LUMMI ISLAND, Wash. — Officials with Whatcom County Public Works Ferry Division announced today, March 4, 2026, the Whatcom Chief’s 2026 dry dock outage is scheduled from Saturday, April 25, 2026, through Sunday, May 17, 2026, a week later than previously announced.
The Whatcom Chief provides pedestrian and vehicle ferry service between Gooseberry Point and Lummi Island. During the annual dry dock period, the ferry service switches to a pedestrian-only vessel.
A change impacting islanders this year will be the lack of shuttle service on Lummi Island. According to Whatcom County meeting documents, “The shuttle vans used during the annual ferry dry dock were obtained from WTA surplus several years ago are at the end of useful life.” It added, “Replacing these vans is cost prohibitive at this time,” and “This van service would be discontinued starting 2026.”
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WOW costs are sky high and services are down if non existent. Thanks Whatcom County.
Sooo…. lemme get this straight. The state/county provides a necessary, paid for service, takes that service away for a period, and at the very same time, takes an additional service that is needed, away. Yet, they’re auctioning off their 15 passenger shuttle busses due to going beyond their useful lifespan. Hmmm….. is the whatcom county road equipment beyond it’s usefulness too? I mean, with the sorry condition of some of our major streets, one would think so. Maybe they’ll raise our property taxes again this year and still get nothing fixed.