A bouncing ferry

[bigsallysmom]

Last week my sister and I took a two day trip to Port Aransas, Texas. At the ferry landing we were stopped from entering. The wash from a big ship hit the ferry and lifted and tilted one corner of the outward end and ran the length. It worsened until the crew had trouble walking and the ramp disconnected itself. The pilot gunned it to get away from the pier until things settled down. Had I been on my motorcycle I doubt if I would have stayed upright. What a ride those people had, who were already on. I've been on those ferries thirty-forty times in the last twenty years and have never seen such up and downs. What experiences have y'all had when crossing ferries?

 

[MrNoodly]

I can be impatient. I suck at waiting in lines in my vehicle. (Ugh, border crossings.) So I tend to avoid ferries. I came to Port Aransas from the south, using bridges instead of the ferry.

However, the ferry trips I've taken have been uneventful.

 

[bullfrog]

Had a friend that was a ferry captain that had a dinner/ dance party on the deck of a 92' ferry in the middle of the run peroited slowly for several hours in the evening, it was magical watching the stars in the clear skies.

 

[maki2]

I have been on lots of ferries quite often, sometimes commuting on them daily for work in all kinds of weather conditions. Sometimes the ride is glassy smooth, other times the spray is soaking on the cars and the ride is very rough. 

The rule is you are supposed to turn off your car alarm but many times drivers forget that and go up to the top deck with them left on. Or they are out of area tourist who are so busy yacking and excited that they don't bother to read signs.  Then when a strong wave hits the car alarms start blaring. That can be very annoying if you were using the crossing for an opportunity to take a nap. There are times when the tide has been so low or high that the loading ramp is at a very steep angle. Other times I have had to wait because it was too low of a tide for them to deploy the ramp.

Sometimes the pilots hit the dock way too hard, that is quite the experience.

I have been on a ferry that stopped right in the middle of a crossing because someone decided to jump off the boat to commit suicide.

Or for more pleasant slowdowns to allow a pod of killer whales to pass by.

The longest ferry ride I have taken was from Homer Alaska to Kodiak Island Alaska. The only time I have felt slightly seasick was on that trip.

Anacortes, WA thru the San Juan Islands up to Vancouver Island British Columbia is a beautiful experience and a fairly long ride as well.

I have been on the Port Aransas ferry but I was a kid at the time. I have crossed the Mississippi river on various ferries and the Columbia river on various ferries. Also the Balboa Island Ferry in California.

I have been on walk-on passenger only ferries including one that was a jet foil going from Seattle to Victoria British Columbia as well as the bigger ferry on that run that cars could drive onto.

I have been inside a Boeing 929 Jet Foil Ferry but only while it was still in the factory being built. It was in the same building where I was working as an assembly mechanic on the 727 and 737 jets but I never did  any assembly work on the ferry, I just liked to go in and walk around once in a while.

So a great many ferry rides over the years and no doubt more to come.

 

[user 423]

All I remember about the Port Aransas ferry was that it only took about 2 minutes to get across. Quite a letdown for my first ferry ride.

On the Alaska ferry this past summer I was dead tired from driving and then tried to sleep in one of the deck lounge chairs. That was really uncomfortable so I decided to spend the bucks for a cabin and then slept like a rock. The next morning I heard them announcing something on the PA but really couldn't make out what they were saying. Then I realized they were paging me and tellling me to get down to the car deck ASAP.

There were some unhappy campers parked behind my van and some PO'd crewmen glaring at me when I finally made it down there. Oops.

 

[Cammalu]

There are several little ferries in the county here in rural KY. They hold two cars and cross over the green river. It’s free.

Hubby next to the mechanical part.

They are open dawn to dusk.

 

[bullfrog]

Sorry about the spelling as spell check did not help. It was a slow spin like some of the rotating restaurants. I understand how bothersome spelling can be as I was told by the head of instruction for the state to not count mistakes in spelling on their tests, in fact if I could sound what was written and manage to understand it it was to be counted correct. The one that almost got me was "stirrup" which was actually "stir it up" crazy!