Eric Ferguson is one of three full-time captains with Wahkiakum County who ferry about 80,000 people a year between Puget Island, Washington, and Westport on the Oscar B, the only remaining interstate ferry on the Columbia River.

Running perpendicular to the flow of the Columbia, the 1,900-foot-long channel requires dredging every few years to allow the Oscar B passage. Recently awarded the contract by the Army Corps of Engineers, regional dredger J.E. McAmis is scheduled to start the maintenance anew after Thanksgiving.

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