Ontario ferries - photos and discussion

[Dane]

I did not realize until Wednesday when I arrived there that Kingston, ON has several ferry routes two of which are Provincially operated and free, and two more which are municipally operated and also free. Obviously all are fresh water crossings.

Information on Kingston's services: www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/ferry/index.html#Amherst

I took a crossing to Wolfe Island across from downtown Kingstopn on the BC Ferry-esque Wolfe Islander III which is listed with a capacity of 55 cars at 61 meters. She operates with four right angle drive units.

I have several photos from the trip:

You are greeted from one of Kingston's main streets by this passenger waiting area/operations centre/maintenance facility.



Vehicles are lined up on a pier facing away from the terminal out onto Lake Ontario; priority vehicles just drive up nearly to the ramp and wait. In the example of this photo, there were two school buses taking children home.



Passengers and vehicles load simaltaneously, despite signs that advise this is not the case. There is a small sidewalk on both sides of the ramp.



The bridge and superstructure



The pier is guarded from the ship by six large tires. There are no dolphins on the other side of the vessel.



An interesting, but not uncommon ramp system is used for the Wolf Islander III. The ramp lands on a divit in the vessels hull, and then her front door lowers ontop of the ramp creating a sandwich effect. Since there are no major tidal variations this system works exceedinly well at creating a flat drive off the vessel.



Leaving Kingston you can see the pier where vehicles line up for the vessel. We had a one sailing wait for this sailing (it was 4pm).

Interior





Plaque comemorating service on the route



Builder's plates (1975)



This fort represents the end of the St Lawrence and the begining of Lake Ontario (to the left). The other vessel is a small tourist cruise.





Kingston from the vessel's B end





Arriving at Wolfe Island



In a somewhat poor decision there is a stop sign about 150 meters off the vessel which vehicles off loading must obey - this added considerable time to the process of unloading. That said, the ship sailed perfectly ontime with two minutes to spare before leaving again for Kingston.



A closer view of the aforementioned ramp system



That's all for photos - I didn't even think to get a side profile but the link at the begining of the post will give you one. The service runs essentially hourly on hours similar to those seen on the Albion ferry. My brief discussion with a crew member lead me to believe the vessel is nearly never taken out of the water as most repairs are done in their shop at the Kinston terminal (which is odd as she doesn't moor in Kingston). A replacement vessel is available in the winter from another route where two identicial ferries operate in tandem in the summer and long weekends or single handedly in lower seasons.

The Wolf Islander III was in exceptional condition and was a pleasure to sail on. Arguably the crossing was as beautiful, if not more so than many of BC Ferries' routes. If you ever happen to be in the area I would strongly suggesyt taking the 50 minutes required to do this trip. There is quite a different culture on the ferry than we see here as well, for example when the "STOP" bars went down at the end of ther ramp and a crew member starting raising the vessel's door off the ramp a cyclist rolled onto the ship and no one seemed to care!

[Kam]

Great pictures!

It just reminded me of a TSB report a few years back on an incident with the Wolf Islander III.

Apparently she decided to depart the birth half way through loading with no one in the wheelhouse


www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/marine/1996/m96c0032/m96c0032.asp

[Balfour]

Awesome pictures, Dane. She's much like our Q class vessels.

[Political Incorrectness]

Just curious Dane, is that waterway controlled in terms of tides a bit more than BC waterways?

[Northern Exploration]

Hey Dane. I am one day behind you. Since my parents were away on Mothers Day we are celebrating it tomorrow. We are making the 2.5 hour drive to Kingston to have Lunch at either Chez Piggies or Wooden Heads restaurants. The Keg is great as well but is only open for dinner.

Dan there are no tides. The water in the Great Lakes, Niagara waterways, and the St. Lawrence systems are controlled. A huge amount of water is diverted from the Niagara River and Falls to power the hydro electric generators. They keep enough water going over the falls during daylight to appease the tourists but can divert more during the late evening and overnight hours to increase hydro generation. Between the Lakes are a series of canals and locks that control the water flow. The Welland Canal between Erie and Ontario for example.

At Kingston the St. Lawrence Seaway begins. There has a been a bit of controversy this year because Lake Ontario is quite high. It has been kept that way in consideration of Montreal downstream. If there is a sufficient storm with associated surge many people in smaller towns like Port Hope are worried about flooding in low lying areas.

There are two more smaller ferries just west of Kingston. On the other side of Wolfe Island is another ferry that goes to New York. Further down river towards the Quebec border are two large bridges to the US, so no further ferries are necessary. Only when the St. Lawrence widens further do you find the Quebec to Levi Ferry, which are quite a bit more robust.

[Northern Exploration]

Today the two year old ferry that travels to the downtown Toronto Island Airport had engine troubles today. Has to be among the shortest ferry trips that doesn't cross a river. Thankfully the old ferry sits on the airport side a few hundred feet away from the route. (ahem BC Ferries take note) So only airport employees were inconvenienced for a short period.

www.680news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20080725_111908_5388

www.torontoport.com/PortAuthority/airport_news_report_content.asp?id=253

You will see that you can almost spit across the channel to the airport. A bridge was to be built, but the NIMBY's who bought Condos all along the waterfront (airport was there forever ) convinced the mayor to make it an election issue. So the bridge idea was sacked and the Toronto City Centre Airport bought a new ferry.

Porter Airlines now has exclusive rights from the airport since Air Canada Jazz neglected their service from there. You can now fly on new Dash Q400 aircraft to Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax and in Winter to Mount Tremblant. There is US service to Newark, and soon either Boston or Chicago. They are kind of like Wardair was except only short haul flights. A stylish airline with designer outfits on the attendants, free papers, cappucino in the lounge befor the flight. There is a shuttle bus that runs from downtown the 8 or so minutes to the airport, and then you ride across in the ferry. You are on your plane faster than you can commute to the airport on the freeway. An example of diversifying the transportation industry that is more green, getting people off the roads and more efficient.

[Kahloke]

It's a pretty cool setup. I read about this in an Airways magazine a year or so ago - they had a feature on Porter Airlines - and they also talked about the little ferry and the terminal there. I've never been to Toronto, but it seems like Porter would be a good alternative for regular business travelers.

There's actually a nice little YouTube promotional video on Porter:
ca.youtube.com/watch?v=xnhExEZvJNI

[Northern Exploration]

Here is a link to a story about a water taxi sinking at the dock here in Toronto. www.cp24.com/gallery/html/080917_watertaxi/photo_3.html

Not much known at this stage and no one was on board at the time. One of a number of smaller craft/passenger ferries that travel from the waterfront to the Toronto Islands. Some service the marinas, some service Islanders and some deliver chinese food or pizza .

[Deleted]

The owner of the Toronto Water Taxi is George McQuinn. This is very strange...he's a pretty careful Mariner.

[Northern Exploration]

He has a good reputation here as does most of the Toronto Harbour. This sinking somehow popped into my head the orginal Captain John's floating restaurant that was rammed and sank and wasn't salvageable.

[Deleted]

The original Captain John's was refloated and, last I heard, was in Port Dalhousie at the Marina on the east side of Port Dalhousie harbour. It was various incarnations of a restaurant, including Mexican. I'm not sure what it is now, or if it is even there.

Is the Jadran still there? Captain John's boathouse?

Ah, Toronto Harbour. Sitting at Spinnakers at Queens Quay and sipping beer, watching the harbour....I miss it so much!

[Northern Exploration]

Spinnakers is now an Il Fornello - good reasonable Italian food with thin crust wood oven pizza a specialty. Not quite the nautical theme but waterside patio is still there.

I actually don't know many Torontonians eat at Captain John's or if it is just tourists and convention goers. I had been at a half day advertising seminar and our committee was having a meeting directly after. Rather than stay in the boring meeting room in the Westin Harbour Castle we decided to walk next door to the good old Jadran/Captain John's. We had a cool circular table in the bow section of the main floor dining room. First impression is a that damp smell. Maybe they cheap out by not running the dehumidifiers. My recollection is that much of the food is deep fried (frozen shrimp, scallops etc.) but that may not be accurate. You know where I grew up so fresh seafood is a must for me. It struck me as tired and needing some zip added. Kinda cool eating on a old ship but I wish the food was better and not as expensive. For those of you who are interested here is the link. Oddly they don't have any history of the ship.

www.captainjohns.ca/index.html
www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/308098
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_John's_Harbour_Boat_Restaurant

[Deleted]

So Captain John's hasn't changed. Sounds like my last experience there, circa 2000.

Someone once called it "Long John Silver's" in a real boat. Deep fried is right....it's a novelty. For sure.

[Northern Exploration]

The Toronto Port Authority who operates the ferry to Toronto City Centre Airport considers buying a second ferry as back-up. The shortest ferry route not on a river with a second ferry? Apparently the funds to purchase the ferry would come from airport improvement fees and not taxpayers and is intended to act as backup to the existing ferry in case of mechanical issues or as a replacement for scheduled maintenance. The old ferry is still tied up a few hundred feet away on the airport side of the ship channel for just such purposes - but I guess it may have Transport Canada issues if they are thinking of purchasing a second one. You think two ferries passing in Active Pass is something, imagine two ferries passing in the little ship channel . There would be so many ferries in the channel no ships could use it ;D.

*Late edit. I just realized they probably want to park the two ferries end to end and you would end up with a defacto bridge to the Island .

[Northern Exploration]

Well it is official the second Toronto City Centre Airport is getting its second ferry. This one will be the same size, still only carry 15 cars (must be very small ones), but will have a larger passenger capacity (200) with more seating for those who can't stand for 5 minutes . Cost is $5 mil. Heck one of the cats should be able to be bought for that and you could just drive straight through - think of it as a floating bridge and call it a ferry so the Mayor doesn't throw another hissy fit .

www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/575261

[Kahloke]

An article on the airport expansion at Toronto Island. It sounds like Porter is doing quite well.

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090428.PORTER28ART2352/TPStory/?query=Porter

Porter unveils plans for new island air terminal
Anticipating one million passengers a year, company says it will spend $45-million on a new building and add 400 jobs
JEFF GRAY

April 28, 2009

Porter Airlines Inc. - which operates out of Toronto's controversial island airport - said yesterday it is spending $45-million to build a new passenger terminal as it goes ahead with plans to double its fleet to 20 planes by the end of the year, boasting that it is creating hundreds of jobs in the middle of a recession.

Although they declared no taxpayer money is involved in the new terminal, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Transport Minister John Baird were on hand for a ceremony in front of the steel skeleton of the 14,000-square-metre building, already under construction.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to be at an announcement where the federal government has no investment," Mr. Flaherty said, prompting laughter from his audience of invited dignitaries. "There's no taxpayer money in this building, I can assure you. ... I am not here as the money guy."

Across the Western Gap on the mainland, a group of about 30 anti-airport protesters, including Councillor Adam Vaughan and NDP MP Olivia Chow, whose Trinity-Spadina riding includes the Toronto Islands, marched and waved signs, some reading "Take the train."

Mayor David Miller campaigned in 2003 to stop a proposed bridge to the airport, and local activists have long claimed it should be a park, while some residents have complained about noise.

In an interview, Mr. Vaughan took issue with the notion that no public money is being used to prop up Porter, which received a $20-million payout in 2005 from the federal government meant to avert a lawsuit by Porter president and chief executive officer Robert Deluce over the cancellation of the bridge.

"If there's no public money there, why were all the politicians showing up to take credit? We all know there's public money there," Mr. Vaughan said.

Mr. Deluce said his company plans to finance the new terminal with its own debt.

Speaking to reporters, he said the protesters were a small group. "I can tell you that there are many, many individuals who live on this waterfront and who in fact walk to the airport in order to board their flights," he said.

On the noise issue, Porter officials pointed to the fact that planes were taking off less than 100 metres away without interrupting the news conference. The Toronto Port Authority, which runs the Toronto City Centre Airport, is conducting a noise-management study, although it says noise complaints have declined this year.

Mr. Deluce said his Toronto-made Bombardier Q400 planes are carrying more and more passengers, with traffic up on Montreal and Ottawa routes and a Thunder Bay run set to launch this summer.

After the new terminal opens next year, Mr. Deluce said he expects to be carrying one million passengers a year, up from more than 500,000 now. Porter has plans to go from 600 staff to 1,000, and says construction of the terminal alone is creating 300 jobs.

[Northern Exploration]

Apr 29, 2009 11:28:53 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

An article on the airport expansion at Toronto Island. It sounds like Porter is doing quite well.

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090428.PORTER28ART2352/TPStory/?query=Porter

Porter seems to be doing very well. Seems, because of the private nature of the business they don't have to publish detailed stats. I know a lot of downtown people who absolutely love the ride to Newark and Midway at Chicago. With the expansion comes preclearance for US Customs so you won't have to do that at the other end.

The expansion is all paid for by Porter as well. Mayor Miller must be squirming over this. The rag tag team of NIMBY's who protest every Friday are pretty sad. The vast majority of the populace don't give a rats patootie about these protestors from the condos built in recent years, especially since the airport has been there since forever. To call the aiport controversial is a bit of a stretch by the author.

Soon the little wierd ferry will be joined by one with a little more capacity. So besides the old ferry, there will be two new ones for a trip that takes about five minutes across the ship channel. A bridge would have made much more sense and been a much greener alternative. The feds and province aren't about to cave in over this, and now that Porter is doing very well any politician who does something stupid will be killing employment and jobs. Won't go over to well in a region that is losing manufacturing jobs head over heel.

[Kahloke]

Oct 20, 2007 15:21:13 GMT -8 Scott said:

Here is the Thomas Rennie, one of the ferries that takes passengers from downtown Toronto to the beautiful Toronto Islands.

[Kahloke]

Nov 10, 2008 9:01:32 GMT -8 Northern Exploration said:

Here are some pics of the funny little ferry that runs between the foot of Bathurst Street to the Toronto City Centre Airport located on one of the Islands that form the Toronto harbour. Basically the ferry crosses the western ship canal.

The majority of passengers are workers at the airport or passengers for Porter Airlines. A free shuttle bus picks passengers up downtown and delivers them to the terminal on the city side. There is also a passenger drop off for cabs. You ride an escalator up to the lounge and then board the ferry through a bridge to the passenger lounge. Seems like a lot for such a short trip . The car deck is pretty small but then only workers drive to the airport.

I won't name, names but a former boss of someone I know fired his limo company because they wouldn't drive the Lincoln over to pick him up on the Island side .

[Dane]

26 Feb 11 - some more photo's. Taken with a Blackberry so not the best resolution ever <G>

Not sure where the photo's from my last report went. Do not recall deleting them but my album on Photo Bucket is empty. Will look into that some more...

Nothing of change to report really. Love the relaxed attitude, with the 430pm departure most "locals"seemed to appear at 430pm. About 2 minutes later the ramp was up, engines powered on and two more people drove up. Ramp went back down and they were loaded.

Licence is 294 pax with 6 crew. Restricted to the route from Kingston to the Wolfe Island terminals only (vice most BC Ferries which have an area to operate rather than a specific routing).

On this trip I went to the winter terminal about 2km from the summer dock. Thick ice in Marysville (the "town") prevents winter operations. Also think this may have been my first ferry trip in ice? Since my last visit Wolfe Island has also had Canada's second largest wind farm built.

More info:

The ferry - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfe_Islander_III
The Island - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfe_Island_%28Ontario%29
Simcoe Island - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simcoe_Island



Looking from the vessel across to a lifting Kingston bridge with the broken ice showing well.



An almost full load, looking to the bridge.





The interior of the vessel. There are saddle lounges on both sides that run the length of the vessel. Seating is hard plastic like most of the pre-Coastalized minors. Lots of local ads and such.



Looking back on our path through the ice.



Royal Military College



Ice covering the front of the vessels. I think it looks really neat. For most of the crossing the vessel pushes a lot of ice forward as it is a flat front.



Approaching Wolfe Island. Interestingly there is a bit of a difference between the ramps on the two sides. On the Kingston side the vessel has a lip to the ramp which comes down to meet the ramp from the dock-side, where as on the Wolfe Island end the vessel's ramp goes straight down and the shore ramp meets it flush.



Sign in Marysville directing to the winter terminal.



Ferry to Simcoe Island, looking towards Simcoe from Wolfe Island. The terminal on the Wolfe Island side is in the middle of nowhere (albeit I would define most of the Island as such). There is a charge for this service, $1 for pax, $5 for vehicles. It is a cable ferry, Ontario's shorttest apparently.



Looking over the entire crossing to Simcoe. Doesn't look used too recently, and there are vehicle tracks on the ice between the Islands!



Windmill Farm on Wolfe Island. They weren't movin' too fast while I was there, but they really started turning during our return sailing.

[Dane]

And now some photo's from the iPod. Its camera is, in my opinion, inferior to that of the Blackberry.



Towards Wolfe Island, note the lack of "lip"



Towards Kingston. Note the "lip"



Rescue Boat



The truck that was a couple minutes late we delayed departure for.



Pushing some ice en route to Kingston.



Outside deck, accessible from outside stairwells like minors in BC, and also an interior staircase from each of the two saddle lounges.



Rockin' a porthole in the washroom.



A better interior shot to show the seating arrangements.

[Low Light Mike]

Feb 27, 2011 17:40:07 GMT -8 Dane said:

Interestingly there is a bit of a difference between the ramps on the two sides. On the Kingston side the vessel has a lip to the ramp which comes down to meet the ramp from the dock-side, where as on the Wolfe Island end the vessel's ramp goes straight down and the shore ramp meets it flush.

The MV Francois Forester is the same oddball setup.

[Dane]

Just found this ferry up the Highway a bit at Amherst... www.marinetraffic.com/ais/showallphotos.aspx?mmsi=316015121&photoid=119504#top_photo

Vessel is 12 years older than the Wolf Islander III but looks very similar. This would pre-date out K/Q boats... (The Wolfe Islander III is a BC design, Thunder Bay build).

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Feb 27, 2011 17:40:07 GMT -8 Dane said:

Windmill Farm on Wolfe Island. They weren't movin' too fast while I was there, but they really started turning during our return sailing.

I have similar photos from the US side of the Wolfe Island wind generation plant from a trip last fall. Apparently, there are a number of similar projects under review for the US side of the river. We didn't get an opportunity to take any of the ferries, though, as we had already scheduled to meet with friends in Montreal and time was short...

[Dane]

This weekend (7 May 11) I was around the Toronto Island ferries for awhile so I thought I would share some photo's and experiences.

The Toronto Island(s) is served two primary ferry operators. "The Port" provides access to Toronto's Island airport via two passenger ferries, a vehicle ferry (for work vehicles only), and an auxiliary vehicle ferry. I did not ride this route, nor did I directly observe it. However I did see the two vehicle ferries tied too at the airport throughout the day.

The second service is also a primarily foot passenger only operation, however there is one vehicle ferry. It is operated by the City's Parks & Rec Dept connecting downtown Toronto to three terminals. A route map and further info is found at Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Island_Ferry. Fare is $6.50, return; collected in Toronto.

This fleet consists of five vessels.

Four are passenger only, the:
William Inglis, 395 pax, 4 crew
Sam McBride (1000 pax from Wiki)
Thomas Rennie (1000 pax from Wiki)
Trillium (955 pax from Wiki)

One vessel, sort of like a pocket size K:
Ongiara (10 AEQ, 220 pax from Wiki)

The passenger only vessels, ranging in construction from 1910 to 1956 provide a nice antiquated look that accents the tourist attraction nature of the Toronto Islands.

Anyways to some photo's and observations...

I started the day on a tourist boat which we got a "GroupOn" for. It was an hour long tour divided in two 30 minute parts taking you along the waterfront of the city, cutting near the airport and then to the company's docking spot on Centre Island.

Our chariot was a retired cannal boat from Holland. Having been brought to Canada around 1960 it served a few years before sinking in the Hamilton Harbour. After being brought up she was purchased by what is now Toronto Harbour Tours.



The boat's wheel and controls.



Looking out the front door. It was a bit unfortunate the the length of the boat was covered with almost 20 degree temperatures and light winds. I sat right up front to have immediate access to the door for photographic purposes.



Looking back to a few more tourist boats the share these piers. This actually proves to be a very tight turn for the boat to get out when setting sail for the Toronto Harbour. The crew aboard though were very good, and the Captain was constantly attentive to the huge amount of traffic in the area. Seeing as the boating season has not even started in this part of the country I cannot even imagine how crazy it must get come July!



Here is the Toronto Island airport. It had been a Porter stronghold until May 1 when it also had an Air Canada invasion, with their new service Air Canada Express. Most of the flights still seem to be Porter.



Here is the boat the took us for the tour leaving the Toronto Islands without us! We'd be back aboard two hours later.



This started as the same (sister) boat to the one I was on. With 51 years of modification, however, she is looking very different. They have not served with the same company since 1976.

The Ferries

Ongiara

Built in 1960 Wiki lists her with an AEQ of 10 vehicles. I find this difficult to believe. She is tiny. This is the only vehicle accessible ferry to the Islands, and is also classified for ice breaking allowing the service to run year long. The passenger only ferries tie up for the off season.



Running from Ward's Island dock to downtown Toronto.



Closer view of the same.



Here the vessel is approaching Hanlan's Point dock, farthest to the West. You can get an appreciation for how small she is in this photo.



Sailing across the Harbour at sunset from Hanlan's Point to Toronto. In the background you see the airport and the western end of Toronto's waterfront.



William Inglis

Pax only, 395 pax with 4 crew. She was the only vessel running with the Ongiara this day, which apparently is not typical. There were signs up at the Toronto terminal advising of the reduced capacity (she can hold ~600 pax less than the three other pax only vessels.)



Just departing Centre Island for Toronto. While this photo doesn't really show it she is a mere few hundred meters from the Ongiara which was running from a different terminal.



We get a bit closer...



The horn just blasted, she is getting ready to leave Centre Island with a lot of families after a fun day!



Off she goes... I do now know the service speed of the these vessels but I am guessing it is about 10 knots or so.



The interior. Nothing too exciting, just benches running up both sides. Notice the life vests on the roof. The entire vessel is like this throughout.



The Island end ramp. While vehicles are not carried on this ferry a very large number of bikes and strollers are.



Vessel-borne ramp at the Toronto end.



The vessel's name sake, William Inglis, who also funded the construction of this vessel.



The upper passenger deck, open throughout gives an amazing view. Despite signs all over the vessel asking you to sit throughout the trip this is obviously not what happends. Nor is it designed for everyone to be able to sit. Quite absurd.



Upper deck showing the life vests.



Back on the passenger deck we see the bike rack point. This must be hugely insufficient on busy summer days, but is certainly better than nothing.



Looking out the window to a Toronto sunset.

Thomas Rennie

This vessel was out of service for the day, and most of the life vests were pulled out on the main passenger deck. A sign advised that two vessels were unavailable due to refit - I am unsure if this applied to the Thomas Rennie or not as another ship was not visible to me.

While looking essentially the same as the Inglis she can carry 600 more passengers, and boasts being 16 years her junior, built in 1956.





Showing off the ramp to terminal connection.

Sam Mcbride

Seeming to be a sister to the Rennie she was missing all day. Not sure if she may be in for work or not. I also think - but did not think to check at the time of - that there is not enough slips for her to be stored out of service in Toronto, the ship's base.

Trillium

The oldest (1910) and largest of the ferries she is out of service for work. There are obvious signs of painting and re-wiring/lighting going on her currently. When in service she must be quite the attraction.



The Terminals

None of the terminals are substantial, and I believe that downtown Toronto is the only one with staff.

Downtown Toronto

This terminal appears to be in the first part of a substantial renovation.



Here the new ticket booths can be seen in the distance. If there was anything in these concrete dividers it is now well gone. There is a single ticket line to the left of this photo at present.



A snack bar, and enclosed waiting area to the right. Surely appreciated in the winter. At first I thought the snack bar might not be used - seems a bit run down - but I had learned earlier in the day that's how more or less everything is relating to Toronto Island. Not actually certain what its current status is.



Normally I am not a washroom photographer, but this one was pretty funny being illuminated by ONE flood light. Good luck in the washroom. Hoping this is part of an oncoming renovation, but it wasn't clear. Most of the light was from my camera. Good luck with a stall.



The gates which open for pedestrian/bike traffic when the ship is ready to board. These also serve well to block photography for the most part. Vehicles are cued to the right in a small lane designated for that purpose.



From the distance on the water.

Hanlan's Point

The furthest west terminal on the Islands. I did not visit this location.



If it looks like there is nothing here, it is because there is nothing here!

Centre Island

In the summer this is surely the busiest terminal with an amusement park mere minutes away by foot. It also has a semi-recently built enclosure to protect passengers with a Pizza Pizza and public washroom a hundred meters away. There are two in service slips here, and an old slip that looks to have been out of commission for many years.





The tree is quite indicative of the lack of use!

There is a small amusement park at Centre Island.



There is also bike rental facilities, beautiful park land, a petting zoo, beaches, and surely several other things to keep guests occupied. Two yaght clubs call the area home, as well as a small number of residents.

Ward's Island

I did not visit this dock.



--



And that's all for now, folks!