Ferries

Zack · Joined: 21 Feb 2005 Posts: 15

Has anyone ever traveled via ferry to any place?

When I was in Mackinaw Island, we took about a 15 hour fairy ride to the island, and it was pretty cool. A huge tail of water was shooting out the back, and the boat was pretty large.

What other places do ferries go to?

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

I've been on a few.

There is a ferry that goes across Long Island Sound from New London, CT to Orient Point, NY. My family used to live near New London, and my grandmother lived on Long Island, so it was a fun way to travel. There is also a ferry that goes across Long Island Sound from Bridgeport, CT to Port Jefferson, NY. We'd take that one every now and then, too.

I've taken a ferry from Wood's Hole, MA, to Martha's Vineyard. That was a neat trip, but on the way back it got stormy and there were waves crashing over the car deck!

The ferries that cross the English Channel are pretty famous. I once took a Jet Foil from Oostende, Belgium, to Dover, England. In a regular ferry the trip takes like 4 hours, but in the Jet Foil it went much faster, it took about an hour or so. The Jet Foil was also much smaller, and couldn't carry cars. It felt like riding in a train, skimming over the surface of the North Sea.

Most recently I took a few ferry rides in New Zealand. A couple were very short, just across river mouths, but we did take the Cook Straight Ferry from Wellington to Picton. The boat we were on is actually a catmaran. From the inside it looks like a parking garage, with a nice lounge on top. From the outside it looks kind of space age. The trip across took about three hours. On our way back the seas were rough and the Captain came on the public address to tell everyone to stay seated for the next hour!

Here's a picture of the catamaran. They call it the "Lynx," which is a type of wild cat, because it "links" the two islands together.

staticfate · Joined: 10 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: Edmonton, Canada

I took a ferry across the strait of Gibraltar to Morocco and it was really rough waters, but super hot and great scenery.

also taken many ferries to get around the islands of B.C.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

I've taken the ferry from Uno Port(Okayama) to Shikoku Island many times. You can take your car on these huge boats. Beautiful cruise across the Seto Inland Sea- you can see all the islands! If you want to go to Miyajima from Hiroshima(it is well worth it to see the shrine, which is a World Heritage Site, and the many tame deer that roam the island), you have to take a short but pleasant ferry ride.

San Francisco has the Red & White Fleet and we used to have a lot of parties on those boats. The Blue & Gold Fleet is also there and you can take excursions around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Dolphin Fleet will take you around the Agean if you are visiting Greece. The hovercrafts, on pontoons, ROCK! (heh heh, literally!)They have all sizes/speeds of boats that connect the little islands.

I once took a ferry from Calais to Dover. We were partying all night so I went into the cafe and lied down & slept, so I cannot comment on it.

The Star Ferry connecting Kowloon with Hong Kong Island is a brief, but fun ride. The bay reeks to high heavens, though! I like the signs that say (in Chinese and English) "No spitting." "Beware of pickpockets."

I once took a ferry from Takamatsu(port in Shikoku) to Beppu(Oita Prefecture, island of Kyushu) for a hot spring trip. Partied all night on the boat which left Takamatsu at 9:00pm and we arrived in a drunken stupor, ready to fall asleep in a hot sand bath, at 6:30am.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Oh, I totally forgot about the Star Ferry! I was just there a month ago. It must have been a good week, because the harbor didn't smell at all.

Another ferry: my mom always says that riding the Staten Island Ferry from lower Manhatten to Staten Island and back is "your best entertainment value." You get an amazing view of New York Harbor, thrilling by day or by night. She reports that when she was young and single she used to ride it with her dates out and back until she was sober enough to go home (I'm guessing this is before she lived on her own). Funny what your parents will tell you when you're old enough :)

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Laura wrote: Oh, I totally forgot about the Star Ferry! I was just there a month ago. It must have been a good week, because the harbor didn't smell at all.
Maybe it's stinkier in the warm seasons. I have never been to HK in the winter.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

I think I was just lucky. After spending a week in the cold COLD mountains of Jiangxi Province, I got to Hong Kong to find sunny spring-like weather (in the mid-to-upper 60's Farenheit) and sunny blue skies. The palm trees in Repulse Bay combined with the complete absence of cold rain and snow nearly made me swoon :)