CONTINUOUSWAVE

Yesterday I saw a vessel on the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way that I've never seen before. It was a small ferry transporting a pair of Class C RVs. The pilothouse was midships to starboard and narrow. The ferry had no ramps so loading and unloading would require some planning. It was not a commercial vessel and appeared to have been well cared for.

Although I said the pilothouse was on the starboard side it would be on the port side if going in the opposite direction.

Got a photo to share?

Unfortunately no photo. I was upstairs and the telephone was downstairs. I can't seem to get into the habit of carrying the phone around.

More on the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way at

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ent ... l-waterway

Did the "Unusual vessel" look anything like this?

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lcu-gallery.htm The Landing Craft, Utility

It looked somewhat similar to a couple of the photos. However, it lacked any obvious ramps. It was a typical river crossing ferry. Drive on, drive off at prepared sites on each side. We continue to use these in Alabama in some sparsely populated areas so people can cross a river to get medical care or go shopping.

The most interesting ferry I've seen was the river crossing between Cowes and East Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK. It was a chain ferry which had an engine driven chain windlass on the bottom and propelled itself along a chain laid across the bottom of the Cowes River. It was a short crossing and the operator would cross on demand. There was no charge. I wonder if it was installed when Queen Victoria spent a lot of time on the Island in her home in East Cowes.

We have 4 ferries that operate like that UK ferry, but use steel cable instead of chain. Owned and operated by the province of Nova Scotia for crossing rivers and small channels.
https://novascotia.ca/tran/hottopics/ferries.asp