That Ferry Would be NICE!

El Matador Used to Ferry People between Ocean Shores and Westport. Now it Ferrys Fishermen
Back in the day, there was a passenger ferry that went back and forth between Ocean Shores and Westport. It turns out that the boat was called the El Matador, shown above. Nowadays, the Ocean Shores Marina is too silted up for the boat to run safely and regularly, so the captain instead uses the boat for fishing charters. We used it for that purpose last year, not realizing it was the old ferryboat.

Looking below, you can see the appeal of the short ferry ride compared to the LOOOOONG route by personal motor vehicle, or the even LONGER trip by public transit. Who would not prefer to board the ferry and then stroll around the small town of Westport?

Short Boat Ride or a Long Drive!

3 comments:

Khal said...

Would make a nice out and back bike ride.

Unknown said...

Great picture of the El Matador Steve. Before "Back in the Day", the El Matador was a charter boat based out of Blanchard Charters, the home of the El's (El Capitan, El Matador, El Cortez, El Dorado, El Toro, and even a dock pushcart we called the El Kadunk). The Matador has come full circle

Unknown said...

Very nice photo of the El Matador Steve. Before "Back in the Day", the El Matador was one of the "El" boats out of the Blanchard Charters office. The sister boats included; El Capitan, El Dorado, El Cortez, and the El Toro (at least while I was a deckhand with Cap'n Bill). The El Matador has come full circle, back to her roots as a charter fishing boat. She has certainly seen a lot of changes in Westport in her day.