| Outside the Lines: Ferry Tales XVIIII Shall We Define "Uncooperative"? Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines the word obscure as: not really understood or clearly expressed: vague: enigmatic: cryptic. I define it as the very fine print at the bottom of the current Guemes Island Ferry schedule.
The Guemes Ferry operated until 10 PM on Tuesday May 31st. No cars were off loaded. No foot passengers disembarked. No revenue collected. The county can correct me {In this case I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.}. At least it would create some dialogue. Communication is not getting any better between the ferry ridership and the county. This schedule“tweak” was approved by the commissioners in September 2004, along with the school schedule. This is, to my knowledge, the first time it has been implemented. Why, when costs are escalating and revenue is down, would the county choose this time to operate on this obscure schedule is beyond me. This text is not, in fact, printed on the schedule. It can be found in only two places - the sign board at the ferry dock and on an older LineTime page. Interpreting the middle sentence correctly requires use of the Ferry Decoder Ring. What Decoder Ring? It came with the memo that carefully explained Ferry practices (you know, what happens when you arrive as the gate goes down, when do they run a third 11, why there are fences for passengers and why rates and crew go up as service goes down). The July 4th holiday falls on Monday this year. Perhaps we should again dial into our Skagit County Secret Ferry Decoder Ring. No thanks to Skagit County for the heads up to the ridership. Chal Martin, Public Works Director, said that the ferry must operate with a four man crew otherwise it becomes too chaotic. He also said we need to stop “the bleeding”. Well, Chal, was the Tuesday May 31st {after the holiday} schedule meant to stem the bleeding or increase revenue? No thanks to the Skagit County website for the advance notice {Wednesday afternoon June 1} on the Roundtable Meeting being held Thursday June 2nd. Now, shall we define "uncooperative"? - MJ Andrak [6.2.5]
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