It rains in Seattle.

It was the Clinton to Mukilteo run which crosses the 2 1/2 miles of Possession Sound between Whidbey Island and the mainland.

But as you note the Keystone to Port Townsend run is more notorious as a potentially ugly crossing!! Not only rougher water but smaller ferry boats. Wisely they are more apt to shut that run down for weather, tide and swells. I have first hand experience on that crossing, which was white knuckle most off the way!!

Great pics. Mimics the import here of Alfa Romeo cars as deck cargo on submarines.

According to the photographer, he thinks the waves might have pushed cars back from the bow because in his early photos of the ship there are cars visible in the front of the boat. By the time it got closer to Mukilteo, they were no longer visible. I have not read anything about this aspect of the crossing, however.

After a short pause in service during the worst of the waves, ferry service resumed. Apparently not a single run was missed that day despite the brief suspension of service.

Those pics bring back memories. About a year plus ago after overnighting in Port Townsend we went through Deception and up Skagit Bay toward Seattle. A storm predicted to come in around midnight came in early and bigger than forecast. As we hit the sounthern end of Whidbey near where these pics were taken, we had wind from the south with a fetch to Tacoma, wind gauge had mostly 32-34 knots but gusts to 40 and tide coming in against it. Wind waves to 6'+ breaking and 4-5 seconds apart, up one through the next. Boat did fine, people not so much. Won't soon forget. Pics sure brought me back there.

Surprisingly strong storm and crazed seas can develop in Possession Sound for such a small body of water. I kept my boat at Edmonds, for a short period of time. For runs North it was generally the chosen route and is normally calm sea conditions as opposed to the Strait of Juan De Fuca on the West side of Whidbey Island. But you get that wind out of the South on an ebb tide and you get a completely different situation. Once past Everett , around Camano Island, though it will usually begin to calm down.

But we very seldom shovel our rain! The Seattle area gets less annual rain than most major cities in the USA; ckeck out the NWS stats....

SKYGUY said:

But we very seldom shovel our rain! The Seattle area gets less annual rain than most major cities in the USA; ckeck out the NWS stats....

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True, but it comes down in teenie tiny droplets over a long period of time....

SKYGUY said:

But we very seldom shovel our rain! The Seattle area gets less annual rain than most major cities in the USA; ckeck out the NWS stats....

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Yeah, we don't shovel our sunshine either.

So anybody in or around Seattle today knows winter is here. No rain just icy-snow and a chill index in the teens with winds gusting to 40. Ice on the docks and my boat tugging on its lines. If I must do winter here please send back the drizzle with the warmer air.

We were up in Bellingham today doing some work on the boat. Twenty degrees (f) with a 15 knot north wind. What we call a nice, brisk day.