is flexible, we are flexible...life must retain a sense of welcoming the parts you cannot control.

Rough day to commute

At 6:50 this morning I got a text message from the King County Water taxi.  -Cancelled from the rough wind. All water taxi rides this morning were cancelled.

I took the bus to the ferry, hopped the ferry, got on another bus, and then another bus, and arrive at work quite late.  It threw a wrench in many Islander commutes!

This afternoon, sitting at my desk I get another text message, "the Vashon route of the Water Taxi has been canceled tonight due to weather conditions."  Thank God I am working late anyway!

It has been a rough fall for WT cancellations.  The wind has been bad, the fog has been worse and in general I feel like I am telling my work too often that the boat was late or whatever...I hate that feeling.


This is the life of Island people. Flexibility around the water, reminders that nature is bigger than you are.  It is annoying, no doubt, but I don't have ANY desire to end up in a life jacket floating around Puget Sound waiting for the Coast Guard to rescue me.

My only wish really, is that the Water Taxi would tell us something about how the decision is made.  I found this information, the marine forecast, on the national weather service website: (http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=pzz135&syn=pzz100)

 PZZ135-040615-
 PUGET SOUND AND HOOD CANAL-
 300 PM PST TUE DEC 3 2013
 
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING
 

 TONIGHT
 NE WIND 15 TO 25 KT EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.
 WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS.

 WED
 NE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS.

 WED NIGHT
 NE WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING SE AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES
 1 FT OR LESS.

 THU
 SE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.

 THU NIGHT
 SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.

 FRI
 NE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.

 FRI NIGHT
 NE WIND 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING N 10 TO 15 KT AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.

 SAT
 SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS.

 SUN
 S WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
 
 $$

My guess is that this forecast is what makes the decision for if the boat goes or not,  with a little bit of hunting on wind conditions in the PNW I also found this

http://www.sailflow.com/en-us/Search/ViewResults.aspx#47.498,-122.559,10,1

Which makes me think it must be VERY windy on Alki Point in West Seattle.
So there it is. The reason the boat doesn't run...(or is it?)

Vashon/Seattle Commute- The dynamics of commuting with exactly the same people every day

I was at a meeting in September and a professor of cultural studies (or something like that) was telling a story and she said, "...in the Pacific Northwest People show respect by giving you privacy..."

I have often thought of this since then.  It is so true.   The life of someone who commutes on Vashon is that you commute with the same 200 people every day.  I suppose there might be tad more people than that, but generally it's  true. There are many many many faces of Vashon Island people that I recognize because I see them on the bus, boat, ferry, etc. but for the most part I don't talk to them.

When you commute on/off of Vashon to Seattle you have some choices.  Where you sit on the boat, what you do, if you talk etc are all part of the choices you make daily.  There are people on the boat who play cribbage, who talk politics, who discuss their bikes, etc.  There are others who will chat only with a selective friend or so.  And then, there is the large majority of people who are quiet.  Reading, sleeping, playing games on your phone are all acceptable.

Sean and I are the quiet commuters.  We talk to each other and once in a great while we will talk to a friend (but seriously not much).  It is our alone time or our couple time.  I always have a book or magazine in my bag and move on.

Now that we know the faces of those we commute with there is an unspoken recognition that you are a reader or a quite rider.  There are some random people we talk with for a minute...Joke about the weather, or comment about an overheard something or other...that is life with people you see every day. But in general I like the privacy as a way of respect thing.  It works for me.  It works for my commute.

Vashon-West Seattle/Fauntleroy and Vashon-Downtown Seattle

So I feel like non- Islanders just don't quite get how transit on and off the Island works here. SO here's how it goes.

Washington State Ferry

The primary way that people get on and off Vashon Island is through the Washington State Ferries. These ferries, operated by the State are for: walk on passengers, automobiles, trucks, motorcycles and leashed pets (though they are only allowed on the car deck.  They run very frequently and wait is not usually very long (the pattern during the day seems to be 20min.20min.40min).  There are Washington State Ferry docks at the North End of Vashon Island and at the South End of Vashon Island (Talequah-Pt. Defiance/Tacoma). For this post I will only discuss the north end transit options as those are the ones in and out of Seattle.

Every once in awhile there are quirks with the ferries.  Sometimes a boat is broken or enough crew members are sick that the boats don't run as frequently. Then they revert to a two boat schedule.  This has only happened a handful of times this year.  One was Christmas Eve, we waited for hours and hours! It also happened Sept. 7- I only remember the date because we had a housewarming party at the time.  I know there were a couple of others but it wasn't that relevant to us.

The Washington State Ferry from the North End of Vashon goes to a road in Seattle called Fauntleroy which is in the West Seattle Neighborhood- in fact I think that the neighborhood is actually called Fauntleroy as well.  This is key to know!  Fauntleroy is West Seattle!  West Seattle, depending on the time of day is at least 20 minutes from downtown and at rush hour can be over an hour in your own car.

You can also take the bus- the red line- too and from downtown Seattle the the ferry dock. That take awhile but it very convenient, as it drops off in the heart of the city.  There are a couple of other buses that run from downtown to Vashon, I have only ever taken the 116 from downtown and it drops off right at the dock as well.

You do NOT have to pay to leave the Island on the Washington State Ferry.  Because it is pretty much the only way on and off the Island they just double charge when you go TO the island.  The fees can be hefty to get to the Island. As Islanders we buy a 10 ride pass and it is a bit cheaper. It is definitely part of the cost of living though.  To just walk on to Vashon Island it is about 5 bucks for an adult. Oh, little kids ride free too. That's handy!

Water Taxi

There is another option to get to Downtown, which is what I take almost daily. This is called the King County Water Taxi.  The water taxi is a passenger only (and bikes too) boat. It is sometimes called the P.O. This hold about 150 people and departs Vashon/Seattle 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening.  It takes passengers from Vashon to right downtown. Many people who ride it work downtown or others like me hop a quick bus to nearby locations. The 5:30pm boat sometimes fills and they have to send people away. I'm sure it happens other times as well but my instinct is that is the most frequent boat to fill.

In evening you line up along the dock and then board accordingly.  Almost everyone has an Orca card to board the boat- but both docks in Seattle and on Vashon allow you to purchase a pass or you can pay cash as you board.  Many people take bikes on this boat. They are the last to unload at the arriving dock.  Buses on Vashon drop people off in the AM about 10 minutes before the PO leaves and pick up the evening as well.  Frankly it is hella convenient.  The ride on the PO boat is just over 20 minutes to downtown- assuming the weather is normal and such!

The problem with the PO at this point is that it breaks down with some frequency. They are building a new one that is bigger- but at this point it runs like a used car.  Kinda reliable, mostly reliable, but a bit wonky at times.

Parking on Vashon
So on another note is parking on Vashon. There is a short term and a long term (two weeks) parking lot that are a short walk (up/down hill) from the ferry. It is max a 10 minute walk.  Because we now take the bus we don't utilize this anymore, but last year we were driving every morning and there was always parking.  We have also parked our car in the long term for a week or so while on a trip.  Pretty handy I must say!

All in all, it works out smoothly more than not!
Are there other things I should address? Seems like you, reader, probably know the questions you have!

The Vashon---Seattle Commute- It's normal

One of the wonderful things about Vashon is how everyone makes it work.

Kids on the water taxi, having Island cars and city cars, working for lower wages on Island, working from home some part of the week...

How people live on the Island and still manage to pay their bills is one of the things we Islanders talk about. One of our neighbors works in Everett and drives up and back 5 days a week. It must take him about 2 hours.

And, because we islanders talk about how we all make it work, we have this way of normalizing it for one another.  At work (in Seattle) my colleagues seem dumbfounded by my commute. How I (and my partner) make it work with kids, childcare, water taxi, buses, ferry rides, working nights sometimes baffles them.  But to Islanders it is all on the spectrum of normal.  And, that is pretty cool.