Guemes ferry advisory group gives presentation

By 2039, the Guemes Island ferry should be replaced with a battery-powered vessel whose electric motors can also be powered by onboard diesel generators.

That plug-in hybrid concept is the unanimous recommendation of Skagit County's temporary advisory group, which is also urging the county to wait at least five years before it begins designing such a vessel.

"You could do it today … but you'd be better off waiting a while," Sandy McKean, chair of the advisory group, told the board of county commissioners Tuesday.

"The technology just is not mature enough yet," he said. "We find it'll keep improving."

In the meantime, the county should continue using the diesel-powered ferry that has shuttled passengers and vehicles between Anacortes and the island since 1979.

"It's in good shape," McKean said. "It was built really, really well. It's thicker steel than they use today. We all felt comfortable … that this boat really has a 60-year service life, better than most, because it was so well built to start with."

McKean, a 15-year resident of the island, detailed the technical advisory group‘s seven months of work during a presentation to the commissioners Tuesday.

A full report on the group's findings and recommendations will be delivered to the commissioners by the end of August.

The group, which is set to dissolve at the end of August, held eight monthly meetings after its formation in early November of 2025. Its members included six island residents and three at-large county residents who brought relevant professional experience.

The group's conclusions were not influenced by the county, McKean said, even though county staff were present during the meetings, which were facilitated by consultants with Maul Foster & Alongi.

"You're getting an independent, citizen-based recommendation here," he said. "At no time were we directed in some direction or corrected or encouraged to take a particular point of view."

The group was charged with evaluating propulsion options for a replacement ferry while also considering whether to preserve the existing ferry for another 10 to 15 years or possibly partner with Whatcom County to build a vessel identical to its new design in hopes of saving money and resources.

The group decided early on that partnering with Whatcom County would be too complicated, McKean said.

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