KINGSTON — Despite criticism at a Sept. 5 Kingston Citizens Advisory Committee, members of the Kingston Express Association are hard at work trying to get their commuter-run boat in the water for North End commuters.

With the recent unveiling of the group’s plan, members of the KEA are confident and hopeful that they can restart passenger only ferry service between Kingston and Seattle in a short amount of time.

That could be hindered if funding for the ferry fails to materialize.

Even so, KEA Manager Nels Sultan said he is certain that if one financial plan sinks, another will surface.

“There are other sources we could go to if we needed to,” he said. “There are directly three sources: state, federal and private sources. Those are all possible.”

KEA’s current plan states that a subsidy from Kitsap Transit could easily float the foot ferry until it gets its proverbial sea legs, Sultan said.

Kitsap Transit Executive Director Richard Hayes, on the other hand, asserted that there is no money available in its budget to assist with KEA’s effort.

“I believe they can if they wanted,” Sultan said. “They’ve got a heck of a lot of money in their budget they could give to us to use.”

Once running, Sultan said KEA’s fare plan would be much like renting an apartment or enrolling a child in daycare.

“We would have riders signed up ahead of time,” he said, noting that the first ferry would carry about 80 passengers. “You would pay first and last in advance. We would save 10 out of 80 seats for one-day riders.”

To be able to fund the project, all 70 riders would have to be signed up before the ferry service began, Sultan said.

“There’s a risk in everything,” he said of the likelihood of getting 70 riders to sign up with such a plan. “I think getting 80 people will be fairly easy, especially in Kingston. We’d start with a one-month trial period with a rented whaling boat or something similar. After that, we’d adjust our business plan as needed.”

Getting the actual boat, Sultan said, should be fairly easy. KEA would simply send out a request for a new or used boat once it is ready to start ferry service.

But when it comes to buying a real passenger ferry, things get pricey.

“Passenger ferries can run anywhere from $1 million to $2.5 million,” said Aqua Express managing partner John Blackman, adding that the cost depends on the size of the boat.

KEA intends to start with an all volunteer crew, with only the captain as a paid employee, Sultan said.

“Only the captain needs to be licensed,” he said. “We’ll probably get a captain with a 100 ton license. Anyone else who can pass a drug test can be licensed as a crew to run the ferry.”

That crew would consist of volunteers who are also commuters riding to work, Sultan said. At least at first, until the KEA service makes enough to hire a professional crew.

Blackman disagreed with the notion of commuters running the boat, adding that everyone — from the crew to the captain — must be certified by the Coast Guard.

The next concern Sultan said he needed address would be moorage for the ferry. In North Kitsap, KEA is looking into several options, including using the guest moorage at the Port of Kingston.

But Port of Kingston Commissioner Pete DeBoer said that would be no easy task.

“The guest moorage is sold on a daily basis,” DeBoer said, adding that in his estimation, KEA’s campaign is ill-timed as the public should be focused on Kitsap Transit’s passenger boat plan. “I don’t know what kind of concessions we could make for this plan.”

Sultan and the KEA would have to make a presentation to the port commission on behalf of the project to receive a moorage, DeBoer said.

“It’s pretty specific that those slots should be used for recreation and not commercial,” he added. “It’s not a slam dunk.”

As far as dunking goes, KEA may have trouble even getting the ball inbounds, according to the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission.

Before any of the KEA projects can get underway, it needs to submit an application for certification to the UTC, said the commission’s assistant director of transportation and water Gene Eckhardt. Because Aqua Express currently holds a certificate for providing the Kingston-Seattle service, it could be difficult for KEA to become certified as well.

“Aqua Express is limited in how many times they can renew their license,” Sultan said, adding that he has spoken with one of the UTC commissioners, and they were not negative about the possible outcome of a submission by the KEA.

“Because Aqua Express is already a certificate holder on the route, the UTC would weigh (KEA’s) application against Aqua Express’ plans and future plans,” Blackman said. But KEA will have to submit a business and financial plan, and that will be held up against Aqua Express’ plan, he added.

“Since there is a company that holds (route) authority already, it would be difficult for this organization to obtain a certification,” Eckhardt said.

Sultan said, though, that whatever obstacles present themselves, KEA is ready to hurdle them, despite the struggle.