Ferries on the prairie

Growing up, I knew that ferries took vehicles and people across water, typically to an island. I'd seen photos and movies of the hovercraft ferries between Dover and Calais. Pity I'll never get to ride one; I think it would have been cool. Like the Concorde, that time has passed.

We once took the ferry from Tobermory to South Baymouth (on Manitoulin Island) on the way back to Calgary. We'd visited some of Linda's family that lived near Owen Sound. My thinking was why drive when we could snooze on a ferry? Well, as it turns out, that was an optimistic view of the situation. There was a stiff wind in the ferry terminal, and it got stronger as we got out on the open water. They told us it was going to be a rough ride, and that was an understatement. We started off the trip standing outside, but they soon herded the passengers inside. Shortly after that spray was coming over the bow, and then it got to be more than spray. The ferry rocked and rocked and rang like a bell. We were beginning to regret the big farm breakfast of eggs and bacon and potatoes and more. Then Linda regretted it a lot. The photos below are before all that.

Then on a vacation in Nova Scotia, we discovered cable ferries. We've been on several of them, but the LaHave is my favourite, mainly because some friends live nearby. (Hi guys!) And the bakery, of course. That too. 

Imagine my surprise on a drive in Alberta when I saw a sign that said "Bleriot Ferry".  At first I thought it was something like "Bow Island", which is an actual place but is not an island. Albertans being what they are, I imagined a town called "Bleriot Ferry" and that there was some reason for it.

Except it turns out the Bleriot ferry is an actual ferry across the Red Deer river. There are 5 other ferries in Alberta, and 12 in Saskatchewan. Who knew? Drive up, wait a few minutes, drive on, wait a few minutes, and drive off again. They're free, until Kenney hears about them and decides to privatize to a buddy. I'm not sure why they didn't put in a bridge. 

There has been some joking between my photo buddies about a long road trip to ride all the ferries in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Then again, maybe they're serious. It would be fun. Hmmm, that might even be a fun mapping question: what is the shortest route that crosses each ferry once. Which reminds me of a Randell Garret story where they are trying to figure out the route a murder victim took through a house, locking each of the doors behind him. (The Sixteen Keys.)

These are from the road trip to Oyen at Bleriot Ferry. 

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4. I think this is from Finnegan Ferry. The light through the trees was lovely! The people are my road trip buddies. 

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8. The film version of that last photo.

Of the Day

Driftwood

Peony

Lily

Film. The Bleriot Ferry

Addendum

For the first time ever on this blog, you get an addendum. Thinking about ferries, and the exciting trip mentioned above, I remembered there were some point and shoot photos. I got the box of photos and sorted through them for the first time in many years. Just so you know, I'm covering my face for some of them.

In any case, here are some digital photos of the printed photo. Not aiming for ultimate quality here, since the photos themselves are a bit blurry. An indication of how much wind there was, before it got really windy.

Me. I'm having trouble dating this photo. If I had a beard it had to be either before May 1983, or after August 1990. Between those dates I worked for the City and wasn't allowed to grow a beard. I don't think it would grow out that much on a 2 week vacation.

I still have that wool jacket.

Shortly after this they made us go inside.