Dahlia Bazzaz at The Seattle Times reports from Port Townsend that above the ruckus of the ferry’s car deck, the chattering of passengers pressed up against windows and the thrum of engines, Adam Knutsen watched the sea unfold from a place few ever get to stand. The “bridge,” where the Ferry’s Captain and other High-Ranking Officers are stationed, was quiet. Windows stretched across the space, wrapping the vessel’s navigational brain in blue daylight. Knutsen’s eyes flitted from the horizon to a small radar screen. The waters here are notoriously busy and require a careful eye. Pleasure boats dart across the ferry’s path, crab pots dot the edges and tidal currents throw off departure times.  “Let’s do a departure whistle,” Knutsen called over to the Navigational Expert seated next to him. One long foghorn ripped across the inlet. One day, the 22-year-old hopes this will be routine, part of his daily responsibilities as a Licensed Officer. For now, he’s in the final year of the Washington State Ferries Apprenticeship Program, shadowing every role onboard. Launched in 2024, the Apprenticeship was created to both diversify and replenish the Ferry Workforce, and to remove two major barriers: time and cost. “Entering into this industry, you’re going to have to invest a minimum of three years at least to get a basic license, and then ($40,000), to get close to being on the bridge of a boat,” said Emily Hopkins, who serves as the Director of the West Coast Campus of the Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS), a Maritime School in Seattle. 

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File Photo Provided By MITAGS.