Victoria Clipper runs cancelled due to gale-force winds
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Gale-force winds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca this morning resulted in the cancellation of the Victoria Clipper's one northbound Seattle-to-Victoria, B.C. run, and also the southbound Victoria-to-Seattle return this evening.
Of the 100 people holding tickets for the 8 a.m. northbound run of the private line's high-speed catamaran, 57 were bused on a chartered Gray Line of Seattle coach from the Victoria Clipper's Pier 69 terminal to its terminal in Victoria's inner harbor, according to Darrell Bryan, the Victoria Clipper's executive vice president and general manager. Others with reservations rescheduled or received refunds, he said.
Winds were nearly 50 knots with gusts at 57 knots at the west end of Vancouver Island and in the central Strait, caused by a frontal system from the Pacific.
"This was the second cancellation this season," said Bryan. The first was in late October.
Blackball Transport's 8:20 a.m. ferry run between Port Angeles and Victoria, B.C., ran this morning as scheduled, a company spokesman said.
British Columbia's B.C. Ferries' 9 a.m. run from Swartz Bay, north of Victoria, to Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver, was delayed 35 minutes this morning, but 25 other routes on the B.C. coast had no problems, said spokeswoman Betty Nicholson.
Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether said the 11:45 a.m. round-trip between Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula and Keystone on Whidbey Island was cancelled due to high wind and waves. Other runs remained on schedule.
Kenmore Air canceled its 7:50 a.m. flight from Lake Union to Victoria and the San Juans today, but its 11 a.m. flight departed on schedule, a spokeswoman said.
The Victoria Clipper was expected to return passengers to Seattle this evening on Gray Line motorcoaches. Service is scheduled to depart the Victoria terminal at 5 p.m. and arrive at Pier 69 between 11 and 11:30 p.m.
Normally, high-speed catamaran service takes about 2-1/2 hours.
By midday, winds had diminished, the Weather Service said.