Travelers, at ease, put bare faces into breeze, confounding a rule to contain the disease

Over the last two weekends, growing numbers of passengers have ridden the Block Island ferry, and the company is grappling with a frustrating challenge.

Too many passengers are voyaging to and from the isle without wearing masks, a ferry company official acknowledged Monday.

Despite announcements and signs, many passengers, especially those on the upper deck, lower their masks or remove them entirely after they’ve found spots where they will ride out the trip, said William A. McCombe, director of security for Interstate Navigation Company, which operates the Block Island Ferry.

“It’s the battle we’ve had,” said McCombe, who called the problem “frustrating.”

Crew members can ask individual passengers and small groups to abide by the requirement, but they cannot force compliance, he said.

Many passengers, he said, cover up when asked and are “good about it,” but some others comply only briefly.

The ferry company, said McCombe, requires passengers to wear masks due to the challenges of social distancing aboard the ferries, but it has also reduced the number of passengers it carries in an effort to free up more space between them.

Over the weekend, he said, captains on some trips allowed passengers to seek out greater distance from others on the lower deck where vehicles make the trip.

Passengers can place luggage on the seats next to them, which wasn’t allowed before the pandemic.

More runs have been added to reduce passenger density, too, but McCombe acknowledges that the last ferry of the day can end up carrying a larger group of passengers. About 150 stickers, notifying passengers to wear face coverings, have been placed on the two traditional ferries.

On Friday, 39-year-old Tim Geraghty and his wife, Sarah Halpern, found themselves on the top deck of the Block Island vessel in the company of maskless passengers.

Halpern said she asked a crew member for help. She was told that the crew was not in a position to mandate mask-wearing.

“There was no enforcement and no order, really,” said Geraghty.

A filmmaker, Geraghty took video of the scene as the boat returned from Block Island to Galilee.

About 600 people rode the ferry on that trip, McCombe said, pointing out that the ferry can carry up to 1,000 when the company isn’t operating under its own self-imposed limits during the pandemic.

He said a crew member should have asked people in the area near the family to cover up. He apologized if that didn’t happen.

Geraghty, of Providence, said he will seek a COVID-19 test.