lets hear it for ferries too

[ice-is-forming]

this is the barge to fraser island

when i was a kid i used to love this one

from poole to the isle of purbeck cos it meant our holiday had actually started..

 

[madzone]

the scillonian - a top boat

You're clearly mad

 

[sam/phallocrat]

don't forget the Woolwich Free Ferry across the Thames ...

ahem *points upwards*

 

[selamlar]

View from a ferry on a lake about 100 km from Diyarbakir. Its a resevoir rather than a lake, really.
The ferry held about 5 trucks and 10 cars but my question is how the fuck they got it there? Its more than 500km from the sea, and the mountain roads up there are

Will try to find a photo of the actual ferry.

 

[pogofish]

Same with the old highland lake steamers & boats supplied all over the world. Shipyards were quite able to supply the craft in kit-form for final/reassembly at a temporary yard, wherever it was needed.

 

[selamlar]

What, big ones as well? This thing aint no toy.

 

[bigbry]

I'm going to get shouted down but I like Speedferries Speed One between Dover and Boulougne for no other reason that it';s fast and cheap - gets me on my hols as quick as possible and doesn't break the bank.

 

[pembrokestephen]

In the course of our holiday to Brittany in the beginning of August, we managed to cross the Channel 6 times. Blech.

The first 3 trips were made on this one:

which was good as there was less faffing about at each end, but the views were terrible. Not to mention the fact that I expect the purists won't regard it as a ferry at all, grr.

My favourite ferry was this one, from Le Havre to Newhaven (look, it was £69.50, OK? ), mainly because it was half-empty and therefore not full of noisy kids, ergo Pembrokestephen got to sleep on the voyage. Always good.

My least favourite was this one, on the Cherbourg-Portsmouth leg:

Full of noisy kids, arrrgh.

And my second least favourite was this one, on the Portsmouth-Cherbourg leg (see, it's going the other way!): it was daytime, so I didn't need the kip, and quiet - for some strange reason all the kids on board were well behaved.

Those express ferries are excellent from the point of view of speed, but it's no fun not being able to get out on deck and feel a tiny bit nautical...

 

[pogofish]

What, big ones as well? This thing aint no toy.

Yes, surprisingly big ones.

This is the famous one in Peru - Transported piece by piece across the atlantic & up into the Andes, then rebuilt on the shores of Lake Titticaca

Nearer home we have the Maid of the Loch on Loch Lomond -

Built in a Clydeside shipyard, then dismantled & transported bit by bit to a yard in Balloch for rebuilding. Which is why it has its own dedicated slipway today.

 

[mauvais]

My favourite ferry was this one, from Le Havre to Newhaven (look, it was £69.50, OK? ), mainly because it was half-empty and therefore not full of noisy kids, ergo Pembrokestephen got to sleep on the voyage. Always good.

Seven Sisters! That's some good ferryage.

 

[pembrokestephen]

Seven Sisters! That's some good ferryage.

I was pleased with it, but slightly weirded out to find that, having bought an LD Lines ticket, I was travelling on a Transmanche ferry that thought it was on the Dieppe-Newhaven run, even though we were in Le Havre (a bit of a dump, at least from the dock end of it...)

 

[teuchter]

Those express ferries are excellent from the point of view of speed, but it's no fun not being able to get out on deck and feel a tiny bit nautical...

I agree. There's something very wrong with any boat where you can't go outside.

Especially for those of us prone to seasickness...

 

[pembrokestephen]

I agree. There's something very wrong with any boat where you can't go outside.

Especially for those of us prone to seasickness...

You can actually stand outside, I discovered - there's a walkway out the back, overlooking the aft end of the vehicle deck, where you can stand. But it's not exactly a promenade deck...

 

[mauvais]

Yeah - us too; Transmanche there, LD back, all bought through LD.

Le Havre's not too bad - a bit like the southern English ports like Southampton really. Newhaven is a bit of a mess, but I liked the sign on the way out that to my eyes appears to say 'Bon Jovage'

 

[pembrokestephen]

Yeah - us too; Transmanche there, LD back, all bought through LD.

Le Havre's not too bad - a bit like the southern English ports like Southampton really. Newhaven is a bit of a mess, but I liked the sign on the way out that to my eyes appears to say 'Bon Jovage'

Ah, we arrived at Newhaven at 0030 (30 mins late - what a palaver loading up at Le Havre). So not much to see, except the inside of a clearly outmoded and quite dilapidated Customs shed. With no Customs officers.

 

[pogofish]

The Hrossey on Friday night.

 

[selamlar]

Cat to Cyprus this weekend was an experience all right. Totally enclosed cabin, with no way on deck at all during crossing. Med as flat as a millpond, and yet EVERYONE (including my wife), apart from me and the crew was sick.
I mean, sure, its a cat so less stabilisied but come on people!
No photos of ferry as a) took Rollei, not digital camera, b) was on forehead mopping and hand holding duty. Saw a turtle in Tasucu harbour tho.

Same as this one ?

 

[Cobbles]

Hoverspeed - now that takes me back - one of the noisiest, most vibratory ways of crossing a body of water, especially the big car transports:

 

[teuchter]

You can still go to the Isle of Wight on a hovercraft:

I had forgotten about going on that one.

No messing around at each end tying up at piers and hoisting up gangplanks. It just zooms up the beach, they open the door and you get out.

 

[Cobbles]

A new cross Forth link (Kirkcaldy to Portobello) was trialled this summer:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/13161849

Unfortunately Porty beach is famous for the appallingness of its flotsam & jetsam so I hope that special anti turd/condom baffles were fitted to the air intakes.....

 

[teuchter]

A new cross Forth link (Kirkcaldy to Portobello) was trialled this summer:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/13161849

Unfortunately Porty beach is famous for the appallingness of its flotsam & jetsam so I hope that special anti turd/condom baffles were fitted to the air intakes.....

That's interesting... I thought the problem with hovercraft was that they can't cope with rough seas, which is why they gave up on them on the cross-channel routes and why they only survive on very sheltered routes like the Isle of Wight crossing. I wouldn't have thought that the Firth of Forth would be very well protected...

 

[chio]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/437552742_4e95c1f025_o.jpg

 

[bodach]

I love all the Caledonian McBrayne ferries in the Scottish Isles.

This is my favourite CalMac ferry, the Isle of Mull, here arriving in Oban from Craignure.

 

[pogofish]

I wouldn't have thought that the Firth of Forth would be very well protected...

The inner Forth is surprisingly calm but remember what happened to the last attempt at a Kirkaldy to Portobello ferry. It had to be rescued several times because the boat they used was not up to the crossing & was in danger of getting carried-out to see.

It didn't even last-out its first winter IIRC.

Also remember the service was run by fucking Stagecoach as well & with their record up here, much as I like the idea, there is no way I'd be risking any hovercraft operated by them on a regular basis!

 

[oneflewover]

That's interesting... I thought the problem with hovercraft was that they can't cope with rough seas, which is why they gave up on them on the cross-channel routes and why they only survive on very sheltered routes like the Isle of Wight crossing. I wouldn't have thought that the Firth of Forth would be very well protected...

On a trip back from France in fairly choppy seas, the crew made everbody sit in the rows of seats at the back. Even though this was done, every 30seconds or so felt like the hovercraft was hitting a brick wall. The visibility was nil with spray and waves. Quite an exciting journey.

On a previous trip we went via Sealink Jetfoil. Probably the most exciting trip I've had. The power and feeling it rise out of the sea was incredible.

 

[janeb]

Love ferries, really feel like I've travelled somewhere;

View from the ferry between Scrabster and Stromness, this June

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/1205788240_ab04f5db8e.jpg?v=0

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Ferry near Drumheller, Alberta.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Spirit of Vancouver Island

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

False Creek ferry

 

[paolo]

ooohh... love ferries... well, the fast ones. Must go island hopping again.

The "highspeed" fleet is fab: