When rough seas forced the cancellation of the last ferries out of Port Townsend on a busy holiday weekend, a group of stranded passengers faced the prospect of sleeping on the streets. However, their dire situation was resolved thanks to the kindness of a ferry terminal worker William Patterson .As the wind picked up on Saturday evening, the Washington State Ferries had to cancel the final sailings from Port Townsend to Coupeville due to the rough conditions
It was in the early evening that 79-year-old Kip Goodwin and his wife from Hawaii had finished calling every hotel and Airbnb in the Olympic Peninsula’s Port Townsend—they were all fully booked for the summer holiday season.
Neither had they luck at the YMCA or Red Cross—even the campgrounds were unavailable. Fearfully looking at each other amid the sound of howling wind, Patterson interrupted their worrying to tell them they would all be staying with him and his wife Arianna.
Nestled among the pines on the Admiralty Inlet, Port Townsend is serviced by the United States’ largest ferry network, but the Port Townsend-to-Coupeville route, which Goodwin and the others were hoping to take after a day trip to Port Townsend and Whidbey Island, was canceled after winds picked up and the ferries had to remain tied to their moorings. All three round trips were canceled, starting at 6:45 pm and on to 9:00 pm.
Arianna Patterson joked with the Seattle Times that her husband always threatened he’d bring a “straggler” home one day. William called and asked if they could make space for the Goodwins.
“I said, ‘We have enough space for two, no big deal,’” Arianna said. “Then he called back and said, ‘We have eight or nine other people.’ I said, oh.”
Like the Goodwins, most of the passengers were over 60 years of age, so the Pattersons were just happy they could get the visitors out of the weather. At the home, there was space on the couch and an extra bed, but pretty quickly people were on the floor, borrowing blankets that their hosts had from their time welcoming foster kids.
Early the next morning, William went out to the cafe he runs along with his work at the ferry terminal to make pastries and coffee for them all.
“It was unbelievable,” said Fred Dente, 79, who lives in Langley and was visiting with his wife and their two friends from Hawaii. “It was the way humans should treat humans. In this day and age, it was exceptional.”
That morning was bright and brisk, and at 7:00 AM, the ferries departed. I need not over emphasize the way they felt as the entire atmosphere carried the waves of immense happiness and gratitude.