LOPEZ ISLAND, Wash. – For those living on Lopez Island, the ferry is a lifeline, but what happened Tuesday on one of the morning runs nearly gave a boatload of passengers a heart attack.

During very windy conditions, huge waves battered the ferry Sealth, making passengers ill and seriously damaging some cars.

Lopez Island boys basketball coach Brad Smith and his team, along with a lot of other people, are still trying to shake off the nightmare ferry ride into Anacortes.

"I've been riding the ferry for 11 years, and I've seen bigger waves, but not that kind of damage," said Smith

The Sealth was having a rough go of it during the late morning run, battling 10-to-12 foot swells in the middle of Rosario Strait.

"And you're up and down, slamming back down. You really feel it," said Smith.

The waves were so violent that at least six cars were damaged.  A 1995 Volvo got hit by the worst of it when a huge wave came crashing down on top of it, shattering the windshield and filling the car with salt water.

The car's owner, Jeanna Carter, just by chance decided to go up on the passenger deck with her 16-year-old son instead of staying in the car.

"So we were really fortunate to not be sitting in the driver's seat because I probably would have been pulled out.  My son and I would have been pulled out of the car with the retreating wave when it come back out," said Carter.

Her son's laptop computer and school books were ruined.

Other cars slammed into each other on the loading deck but no one was hurt.

Brad Smith

This 1995 Volvo was battered and hit by a huge wave during a morning run on the ferry from Lopez Island to Anacortes on Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008.

Washington State Ferries says the captain of the Sealth is a 41-year veteran -- the most senior skipper on staff. He says the sailing conditions in that area Tuesday were the worst he's ever seen and very unexpected.

It was a rocky ride that left passengers green.

"It's one of those times you're very happy to pull up to the dock," said Smith.