Classic Ferry Boats

classic ferry boats

Classic ferry boats have three distinguishing characteristics: they are double ended, propelled by side paddle wheels, and a walking beam engine must propel the paddle wheels. The modern fast ferries today did not come into being already streamline and sleek even on rough waters. They came from a long line of classic ferry boats models that would shame Captain Cook sailing on his HMS Endeavour. One astounding example of a classic ferry boat is the Southern Pacific Company’s Bay City that serves San Francisco Bay in the late 19th century.

Classic ferry boats features

Nowadays, most classic ferry boats are on display in some maritime museum and others are converted into beautiful floating houses or floating museums themselves. You’ll know a classic ferry boat when you see one because it’s double ended; you can’t distinguish the bow from the stern because they look the same. Its side propellers are visible on both the starboard and the port side, and they are usually made of wood. They would have made a very distinct (others would call it noisy) sound when wading through the waters. And the side propellers are turn by a walking beam sitting on an A-frame atop the upper deck. One end of the beam is connected to the propeller and the other to the crank – it works similar to the foot pedal and wheel of your grandparent’s manual foot-pedal sewing machine.

Typical classic ferry boats deck

Certainly there were no pools or even snack bars onboard classic ferry boats’ deck. The main or the lowest deck contains the freight, cars, and half of the deck usually houses the walking beam engine. The second or the cabin deck is the passengers’ area, which should be modestly decorated but there were no snack bars or entertainment areas on this deck yet. Entertainment and dining area came later with the introduction of big steam-engine operated ferries. And the upper or the hurricane deck was off limits to passengers; the walking beam is too dangerous for passengers to get close to.

Classic boat museum

Today, most of the classic ferry boats, or at least their remnants, can be found in popular maritime museum like the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. It has the largest collection of maritime records including navigational instruments, ship models and plans, parts of historic ships, etc. Everything you want to know about early voyages are most likely featured in the museum’s collection, and their ship models collection features several classic ferry boats also.

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