Guemes Island

G uemes Island is a small island in the southeastern part of the San Juan Islands chain and is just a short 8 minute ferry ride from Anacortes on a dedicated Skagit County ferry that departs from downtown Anacortes. Guemes is just over 8 square miles, with a population of 563 as of the 2000 census, and has a decidedly rural feel to it, with the only retail store on the island being Andersons General Store.  There are two parks on the island, a community center and a one mile stretch of public beach. Properties range from forestlands and pastures, to homes on acreage providing privacy to beach front cottages and custom waterfront homes. Guemes is a beautiful place where things move just a bit slower and quality of life is first and foremost.

T he Skagit County Board of Commissioners voted in a new Guemes Island Ferry Schedule for 2009. They kept late runs going to the island which theoretically I think is good, however in these times of budget crunching, this might have been a good place to save some dollars since there was a good deal of resistance to the late runs from the islanders. Here is the press release from the County, and here are the meeting minutes via streaming video. The new schedule, which goes into effect January 1^st, 2009, is as follows:

Monday - Thursday 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Friday - Saturday 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Sunday - 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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T he County is putting off the decision on the schedule and raising the rates for the Guemes Ferry until December 16^th giving folks one more chance to come forward and have their opinion heard. That chance will come at 7:00PM December 10^th at the Guemes Island Community Center, this is your chance to be heard so get out there and let the County hear your opinion. You can read an article on this from the Anacortes American HERE.

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