Sausalito Ferry Resumes Service to San Francisco the week of June 21
The Sausalito Ferry will resume service next week. The photo above, taken Friday afternoon (June 18, 2021), shows the repaired ferry landing float in place at the pier without the construction barge (see photo below) that reinstalled it this week. Both Golden Gate Ferry service to the Ferry Building in San Francisco and Blue & Gold fleet service to Fisherman’s Wharf have been suspended for over three months.
Update from June 21: Blue and Gold Ferry service will run seven days a week, starting with four daily sailings in each direction. Golden Gate Ferry will start with the same weekdays-only limited daily schedule they offered under Covid restrictions, hoping to gradually resume normal operations. If you want to use the ferry on the weekend or outside of commute hours, Blue and Gold from Fisherman’s Wharf will be your only choice.
Golden Gate Ferry plans to run test operations on Monday, June 21. Under the current plan, if no problems are detected passenger service could have a “soft launch” (sic) without public announcements as early as Monday afternoon or Tuesday, and formal service will resume June 23 for Golden Gate Ferry. Blue and Gold Fleet had revealed yesterday that they would resume ferry service between Sausalito and San Francisco next Friday, June 25.
The new schedules for departures and arrivals after the Sausalito Ferry resumes service by Golden Gate Ferry and Blue and Gold Fleet will initially be the same, pandemic-shortened minimum schedules in place in early March.
The landing float has been under repair in dry dock in the East Bay, and was equipped with a new deck to facilitate safety and easier passenger access. Golden Gate Ferry ordered the emergency repairs in early March after detecting that the float had developed multiple significant leaks. Repairs were delayed by a post-pandemic shortage of welders, who were critical to completing the project.
In the 100+ days since service was halted California’s economy has rapidly reopened after the pandemic. Golden Gate Ferry initially chose immediate repairs in part because of Sausalito businesses being placed on reduced capacity by the pandemic. As ferry landing repairs were delayed by over a month, however, the loss of ferry service began to take a toll, especially on local restaurants and downtown retailers. The fact that the Sausalito Ferry resumes service next week means that many local businesses can finally recover after 18 months of hardship.
