By Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
Young boys clamber on top of the Port Royal ferry to leap into the sea as it leaves the Port Royal docks to head back to Kingston. The ferry, which transports persons from Kingston to Port Royal on a half-hour journey spanning three-and-a-half miles, will no longer do so after August 31. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
NO MORE 20 minute siestas on the green benches of the ferry as it makes its way across the harbour. No more scenic shots of sea gulls riding the air-currents two miles from shore. No more gulps of brisk ocean breeze that trap the secrets of the sea.
No more $20 rides on the ferry.
No.
More.
The gentle roar of the engines of the ferry lulls you into a meditative calm. And as the tall buildings on the Kingston waterfront grow smaller, the ferry begins to pick up speed, churning up white foam as it glides across the black waters of a polluted Kingston Harbour.
Overhead, you may hear the blast of jet engines, and see the underbelly of an airplane preparing to make its final descent towards the Norman Manley International airport.
There are curious landmarks along the 30 minute-ride, such as the life buoys on which the sea gulls preen themselves and the metal shell of a boat rusting away in the afternoon sun in a shallow area of the harbour where it ran aground. About 12 minutes into the ride, the black waters transform into a lovelier turquoise-green, and the ferry creates a lime-green wake at least eight feet wide. The sea gulls give chase and cry out to each other as they circle the ferry.
Along the way, you can pick out other landmarks like the cranes on the docks of the Kingston Wharves that stand like praying mantises, or the Forum Hotel in Bayside, Portmore.
The ferry, which transports persons from Kingston to Port Royal on a journey spanning three-and-a-half miles, will no longer do so after next Sunday. The alternative, according to the Port Authority of Jamaica, will be Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses - an alternative which most Port Royal residents greet with distaste.
"I am used to having the ferry around all my life. The removal of the ferry service will affect the market people because the bus cannot transport a large quantity of goods. Plus, I don't like the bus, the ride is longer, and it gives me a headache. Mi love the ferry," Josephine Goldson, a 43 year-old Gleaner vendor and resident of Port Royal, said.
HOP THE FERRY
As the ferry arrives, young boys standing on the dock, leap into the water, and swim out to meet it. It is a game they call 'hop the ferry'.
On the journey back to Kingston, the news team meets Joycelyn Comrie, a 32 year-old telephone operator, who has kicked off her shoes, and placed her stockinged feet on the benches.
"The ferry is more convenient and relaxing than the bus. I wish they would keep it around, I would be willing to pay as much as $50 just for the comfort it provides. I like being able to sleep on the ferry," she said, before returning to her afternoon siesta.
Another man, seated on the rails outside, rolls up a spliff, and soon lights up, ignoring the 'No Smoking' signs on the boat. A man in a kayak heading in the direction of the Palisadoes Strip, waves at the ferry. You can't get this sort of interaction on any other mode of public transportation in the Corporate Area.
Ferry rides in the Kingston Harbour were a Christmas morning tradition in the early 20th century. But on a Christmas morning in 1936, 35 souls were lost when the 'Zephyr' sank. The dark waters of the Kingston Harbour seem to have no memory of that disaster.
And soon, even the ferry will be swallowed like a pill, fade with memory, and forgotten, too.
