On a recent trip from Elliott Bay to Mats Mats Bay, we passed the Washington State fast ferry Snohomish running south. The last we’d heard, the ferry was still mothballed in Eagle Harbor. A successful lawsuit by Rich Passage residents had taken the passenger-only Snohomish and its sister ship, the Chinook, out of service to prevent further erosion caused by their wakes. Both are to be sold.

When we saw the Snohomish that day, it was in temporary service between Port Townsend and Seattle. The two 80-year-old ferries on the run between Port Townsend and Keystone recently had been condemned, and no other car ferries in the fleet had a shallow enough draft to negotiate the approach to Keystone.