Washington ferry service slowly returning to Vancouver Island

By the end of April, Victoria's Inner Harbour will look a bit more like it did in the time before COVID-19 with the return of another Washington state ferry.

The FRS Clipper, which runs between downtown Seattle and downtown Victoria, is scheduled to start sailing again on the weekend of April 15, with a transition to daily service planned for April 22. 

It joins the MV Coho, which resumed its route between Port Angeles, Wash., and downtown Victoria last November. 

Both the Clipper and Coho are run by private companies. The service between Anacortes, Wash., and Sidney, B.C., operated by Washington State Ferries, a division of the state's department of transportation, is still not running. 

It hasn't been an easy ride for international ferries⁠ recently. 

The Clipper briefly restarted service in September 2021 but shut down after just a month due to low demand. CEO David Gudgel says there were several factors at play, including the fact that the U.S. border was still closed to Canadians, and COVID numbers were on the rise again.

But the outlook is a bit more positive this time.

"We were starting at the beginning of Delta [in September], and this time we're on the backside of Omicron," Gudgel said.

Ryan Burles, president of Black Ball Ferry Line, which runs the MV Coho, says it started sailing when the U.S. border opened in November partly because the company secured COVID relief funding from Washington state. 

"We knew there would be a big push for snowbirds going south, and we got that push," Burles said, but added that testing requirements for entry into Canada mean "leisure travel, day travel, is pretty well dead." 

All travellers, regardless of nationality, are required to test negative for COVID before crossing into Canada.

On Feb. 28, the federal government changed the type of test required⁠ from a PCR test to the rapid antigen test, which is cheaper and generally easier to source. The test must be taken the day before entry (or within 72 hours for PCR tests). 

Burles says the Coho, which is currently making two round-trips a day, would normally ramp up to three in mid-May and four in mid-June — but he's hesitant to hire the staff for the extra trips if he doesn't know yet what demand will be like in the summer. 

The Clipper will only sail one round trip per day for the whole year. It would normally make two trips, but Gudgel says demand, and the extra time it takes to process passengers who have to show test results, means it's simpler to stick to one. 

Health Canada has not indicated when the testing requirement will be dropped. In a statement, it said the government would "continue to assess the evolving situation at home and globally, monitor case data, and adjust border measures as required."

Anacortes-Sidney out of service indefinitely

For Vancouver Islanders hoping to get to the San Juan Islands, seasonal ferry service is still suspended.

Washington State Ferries usually runs nine months of the year from Anacortes to Sidney, with stops at Friday Harbour on San Juan Island. But the service is unlikely to begin again in time for summer.

This week, a statement from the public ferry service said the suspension is ongoing "due to continued significant crewing and vessel availability challenges."

Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith says it's disappointing for businesses who won't get the tourist traffic, and for locals who won't be able to make a quick trip to see friends and family in Washington. But he's still hoping the service will return, maybe for the end of this season. 

"It'll be gradual coming out of this pandemic. We have seen lots of other things resume," said McNeil-Smith.

The ferry service first started in 1922 and Sidney and Anacortes, which are sister cities, were planning on celebrating 100 years of connection this year.