Friends of the Fast Ferry

05/23/2026

Don’t miss this free, interesting panel presentation on “Kitsap Ferries: Past, Present & Future” Sunday at 3pm at the back of Gathered, 702 Bay St.. Moderated by journalist and historian Josh Farley, we are welcoming Greg Nance, 23rd District Representative; Katie Walters, County Commissioner; Carla Sawyer, Marne Transportation Consultant; Ed Brown, Lead Docent of Virginia V Foundation and Steve Sego, Friends of Fast Ferry Founder to the panel! Following the presentation will be a brief Mosquito Fleet Trivia Contest!

05/23/2026

A celebration of our rich marine transportation history and the progress made to restore our Foot Ferries in the West Sound. Should be an excellent panel discussion Sunday featuring Rep. Greg Nance, Commissioner Katie Walters and Virginia V docent Ed Brown - moderated by Josh Farley.

The Mosquito Fleet Festival is happening this weekend in Port Orchard and ✨VIRGINIA V✨ is ready for an amazing few days on the waterfront! 🚢⚓️

Tonight (Friday, May 22) — join us dockside for a DRYFT concert aboard the ship 🎶
Tomorrow (Saturday, May 23) — come aboard for our Happy Hour Cruise 🍻🌅
Sunday, May 24 — Harbor Cruises at 12 PM & 2 PM 🌊

Come explore the last operating steamship of her kind, enjoy live music, and spend the weekend on the water with us at the festival. Get your tickets now on our website before they’re gone! ⚓️

https://virginiav.org/calendar/

04/29/2026

Thoughts? We firmly believe that our Passenger-only-Ferries are a critical piece needed to fix our failing WSDOT/WSF system. We could get by with fewer sailings on WSF from Kitsap if our FF system was substantially expanded. Some of this discussion is about political tactics and tensions, but the heart of the issue is the primary question: Can we direct our tax dollars from a struggling system to our own system that could provide reliable - and enhanced service?

The crux of the quarrel: Whether to focus solely on revitalizing car-carrying jumbo boats or mix it up with nimbler passenger-only vessels.

04/24/2026

Saturday Fast Ferry sailings are back starting May 2nd!

Saturday sailings are BACK for the summer! Kitsap Transit will start operating our summer schedules on all fast ferry routes (plus the Port Orchard Ferry and connecting bus service) starting on Saturday, May 2.

Details: https://bit.ly/4sIMP6T

03/11/2026

Rep. Greg Nance has proven his mettle - revealing the travesty of insider politics and a lone-wolf Senator working against perhaps the greatest bi-partisan and near consensus measure in Olympia this year. $$ wasted on a deficient and failing WSF system could be deployed to support and expand proven POF's in Kitsap and throughout the region. Thanks Greg, along with your Democrat and Republican colleagues tens of thousands of us agree with - keep fighting!

A 'striking amendment' added to the Mosquito Fleet bill doesn't make sense, nor does it solve anything, writes Rep. Greg Nance.

02/24/2026

We proved the point here in Kitsap - more passenger only ferries replacing the failing WSDOT system is an obvious solution. We agree with most of what is proposed in this legislation, including the eventual link to Des Moines/SeaTac, but believe that Silverdale is the preferred next link in our WestSound Kitsap system. You?

The Mosquito Fleet Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Nance, could restore historic routes like San Juan Islands to Sidney, British Columbia.

09/18/2025

A promising development for those of us who have advocated for the expansion of our Fast Ferry system regionally, Pierce County is proposing service from Tacoma to Seattle during the World Cup. Although a temporary and small step, we hope this demonstrates the benefits and support for future service that would connect Kitsap to Seattle to Tacoma - and en route to Des Moines and SeaTac!

A new proposal aims to launch a fast ferry service between Tacoma and Seattle in time for next year's World Cup.

09/06/2025

This is disappointing - a step back when we should be planning to add extended service. Not sure what the answer is, perhaps our regional legislators need to step up and support adequate funding for a system we've all worked so hard to build:

The Kitsap Transit board of commissioners was notified at its Sept. 2 meeting that the Seattle/Bremerton Saturday fast ferry service will be suspended starting Oct. 1.

08/11/2025

“Seattle’s Only Newspaper” agrees - POF is a viable and practical solution for our regional transportation challenges. We proved the point in Kitsap, time to raise the bar, add new intra-county connections and sustain the momentum for connected communities from SouthSound to the San Juan’s

Is it time for a Mosquito Fleet repeat?

07/26/2025

Good news - but we still need an expanded schedule to support sailings later in the evening and including Sunday. Ridership numbers continue to grow, demand is strong - perhaps it’s time to explore fare increases to support seven-days-a-week service from all of our Kitsap FF ports.

Kitsap Transit will receive $2.9 million from the state to continue extra passenger-only ferry service on the Bremerton-Seattle route through the end of August 2026. Kitsap Transit’s Bremerton Fast Ferry will operate the extra sailings on weekdays, but not on Saturdays from October through April.

The extension means Kitsap Transit can maintain the additional sailings to support the region during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The state funding comes from a $4 million Legislative appropriation and heralds the end of extra passenger-only ferry service that filled gaps in Washington State Ferries (WSF) service spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Legislature gave WSF discretion in dividing the money between Kitsap Transit and King County Metro, which operates Water Taxi service. This week WSF notified Kitsap Transit and King County Metro how much funding they would each receive.

Read the full press release on our blog: https://bit.ly/4lHHhqz