By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – The Black Ball Ferry MV Coho is back in business starting Monday morning with its first official sailing to Victoria BC since the US/Canada border closure in 2020.

The Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce is marking the occasion by holding a Welcome Back Canadians rally downtown at noon.

When the ferry leaves Port Angeles at 8:20 it is not expected to have a lot of people on board. Canada’s requirement that travelers have an expensive PCR test to prove they’re not infected is still putting a chill on tourism going north.

But as Chamber Director Marc Abshire says, that’s not the case with Canadians coming to the US.

“Yes, I’m told by The Black Ball that they are sold out on that particular sailing. Hopefully, we will have hundreds of people there with signs and Canadian flags, American flags, waving them and welcoming the Coho back from Victoria. So, it should be a lot of fun watching all those Canadians come across into Port Angeles.”

Abshire says the boat is expected to arrive between 12 and 12:15, and they’re asking folks to gather on Railroad Avenue across from the Customs Office. Signs reading things like, “Welcome Back Canadian Friends” and “Thank You Black Ball” are encouraged.