Farewell fast ferry

[Tom1122]

I saw on the news yesterday that the former Toronto-Rochester fast ferry recently left Rochester for the last time. It was heading off to Nova Scotia before heading off to England. Kinda sad, though I thought the Cat had left Rochester awhile ago. At least I got to ride it once in 2005.

[general682002]

I saw on the news yesterday that the former Toronto-Rochester fast ferry recently left Rochester for the last time. It was heading off to Nova Scotia before heading off to England. Kinda sad, though I thought the Cat had left Rochester awhile ago. At least I got to ride it once in 2005.

So, the port they've build was wasted. Now, I guess it will be abandoned.

[D40LF]

So, the port they've build was wasted. Now, I guess it will be abandoned.

Along with all the money poured into that concrete!

[jlarocque2005]

for those who are interested

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...gory=specials02

[Shaun]

In the begining they could not get permits to carry trucks, so they used that as an excuse that they werent making money, and then before you knew it it was gone.

Sounds like someone just wanted to make a quick buck.

[pccstreetcar4549]

Along with all the money poured into that concrete!

my dads company did work for the ferry buliding downtown, shortly after the ferry service was canned. there was rumours that the bulidng was being expanded for someother use

[Greater Golden Horseshoe Transit]

In the begining they could not get permits to carry trucks, so they used that as an excuse that they werent making money, and then before you knew it it was gone.

Sounds like someone just wanted to make a quick buck.

Talk about excuses, you'd be suprised how many people didn't even know the ferry was there at all! Maybe a little better marketing campaign would've helped.

[Puget Sound Rider]

You want money wasting, do some research on the Washington State Ferries. They built two passenger only fast ferries in 1998 and 1999. They were the M/V Chinook and M/V Snohomish. They were designed to serve Seattle/Bremerton in 30 min.(vs. 60 min on the auto ferry). Because of the large wake, landowners took WSF to court and won. With the ferries slowing down when they were near land, it was not possible to operate the boats without loosing a ton of money. They were retired in 2003. The Snohomish was reactivated for a short time in 2007 for Port Townsend/Keystone when WSF pulled all four of the Steel Electric class ferries (The only ferries that have a shallow enough draft to allow docking in Keystone). The service was literally bumpy. There were two incidents with the Snohomish and rough seas. One was whe part of the ceiling caved in on the first deck and the other was when the door was blown open during rough weather. WSF has since leased the M/V Steilacoom II from Pierce County Ferries to serve the route. In February 2008, Bremerton was without a boat after the M/V Yakima (Auto/passenger ferry) crashed into the new Bremerton Marina and did some serious hull damage. After serving Bremerton/Seattle for a couple weeks, she was sidelined again, this time for good. WSF sold the Chinook and Snohomish on ebay to Golden Gate Ferries, out of the Bay Area. The Snohomish has been slightly modified and renamed the M/V Napa and is in service for Golden Gate Ferries. They are working on rebuilding the Chinook at this time. Both boats were built by Dakota Creek Industries out of Anacortes, WA. Needles to say, WSF lost A TON of money on that deal. The state DOT told the ferries division that they are not to be in the passenger only business and that the purpose for the marine division is to be part of the highway system. Some ferry routes are actually the water link of certain highways.