Saturday, August 3, 2013

Ferry between Victoria and Port Angeles

This is a picture of the present ferry to go between Victoria and Port Angeles. Since you are closer to the open sea it is a ship instead of a standard ferry. It has an opening on the right bow to drive motor homes, cars and trucks into and everyone exits at the stern at the end of the trip. You then (like other Puget Sound Ferries walk up sets of stairs into the main decks or you can go outside and walk on the deck if you are brave enough. The ship does move some so if you are walking around inside or on the deck out deep into the Puget sound try to have something to grab onto if it lurches when you aren't ready for it. Many places there are various things you can grab onto if you need to all around inside and outside of the main decks. Also, if water is coming over the bow the deck is going to get slippery so be aware of this too. I had to be a little careful going on the deck out onto the bow because I was wearing the wrong shoes. I didn't slip or go down but I was very careful from years of sailing and mountain climbing and walking on slippery rocks at mountains and at the beach and everywhere in between. You can buy food on board and you can read or whatever else you might want to do while crossing to Port Angeles or back again. The trip takes 1 1/2 hours to make.

My wife talked to a man about our age with a girlfriend on Vancouver Island that is a famous artist that she knew of when he mentioned her. He said that the price of the Ferries is increasing and drying up business from all but the wealthiest travelers. For example, for a full size 4wd pickup truck 6 passenger with a full bed was 99 dollars for the two of us to cross one way. However, likely it would be much cheaper if you drove to Vancouver, the City and then took a ferry to Vancouver Island. That way you would go through customs on the land U.S. , Canadian border. So, unless you are trying to go to the San Juan Islands or going to Port Angeles like we wanted to to see the Olympic Rainforest, you could drive through the traffic of the greater Seattle area and Tacoma and go that way instead for it maybe to cost less that way. Also, I think if you travel for example to Port Angeles from Victoria without a vehicle it is only about 17 to 20 dollars or less also one way. There is plenty of bus service and cabs in Victoria also if you do this. So, this also could reduce your costs of your trip to Canada (or to the U.S. if you are Canadian). Or if you are from any country on earth traveling through this area. Also, this ferry gets booked up more than the other ones especially on weekends so be sure to get a reservation online or by calling 24 hours or more before the day you want to travel either from Victoria to Port Angeles or the other way. For example, yesterday I wanted to leave at 10:30 am and couldn't because they were full up. My wife then called and made a reservation for tonight. However, when I went the the office in Victoria literally everyone standing in line with me was upset because the best they could get was stand by which was no guarantee that they were going to be able to go and likely would have to catch the next one around 6 or 7 am in the morning on Sunday.

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