Wow, this topic sure has legs! So, here’s something to ponder: On a double-ended car ferry where is the bow? The stern? Port or starboard sides? Inquiring minds want to know.

It all depends on which way it is going...

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

I love the memories this thread inspires!

I grew up in Northwest WA.
Frequent ferry trips to the (many) San Juan islands.

A lot of trips on the Whatcom Chief too, a 20(?) car ferry that runs from Gooseberry Point to Lummi island.

I grew up on the Pacific Ocean.
Our family spent summers cruising the San Juan Islands on a 24', and later a 28', Chris Craft

I live in Montana now, and love it.
The only thing I miss is salt water, and boat/ferry trips.

Pardon me while I wander away in wistful thought...

I am not much interested in travel, but I would like to ride the Hurtigruten ferry up the coast of Norway. It's like a 10 day trip if you take it all the way to the end, near Russia.
I also read about this ferry in a Matt Helm book. He had to jump off the ferry to rescue a damsel in distress. I get cold just thinking about it.
I live in Puget Sound country, and ferries are a way of life in these parts. I remember when I was a teen and my brother and I got on the ferry to Whidbey Island and rode it as foot passengers for several crossings. We just paid once, about 35 cents each, in 1958. After the 9-11 terrorism, they kick everyone off the Ferries after one crossing. They are watchful for people leaving luggage bags unattended. The Washington State Patrol does security, with dogs.
I liked the old ferries, they were fitted out in varnished wood like real boats. Now, they are like busses inside. Nice, but not very nautical.

Best,
Rick

One of my co-workers was up here from our Florida site. We were having dinner at Ivar's, the restaurant by the ferry dock at Mukilteo. He was fascinated by the ferries going to and from Whidbey Island. What? no boats in Florida? I told him the boats were headed for an island. A big one. Big enough to have a Naval Air Station; NAS Whidbey. Home of the Prowlers and now the Growlers. He wouldn't believe me. An island big enough for a Naval Air Station, he said? Betcha! After dinner, he insisted that I prove my "tall tale" to him. So onto the boat we drove. Whidbey's a big island all right. There's a Naval Air Station over there. Toldja so! He lost the bet. A sucker bet if there ever was one! Never, never bet with a local!

Riding a Goldwing along the shore of lake Thun Switzerland, we happened upon a Swiss lake boat, transformed to accommodate the theme of a regional dragon celebration.
We didn't voyage on this mythical beast, but had to stop and admire it.

As a kid (1950's) we took the ferry from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI and back as my grandparents lived in MI while we were in WI.

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Bill

The ones on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers hinge or pivot in the middle. Push it onto the landing and off load. When the oncoming cars have loaded the tow backs out and pivots. Then it pushes the barge. The barge itself never changes, just back and forth. It’s the tug that changes direction.

The REALLY cool one is the San Juan's route leaving Anacortes and it does a big loop. You can ride for the day as a walk-on and it's pretty cheap. Bring a picnic lunch in a bag and just enjoy the scenery. A friend was one of the engineers on the Kaleetan, on that route. 7 days on, 7 days off, and a month of vacation. Imagine, taking a week of vacation, and having 3 weeks of in a row. Anacortes–San Juan Islands ferry - Wikipedia

Growing up in Seattle, I've lost count of ferry rides.

The bow alternates according the direction of travel. So do Port and Starboard. The marker green and red lights get switched accordingly.

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Expect the unexpected

Absolutely many times. The St. Charles ferry on the Lower White River many times. Toad Suck ferry on the Arkansas River and the Norfork Lake Ferry which was sort of exciting because of the heavy truck I was driving. Might have been others it seems but those stand out. All of these were in Arkansas. They no longer exist. History fading away.

Skip to about the 2:30 mark to see it change.

I've ridden one of the Hudson River ferries from the battery out to the Statue of Liberty and back, and I've ridden the Ocracoke to Hattaras Island ferry to the Outer Banks of NC.

In a previous life, I operated a ferry:

This is the Ferry we used to take from Newport to Jamestown for .25.

Sent from my LGL455DL using Tapatalk

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Don

I rode the ferry from Harsen's Island, Mi to the mainland everyday from 1963 to 1966. I lived on the island during that time. $1.00 round trip. The ferry crossed the St. Clair River. About a 1/2 mile ride.

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Carpriver.

I was about 3 and we went on a ferry someplace near Chicago, but it was about an hour out if I remember right. The big highlight of that trip was it was windy and my sister got sick and my mother was very angry, as it seemed like she got carsick or seasick randomly and always at the worst time. She had to take my sister's clothes into some crew area and wash them, with my sister in the restroom, upset she couldn't see anything. Other than some trauma I went through, it's one of the first things I remember.

Do they change the propellers also or are they on both ends of the boat/ship?

The two that serve Drummond Island Michigan turn around after leaving the Island and again when they get to the mainland, both have ice breaker hulls and run 365 days a year.

The boats on Puget Sound are double-enders. Props and pilot houses on both ends. Not only do the lights swap sides, but the captain et. al. walk to the other end before each crossing.

An exception is MV Coho that runs between Port Angeles and Victoria. Technically, that's not Puget Sound but the Straight of Juan de Fuca. It can get a little bumpy out there!

Black Ball Ferry Line |
Daily Departures to Victoria and Port Angeles

@ bearman49709.

What Krogen said.

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Expect the unexpected

Thanks for that Krogen. When I posted I didn't remember the
restaurant. But now, thanks to your post, I do. I had either
breakfast or lunch there. Can't remember which.

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In Omnia Paratus

I was on a solo drive from Fla. back to Colorado taking the "vacation scenic tour" of where I had not been before. I wanted to see Galveston. I was following my "Garmin" and it would talk to me with it's directions. I had been going down a long desolate road in full dark thinking I would eventually get to a bridge. I could see bright lights in the distance. Just before I got to what turned out to be a big parking lot, the Garmin came on and simply said as my next direction -- "BOARD FERRY" --- I did NOT see that coming! So I went across galveston bay in the dark on a ferry.
Other ferries had been the Outer Banks to Ocracoke Island N.C and Lewes Delaware over to N.J.

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Y. B. Ord & A. Ree

I gather that your Florida buddy has never been to Key West???
(Boca Chica Field)


Or don't Keys count as islands??

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

I was born and raised in San Diego. I've ridden the San Diego-Coronado ferry many times. When I was little, Mom would take me on the ferry, and keep me amused by riding back and forth for an hour or two.

The most interesting ferry I was on was the massive train ferry between Puttgarden, Germany and Rodby, Denmark. The entire train went on the ferry, and after it sailed, you could get off the train, walk around, and eat in the ferry's restaurant.

I've also been on a hydrofoil ferry and an air cushion ferry, but the most unique ferry trip I've been on was one that meandered through a Norwegian fjord. It was a small ferry, capable of carrying maybe a half-dozen vehicles in addition to the walk-on passengers. Every now and then it would pull up to a small pier at an isolated home at the base of a 1500 foot high sheer granite cliff, and drop off the mail and a newspaper. There was one other American on the ferry among the few passengers that day, a guy from Brooklyn. He asked me where I was from, and I told him San Diego. He said he'd ridden on the train from Oslo to Bergen with a guy from San Diego and he wondered if I knew him. I replied that San Diego had a population of one million, so that was unlikely. But I asked who his train companion was anyway, just in case. It turned out the guy from San Diego was my high school history teacher. Talk about beating the odds! That was one memorable ferry trip.

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What, me worry?

Does an LCU or LCM (Landing Craft, Utility/Medium) count as a ferry? If it does then yes, in Panama.

Spent lot of time at sea, delivered boats as well as skipper on offshore sportfishing boats up to 85', been on a bunch of ferrys around the world, including one memorable one.
Buddy and I were on an Indonesian surf trip together back in the 80's, heading from Bali to Java to a remote surf spot, when the ferry encountered heavy winds and high swell going through the Java Strait.
Seems every year you read about a ferry lost in Indo, bad conditions, overcrowded, and we were well past overcrowded, packed to the gills.
Each time the boat pitched over from an incoming swell, the boat rolled like it was never coming back, everyone screaming, than it would ponderously roll back. Center of gravity on the load was all wrong from the hundred or so locals on the top deck.
Buddy and I each grabbed a surfboard and made our way, fighting and shoving, to the very mid deck stern of the boat, and just hung on there for the next eight hours until we finally made port, ready to jump ship with our boards the moment we thought the ferry wasn't coming back from a roll
Pitch black, heaving seas, not a more sharky place on earth.
Port never looked better, and it was quickly followed by a serious drunk.

Same here. I lived in the Seattle area off and on for several years working at Boeing and also did those three things for visitors. Riding the car ferry is like being in a big building that moves. Sometimes we'd just do a walk on and go across and back.

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Like swsig above, I grew up in San Diego in my late teen yrs.and rode the SD - Coronado "nickle snatcher" many times. The old San Diego Police station was just across the street from the San Diego Ferry landing and once year the Police would walk over to the Ferry landing and toss into the bay the year's supply of confiscated guns, knives, etc., no longer needed for evidence and taking up storage space. I was a Sea Scout member and we had a small 14 ft skiff we sailed around the bay. A large magnet and a 30 ft rope made us instant gun collectors ( after dark ) and the Police never caught on. Ed

Thanks Krogen. Just goes to show how the same things can be done differently depending on where you are.
I can understand turning the ferry boat around 180 degrees when the water is normally rough can cause big problems.

I’m ridden the ferries on Puget Sound countless times, even performed security on one of them when Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia sailed into Elliott Bay (Seattle) in 1983.

I also rode a ferry in the Republic of Korea when making a trip to Kunsan Air Base in 1973.

In NYC? Are you kidding?? The Staten Island ferry was something everybody went on. Not a status symbol, but just plain fun. For the longest time, the fare was a nickel. That's right. A nickel. The ride was a pleasant half-hour; if the weather was nice, I'd ride outside to catch the sea air.

A fond memory of childhood: one Saturday, age 10 or so, I was roughed up by another boy on the back street. I felt terrible. After lunch, my Dad said, "Come on, let's go!" He took me by subway to the ferry and we rode back and forth to Staten Island. Bought me a snack, I forget what. He made me feel a lot better that day...

Funny, I've never told this story before.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I'll vouch for that, at least into 1962.

Rode ferry from Dilles Bottom, Ohio to Moundsville, WVa on Ohio River all the time. Once took the ferry across Lake Erie to save time going up into Ontario. Decided it wasn’t worth it and we never did it again.