Southworth Ferry Terminal

I must say that I got a bit peeved on my trip.
They usually run two boats but one was down for repairs so the crossing was every hour. No biggie I thought as driving from Gig Harbor down and around to Seattle would have been brutal at best that time of the day.
When we got to the terminal there was only one big rig in the waiting line and the staging lanes were full for the next boat. The boat arrived as I pulled in behind the big rig. COOL one hour sure beats the parkinglot, um the freeway to drive from Gig Harbor to Seattle as per my GPS that would take 3 hours. It only took 40 minutes to get to the terminal from Gig.
Fully loaded, off she goes and we pull up to one of two booths to get in the lanes for loading. Now the fun started!
First car and the teller stops and holds us there. The other booth is loading lanes so the tellers start to argue about that. Meanwhile, the other booth continues to load lanes but NOT my booth. Finally my teller had enough and moved us on. Even with my panic we were first car in the center lane… WOW, CLOSE! (Gets better)
The boat returns and they load every vehicle except those in my lane! We have to wait ANOTHER hour so the vehicles that arrived WELL after I did got on. (REALLY? Yep)
Boat returns and they start loading other lanes AGAIN. I told the Officer that we were going to have major issues if I missed yet another boat. She smiled and said, «Don’t worry. I saw what happened. Your on for sure this time.» Those with a badge have a brain. Those that collect money, not so much.
AVOID all this and make a reservation online or via your phone BUT give yourself enough time to get there. If your reservation time has passed they do not honor it and you become me.

I’ve used this ferry terminal only once so far, but it was A-​OK. Quick and efficient boarding, on time departure. Everything was A-​OK. No complaints.

I try not to ride the WSF often because the cost is horrible… cheaper to drive around the sound then to cross it on a boat. Plus over the last few years the staff has changed to the point that they don’t appear to give a hoot about the customers or the boat… the new boats added to the runs the last few years even look grubby… The WSF needs to look deeper at it’s own before adding more costs to the customer.

My best friend whose youngest son is my Godson and the rest of the family live across the Sound in Manchester so Uncle Mike enjoys visits with everyone and hanging out with my bud, sometimes into the wee hours to where I am a frequent guest in the guest room. Time wise it is actually a push between driving down through Tacoma and then back up unless there is a bad traffic jam (yea, that never happens, lol) so I usually take the Southworth Ferry. It’s just much more relaxing to drive on, head up to the canteen and grab a cup of coffee, spend some time reading or just enjoying the boat ride, etc. For having such limited space at this terminal they always do a great job with staging, unloading, and loading the vehicles and passengers. The employees are always professional and courteous, so really the best way for me to get over and away from Seattle.