The Plover ferry appears to be on schedule to return to the water before next summer, according to a recent report at the Blaine City Council meeting on October 14.
Blaine Public Works Department director Harpiar Gandhi told councilmembers that a shipwright estimated its repair would cost less than $20,000. The ferry will be transported to Bellingham on October 29 and then steam back to Blaine once repairs are finished, Gandhi said. Transportation to Bellingham will cost about $4,000.
City manager Mike Harmon said the repairs would likely occur in March and that a quote would be brought to council before city staff authorized the bill. He added the captains hired by the city this summer had indicated they would work next summer.
After the 80-year-old ferry finished undergoing significant repairs that took nearly two years, rotting wood was discovered when a piece of the boat's stern fell off in August.
