After the city of Blaine hinted for months that 2026 could be the last year it operates the historic Plover ferry, it has now opene d the door for a new organization to take the helm.
The city put out a request for proposals on Monday seeking a new organization to take ownership over the ferry and its operations. Proposals are due Oct. 31.
Request for proposals
City Manager Mike Harmon said that the city is looking for a nonprofit organization that will continue service of the Plover in some fashion without a tax subsidy from the city.
“Ideally, we find an agency that wants to continue it as a ferry and keep it in Blaine, or even use it for a higher and better purpose,” Harmon said.
Harmon listed recreational and commercial boater training and coast guard certifications as possible alternative uses the city would be interested in.
“Is there interest out there from folks that may be able to run this year-round? Maybe not — we don’t know. But we want to ask and find out. That’ll be our first step,” he said.
If the city doesn’t receive any proposals, it may look at other options, such as placing the Plover in the museum.
Regardless of which approach the city takes, it would like the Plover to be in another organization’s hands.
“Ideally the city gets out of the wooden boat ownership business,” Harmon said. “That’s the goal — that the ownership of the vessel transfers to whomsoever is the successful proposer.”
He noted that if at some point the next owner is no longer interested in operating the Plover, the city would like the option to buy the ferry back at the same cost it sold for, or less.
Before the Plover changes hands, the proposal would need to go before the city council for final approval.
Trying to stay above water
The city’s decision to move away from the Plover came down to the cost and the risk associated with operating the Plover.
In 2025, the city spent about $135,000 to run the Plover for 15 weekends, but this only netted about $22,000, The Northern Light reported in March. Over the past four years the city had spent about $325,000 on the ferry.
On Sept. 30, the Blaine Tourism Advisory Committee approved its recommended 2027 tourism budget. The recommended budget did not include funding for the Plover.
Harmon said that with a tight tourism budget, the city has to decide between funding events throughout the year, or funding the Plover, which would only be operational on weekends during the summer season.
Funding year-round events is a better financial option for the city, he said. These events allow more residents to participate, generate more revenue for local businesses, and they have a much better opportunity to draw tourists to the city.
Additionally, the city was unsuccessful in finding an insurer willing to cover more than $1 million of liability coverage, Harmon said.
If something terrible were to happen to a passenger aboard the Plover and legal action were taken, the city would be on the hook for any financial damages over $1 million, he said. Those funds would come from the general fund, ultimately costing tax payers.
Weighing the Plover’s significance to the community versus the costs and risks is difficult, Harmon said, but “at the end of the day, we’re a business that has to have a balanced budget.”
“There are no easy decisions when you cut services.” Harmon said. “They’re tough choices. And what the council felt is that funding the events and continuing operation of the visitor center was more important to the majority of our community than continuing operations of the Plover.”
‘It’s a part of our history’
The Plover was never about making money, it was about preserving a piece of Blaine’s history, said Richard Sturgill, founding director of Drayton Harbor Maritime, a nonprofit preservation group.
Drayton Harbor Maritime operated the Plover from 1995 to 2022, Sturgill said.
The Plover was built in 1944 and is included on the National Register of Historic Places. The ferry was used to transport workers to Alaska Packers Salmon Cannery on Semiahmoo Spit.
Sturgill said he’s not in favor of the city losing ownership of the Plover.
“(The city) wants to just get rid of it, and it’s a community asset,” Sturgill said. “Once it’s gone from the city’s hands, it’s never going to come back. And it’s something that’s going to be lost.”
He’d prefer if the city kept the ferry until it became viable financially — even if that means years without it being operational.
“Nobody’s going to be able to afford to run the boat (without a subsidy),” Sturgill said. “When things aren’t affordable for the public, that’s the government’s role.”
Drayton Harbor Maritime received tourism funds from the city during its operation of the Plover.
He said that the Plover was never profitable while Drayton Harbor Maritime operated it, and it’s likely that it’ll never be profitable as a passenger ferry, but he feels that the city has a responsibility to keep it in the community.
“It wasn’t about the money. It was the dedication to just preserve and save the Plover,” Sturgill said. “It’s a part of our history and heritage.”
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