WASHINGTON ISLAND, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For more than 100 years, the Washington Island Ferry has served as the link between Washington Island and the mainland of Door County.
It’s a crucial connection not just for people, but for cargo and supplies too.
And with 700+ year-round residents, that means the ferry has to run year-round as well.
“Most goods and materials and supplies are on an adjusting time kind of basis,” says Hoyt Purinton, the President of the Washington Island Ferry Line. ” You might have hours or days or weeks of something, whatever that might be, that’s needed to sustain life in the island economy. There’s no small amount of pressure,” he says with a laugh.
Purinton runs the Washington Island Ferry Line, which has been in his family since the 1940s.
The full fleet is five boats, but only two run through the winter; the Madonna, and the Arni J. Richter.
The two largest and newest ferries in their fleet were also engineered and designed to break ice.
It’s a huge boon for their operations; they rarely need coast guard ice-breaking assistance as a result.
It’s not just in the water that’s a hazard, either. Ice building from freezing spray can cause problems too.
“We haul the most precious cargo there is, so slippery decks, even though we use several products and try to stay ahead of it, we want to limit risk,” Hoyt adds.
And there’s a lot more than just lake ice that captains have to deal with.
“Everything. Fog, wind, snow, rain, all types of weather.”
Captain Erik Foss has been with the Ferry Line since he was in high school, in 1980.
He started as a deckhand and has been a captain since 1987.
Foss says there’s very little the boats can’t handle on open water, but close to shore is where the weather can really disrupt operations.
“Docking is the most important thing. You gotta pay a lot of attention because, between the waves, the wind, and the current, they’re gonna dictate where the boat goes, so you gotta be careful of that.”
Once they’re in open water, they use a combination of radar and GPS tracking to stay on course when visibility is low. And it can be very low.
“It’s like being in a kaleidoscope. Because a lot of times the boat has relative motion, the snow is flying another way, and the current might be pushing the ice another way,” Hoyt says.
Even with the extreme wind and waves the ferry can experience crossing Death’s Door, they estimate they only miss about 10 trips every single year. That’s less than one percent of their total crossings.
It’s a testament to the will and the dedication of the crew and captains — and their responsibility to an island that depends on them.
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