Post by Dave on Jun 2, 2009 20:56:58 GMT
In about two weeks or so the new Dartmouth higher ferry will be up and running, it will carry twice as many cars and will get across a bit quicker.
The Dartmouth Higher ferry is the most recent of the various Dart ferries, being opened in 1831. It runs between Sandquay to Noss. The initial chain ferry, designed by J.m.Rendel, was not a success. However, Rendel later built a successful ferry for the Torpoint Ferry. The Dart ferry, meanwhile, had gone over to horse propulsion, using at least two horse-powered ferries until 1867, when a new steam-powered ferry was built. A new steam ferry was built in 1896, an iron-hulled vessel which could carry four vehicles which lasted until 1920. At this time a further new ferry was built, but using the engine from the 1896 vessel. Rather than a conventional chain ferry, where the engine pulls the ferry along the chains, the new vessel ran on wires for guidance but was powered by paddles. This ferry ran for 40 years. The current ferry was built in 1960, and its paddlewheels are diesel-electric powered.
Passengers rescued after river ferry is swept downstream
Monday, 14 February 2005
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
The ferry in Dartmouth, south Devon, was carrying 34 passengers, two crew and 15 cars when force nine winds and powerful currents broke the chains guiding it across the river Dart. With no source of power of its own, the fully laden boat began floating down river.
Stewart Elliman, the watch officer for Brixham coastguard, said the vessel - the Dartmouth Higher Ferry - had drifted about 500 metres in "abysmal" weather at 11.40am before the crew stopped it about a mile from the sea by grabbing a mooring buoy. "There was a force nine gale coming right down the river and quite a force of water," he said.
Lifeboat and coastguard crews were contacted after 999 calls from passengers. Eleven passengers were put on to a ferry and a lifeboat took 23.
Mr Elliman said there were no serious injuries and that the chain ferry had been secured about 100 metres from shore. High winds meant it had not been possible to get cars off the vessel by yesterday afternoon. Coastguards said the vehicles would be removed only when the ferry had been pulled back to its normal moorings and reconnected to its chains.
A spokesman for Brixham coastguard said: "The passengers ... will want to get their cars back and go home. No one wants to leave the scene without their cars." The ferry is operated by Dart Marina Investments. The company was not available for comment.
Some pictures from the past an a artists impression of the new ferry
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Passengers rescued after river ferry is swept downstream
Monday, 14 February 2005
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
The ferry in Dartmouth, south Devon, was carrying 34 passengers, two crew and 15 cars when force nine winds and powerful currents broke the chains guiding it across the river Dart. With no source of power of its own, the fully laden boat began floating down river.
Stewart Elliman, the watch officer for Brixham coastguard, said the vessel - the Dartmouth Higher Ferry - had drifted about 500 metres in "abysmal" weather at 11.40am before the crew stopped it about a mile from the sea by grabbing a mooring buoy. "There was a force nine gale coming right down the river and quite a force of water," he said.
Lifeboat and coastguard crews were contacted after 999 calls from passengers. Eleven passengers were put on to a ferry and a lifeboat took 23.
Mr Elliman said there were no serious injuries and that the chain ferry had been secured about 100 metres from shore. High winds meant it had not been possible to get cars off the vessel by yesterday afternoon. Coastguards said the vehicles would be removed only when the ferry had been pulled back to its normal moorings and reconnected to its chains.
A spokesman for Brixham coastguard said: "The passengers ... will want to get their cars back and go home. No one wants to leave the scene without their cars." The ferry is operated by Dart Marina Investments. The company was not available for comment.
Some pictures from the past an a artist impression of the new ferry
The Dartmouth Higher ferry is the most recent of the various Dart ferries, being opened in 1831. It runs between Sandquay to Noss. The initial chain ferry, designed by J.m.Rendel, was not a success. However, Rendel later built a successful ferry for the Torpoint Ferry. The Dart ferry, meanwhile, had gone over to horse propulsion, using at least two horse-powered ferries until 1867, when a new steam-powered ferry was built. A new steam ferry was built in 1896, an iron-hulled vessel which could carry four vehicles which lasted until 1920. At this time a further new ferry was built, but using the engine from the 1896 vessel. Rather than a conventional chain ferry, where the engine pulls the ferry along the chains, the new vessel ran on wires for guidance but was powered by paddles. This ferry ran for 40 years. The current ferry was built in 1960, and its paddlewheels are diesel-electric powered.
Passengers rescued after river ferry is swept downstream
Monday, 14 February 2005
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
The ferry in Dartmouth, south Devon, was carrying 34 passengers, two crew and 15 cars when force nine winds and powerful currents broke the chains guiding it across the river Dart. With no source of power of its own, the fully laden boat began floating down river.
Stewart Elliman, the watch officer for Brixham coastguard, said the vessel - the Dartmouth Higher Ferry - had drifted about 500 metres in "abysmal" weather at 11.40am before the crew stopped it about a mile from the sea by grabbing a mooring buoy. "There was a force nine gale coming right down the river and quite a force of water," he said.
Lifeboat and coastguard crews were contacted after 999 calls from passengers. Eleven passengers were put on to a ferry and a lifeboat took 23.
Mr Elliman said there were no serious injuries and that the chain ferry had been secured about 100 metres from shore. High winds meant it had not been possible to get cars off the vessel by yesterday afternoon. Coastguards said the vehicles would be removed only when the ferry had been pulled back to its normal moorings and reconnected to its chains.
A spokesman for Brixham coastguard said: "The passengers ... will want to get their cars back and go home. No one wants to leave the scene without their cars." The ferry is operated by Dart Marina Investments. The company was not available for comment.
Some pictures from the past an a artists impression of the new ferry
Monday, 14 February 2005
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
Passengers on a chain ferry had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the vessel broke free in gale-force winds and drifted towards stormy seas.
The ferry in Dartmouth, south Devon, was carrying 34 passengers, two crew and 15 cars when force nine winds and powerful currents broke the chains guiding it across the river Dart. With no source of power of its own, the fully laden boat began floating down river.
Stewart Elliman, the watch officer for Brixham coastguard, said the vessel - the Dartmouth Higher Ferry - had drifted about 500 metres in "abysmal" weather at 11.40am before the crew stopped it about a mile from the sea by grabbing a mooring buoy. "There was a force nine gale coming right down the river and quite a force of water," he said.
Lifeboat and coastguard crews were contacted after 999 calls from passengers. Eleven passengers were put on to a ferry and a lifeboat took 23.
Mr Elliman said there were no serious injuries and that the chain ferry had been secured about 100 metres from shore. High winds meant it had not been possible to get cars off the vessel by yesterday afternoon. Coastguards said the vehicles would be removed only when the ferry had been pulled back to its normal moorings and reconnected to its chains.
A spokesman for Brixham coastguard said: "The passengers ... will want to get their cars back and go home. No one wants to leave the scene without their cars." The ferry is operated by Dart Marina Investments. The company was not available for comment.
Some pictures from the past an a artist impression of the new ferry
