ANACORTES, Wash. — Video aboard a state ferry that was being moved Tuesday shows waves crashing on the lower level of the boat, flooding the car deck.
Washington State Ferries shared the video Wednesday, which was taken by an employee on the boat. Crew members were moving the ferry Issaquah from Eagle Harbor near Bainbridge Island to Anacortes when they ran into severe weather in and near the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The video, which was taken from the back of the Issaquah, shows waves crashing over the front of the boat and seawater rushing around employee vehicles that were parked in the middle of the car deck.
“Good seamanship on the part of the captain and crew kept this from being a bigger issue,” a state ferries spokesperson said in a statement.
Most of the Puget Sound region was under a Wind Advisory at the time. The Strait of Juan de Fuca was expected to experience a strong westerly surge Tuesday, and areas around it were expected to see wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
There were no passengers on board the boat at the time. The severe weather was in an area that ferries rarely travel in and only do so when crew are moving the vessel without passengers, according to state ferries.
An employee car was damaged when the vehicles banged into each other in the waves and water, state ferries said.
“The crew did a good job of keeping damage to a minimum,” state ferries said in a statement.
The Issaquah was in Anacortes as of Wednesday morning. It was expected to re-enter service in the next 24 to 48 hours. It will replace the Chelan ferry on the San Juan Islands route by the weekend.