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ferryman.ca

Ferry titbits Odds and ends related to ferries


What is the definition of ferry?
What the dictionary thinks a ferry is
This is the definition of the noun ferry (as I write)
  1. A ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
  2. A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
  3. The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service.
I make a slightly wider cut, including aircraft and other devices that operate in a similar way.
From the same source its etymology is

From Middle English ferien ("to carry, convey, convey in a boat"), from Old English ferian ("to carry, convey, bear, bring, lead, conduct, betake oneself to, be versed in, depart, go"), from Proto-Germanic *farjaną ("to make or let go, transfer, ferry"), from Proto-Indo-European *per- ("to bring or carry over, transfer, pass through"). Cognate with German dialectal feren, fähren ("to row, sail"), Danish færge ("to ferry"), Swedish färja ("to ferry"), Icelandic ferja ("to ferry"). Related to fare.

In French

Traversier is the most commonly used word for the ferry boat and the ferry service. Bac is also often used, as this refers to a small, rectangular flat bottomed boat such is often used as ferry in calm waters. Traverse is the ferry crossing.
Ferries since replaced by a bridge or tunnel
Some ferry friends no longer with us
Except for romantics like me, most people who use a ferry hope that it gets replaced by a "fixed link"a bridge, causeway or tunnel. As time passes and money becomes available, some ferries do get replacedgenerally the shorter and busier routes, or perhaps the more politically valuable ones. Many ferries co-exist with nearby bridges, serving a small local market, or perhaps as a backup for when the bridge is forced to close. And in many cases the long distance that the ferry covers means that it would be all but impossible to build a bridge or tunnel to replace it.
These are the ferries I've used that have since been replaced.
Links to other ferry websites
Articles and information about ferries
I guess ferries and links go hand in hand! These are some general ferry-related links to other websites that I have found useful or of interest, and which don't belong on any of the individual ferry pages. See the individual page for each ferry for the links specific to that ferry. It's very difficult to keep up to date on external links, so some may be broken.
Use these at your own risknot responsible for their content or accuracy.
Ferry related books
Not a bibliography
Just a few I've come across …

Entry Island
by Peter May

Not so much a book about a ferry, but one where the ferry features prominently in the action. My review is here on the Entry Island Ferry page.

The Ferryman
by Thomas William Simpson

A cute little yarn, set around a day in the life of a ferryman, and leading us to consider the better ways to live our lives.

Farewell to a Queen
by Don Douglass

An account of the sinking of the BC ferry Queen of the North in 2006. My review is here on the Inside Passage Ferry page.



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