Vashon Island ferry from Fauntleroy
— — the twenty-two minutes the city falls away.
Not only on a wall.
“The Fauntleroy dock sits at the bottom of a long hill in West Seattle. The boat is usually the Issaquah class, and the crossing to Vashon's north end is about twenty-two minutes. Commuters read on the car deck. Bicycles roll on first. On clear mornings Rainier comes up behind the stern and stays the whole way over. from the studio
Vashon Island ferry from Fauntleroy, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth triangle is one of the busiest routes in the Washington State Ferries system, linking West Seattle's Fauntleroy terminal to Vashon Island and on to Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula. The crossing to Vashon's north-end terminal at Heights Dock runs about 22 minutes across Puget Sound. Vashon itself is roughly 13 miles long, sits in King County, and has no bridge to the mainland — the ferry is how the island reaches the world.
The route crosses the southern reach of Puget Sound, where deep tidal currents move between Blake Island and the Vashon shoreline. Orcas of the southern resident pods pass through several times a year and ferry crews call it on the PA. On a clear day the wake frames Mount Rainier over the stern. On grey days the sound holds its own colour — a slate that the Olympics close on the western side.
Fauntleroy terminal is at the foot of Fauntleroy Way SW in West Seattle, about a 20-minute drive from downtown Seattle. Walk-on passengers buy a ticket at the terminal; vehicles can reserve a slot through the WSDOT Save A Spot system. Bicycles board first and ride free of vehicle surcharge. The first sailing leaves before 5 am on weekdays for commuters; the last leaves Vashon close to 2 am. Schedules shift seasonally — confirm before driving down the hill.