It appears the state ferry system will be able to avoid drastic reductions in morning sailings from the San Juans this fall, thanks to lobbying by local officials and a decision by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard notified Washington State Ferries Monday that it can continue to schedule “touring watches” on its Anacortes to San Juan Islands routes on a trial basis. Touring watches allow WSF to schedule its crews to finish a shift in the San Juans, spend the night, then begin a new shift in the islands the next morning.

Until recently, state ferries has been allowed to use touring watches throughout its system, the nation’s largest, under a long-standing waiver approved by the Coast Guard. WSF was told by the Coast Guard earlier this year that it may put an end to the waiver based on concerns raised by crews on ferry routes that operate down Sound.

According to San Juan County Councilman Howie Rosenfeld, the Coast Guard’s decision to allow touring watches to continue in the San Juans – for now –is due in large part to the involvement of the local Ferry Advisory Committee and the County Council.

Orcas Island’s Ed Sutton, FAC chairman, told the council on Tuesday, “This is a great win, we’re not done yet, but I think we dodged a bullet. This has been an extraordinary team effort.”

In June, with the end of touring watches on the horizon, the FAC issued a statement which noted that more than 60 percent of Friday Harbor’s traffic boards ferries bound for Anacortes prior to mid-day. The end of touring watches would have eliminated the so-called red-eye run, which leaves Friday Harbor around 6 a.m. Capacity would have been reduced to 26 percent under a proposed fall schedule in which that red-eye sailing was eliminated. As a result, according to the FAC, it would be difficult for San Juan Island residents to make mid-morning appointments in Anacortes or to conduct a full day of business on the mainland.

Still, Rosenfeld warned that continuation of touring watches in the long-term will depend on a future evaluation by the Coast Guard of its effect on WSF crews. The state ferry system will be required during the fall to closely monitor and document how well those crew members perform and the amount of sleep that they get.

“By the end of the fall schedule the Coast Guard will re-evaluate and decide whether touring watches will continue,” he said. “If they decide not to, then the winter schedule will be a transition to no touring watches in the spring.”