Post by Mill Bay on Dec 29, 2007 17:48:59 GMT -8
Just found this interesting article on another ferry service that is undergoing its own changing of the guard.
The Woodland ferry in Delaware is replacing the cable-ferry that has crossed the since Nanticoke River 1961 with a new six-car vessel.
In addition, this is another opportunity for any of you that want to buy your own ferry, because they are auctioning off the old ferry, the Virginia C. (But let's hope those barge operators don't get her)
From The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware
Woodland Ferry vessel is worn out
The Virginia C. made, on average, 123 Nanticoke crossings a day
By DAN SHORTRIDGE, The News Journal
Posted Saturday, December 29, 2007
Anyone want a used ferry?
The venerable Virginia C., which has crossed the Nanticoke River at Woodland since 1961, will go up for auction in two weeks as the state clears the way for a new, larger ferry.
The Virginia C. has already attracted the attention of contractors interested in turning it into a barge, said George Unkle, project manager for the Delaware Department of Transportation.
"I'd like for it to continue to be used somewhere," he said. "It's still a good vessel -- [it] would make a good barge."
The Virginia C.'s last day in operation is set for Monday. DelDOT is inviting residents to ride the free ferry for the final time today, Sunday and Monday.
Carolyn Knowles, who has lived in the small community of Woodland for 45 years, said it will be sad to see the old ferry go.
Her daughter lives on the other side of the Nanticoke River, and the cable-guided ferry makes for a five-minute trip to visit her. With the ferry gone, it'll be about 20 minutes by road, she said.
"I will definitely miss it," said Knowles, who runs a small private Woodland history museum with her husband, Jack. Donna Angell, the secretary-treasurer of the nonprofit Woodland Ferry Association, said she'll also miss the ferry.
"It's a little sad," she said.
"It's a lot sad," chimed in Christina Darby, the group's vice-president.
But, said Angell, the new ferry is a positive step. The three-car capacity Virginia C. required so much maintenance at the end of her life that residents often did not know when the ferry would be in operation.
"It became so undependable that you just didn't rely on it," she said. "With the new one, there's no excuse unless the ferry captain is sick."
The new six-car ferry, named in honor of longtime former state Rep. Tina Fallon, R-Seaford, who retired in 2006, is about 60 percent complete.
Salisbury, Md.-based Chesapeake Shipbuilding Inc., is working on the new ferry. It is scheduled to go in the water at the latest by November, said DelDOT spokeswoman Tina Shockley.
The new ferry will also have new docks; the current ferry is being pulled out of the water to make way for the construction. The pilings and fenders are deteriorated, and won't be wide enough for the Tina Fallon, which will be about 10 feet wider, Unkle said.
The vessels will look similar, except for the difference in size, Unkle said.
"For historical purposes, we've tried to make it as identical as possible," he said.
The Virginia C., meanwhile, will go up for auction online from Nov. 14-17. The buyer will be responsible for hauling the old ferry away. The Virginia C. made about 45,000 trips annually, according to DelDOT statistics, or an average of 124 each day.
Terry Downing, one of the ferry's deckhands, said he won't be sad to see the old boat go.
"This [new] boat will be nice," he said.
The Woodland Ferry Association, meanwhile, is preparing for the group's annual fall festival, scheduled Sept. 13 and 14.
Angell is counting on DelDOT to have the ferry completed by then. "We were promised back in October that the ferry would be here for the festival," she said. "We need the ferry to be operating for there to be a successful festival."
Copyright ©2007, The News Journal.
FERRY HISTORY
A ferry has crossed the Nanticoke River between Laurel and Seaford, near the small community of Woodland on the Seaford side, since the 1700s. Run by the Cannon family from the 1740s until 1883, it was then taken over by Sussex County. The state took it over in 1935, running a wooden two-car ferry.
The wooden ferry was replaced in 1961 with a three-car steel vessel, the Virginia C. Because of the increasing cost to maintain that ferry, DelDOT in 2005 decided to build a new ferry, naming it in honor of longtime state Rep. Tina Fallon.
The new ferry, currently under construction in Salisbury, Md., is scheduled to begin operations in fall 2008.
The Woodland ferry in Delaware is replacing the cable-ferry that has crossed the since Nanticoke River 1961 with a new six-car vessel.
In addition, this is another opportunity for any of you that want to buy your own ferry, because they are auctioning off the old ferry, the Virginia C. (But let's hope those barge operators don't get her)
From The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware
Woodland Ferry vessel is worn out
The Virginia C. made, on average, 123 Nanticoke crossings a day
By DAN SHORTRIDGE, The News Journal
Posted Saturday, December 29, 2007
Anyone want a used ferry?
The venerable Virginia C., which has crossed the Nanticoke River at Woodland since 1961, will go up for auction in two weeks as the state clears the way for a new, larger ferry.
The Virginia C. has already attracted the attention of contractors interested in turning it into a barge, said George Unkle, project manager for the Delaware Department of Transportation.
"I'd like for it to continue to be used somewhere," he said. "It's still a good vessel -- [it] would make a good barge."
The Virginia C.'s last day in operation is set for Monday. DelDOT is inviting residents to ride the free ferry for the final time today, Sunday and Monday.
Carolyn Knowles, who has lived in the small community of Woodland for 45 years, said it will be sad to see the old ferry go.
Her daughter lives on the other side of the Nanticoke River, and the cable-guided ferry makes for a five-minute trip to visit her. With the ferry gone, it'll be about 20 minutes by road, she said.
"I will definitely miss it," said Knowles, who runs a small private Woodland history museum with her husband, Jack. Donna Angell, the secretary-treasurer of the nonprofit Woodland Ferry Association, said she'll also miss the ferry.
"It's a little sad," she said.
"It's a lot sad," chimed in Christina Darby, the group's vice-president.
But, said Angell, the new ferry is a positive step. The three-car capacity Virginia C. required so much maintenance at the end of her life that residents often did not know when the ferry would be in operation.
"It became so undependable that you just didn't rely on it," she said. "With the new one, there's no excuse unless the ferry captain is sick."
The new six-car ferry, named in honor of longtime former state Rep. Tina Fallon, R-Seaford, who retired in 2006, is about 60 percent complete.
Salisbury, Md.-based Chesapeake Shipbuilding Inc., is working on the new ferry. It is scheduled to go in the water at the latest by November, said DelDOT spokeswoman Tina Shockley.
The new ferry will also have new docks; the current ferry is being pulled out of the water to make way for the construction. The pilings and fenders are deteriorated, and won't be wide enough for the Tina Fallon, which will be about 10 feet wider, Unkle said.
The vessels will look similar, except for the difference in size, Unkle said.
"For historical purposes, we've tried to make it as identical as possible," he said.
The Virginia C., meanwhile, will go up for auction online from Nov. 14-17. The buyer will be responsible for hauling the old ferry away. The Virginia C. made about 45,000 trips annually, according to DelDOT statistics, or an average of 124 each day.
Terry Downing, one of the ferry's deckhands, said he won't be sad to see the old boat go.
"This [new] boat will be nice," he said.
The Woodland Ferry Association, meanwhile, is preparing for the group's annual fall festival, scheduled Sept. 13 and 14.
Angell is counting on DelDOT to have the ferry completed by then. "We were promised back in October that the ferry would be here for the festival," she said. "We need the ferry to be operating for there to be a successful festival."
Copyright ©2007, The News Journal.
FERRY HISTORY
A ferry has crossed the Nanticoke River between Laurel and Seaford, near the small community of Woodland on the Seaford side, since the 1700s. Run by the Cannon family from the 1740s until 1883, it was then taken over by Sussex County. The state took it over in 1935, running a wooden two-car ferry.
The wooden ferry was replaced in 1961 with a three-car steel vessel, the Virginia C. Because of the increasing cost to maintain that ferry, DelDOT in 2005 decided to build a new ferry, naming it in honor of longtime state Rep. Tina Fallon.
The new ferry, currently under construction in Salisbury, Md., is scheduled to begin operations in fall 2008.
