Passengers laughed while walking against a 50 mph wind yesterday on the Spirit of Ontario ferry as it left the Port of Rochester, N.Y., on its maiden voyage across Lake Ontario to Toronto.
Smaller version
of Hawaii ferry hits
Lake Ontario
ROCHESTER, N.Y. >> After a seven-week delay, a giant car-and-passenger catamaran sped across Lake Ontario at over 50 miles an hour yesterday on its maiden voyage to Canada.
The Spirit of Ontario is only the third car-and-passenger "fast ferry" operating in U.S. waters. Other itineraries are under review in Hawaii, Cleveland, Erie, Pa., Racine, Wis., and along the East and West coasts.
The ship stopped in Hawaii in March on its way to New York. The Hawaii Superferry company plans to introduce a bigger version of the vessel for interisland travel in 2006.
As scores of onlookers cheered, the Ontario ferry slipped away from the Port of Rochester carrying more than 500 passengers on its inaugural crossing to Toronto -- a $500-a-person charity extravaganza.
"It's something that is very unique, that we're very lucky to have," said Becky Roberts, a Rochester travel agent. "It's a historic moment for Rochester," echoed fellow passenger Nancy Cameros, a retired nurse.
The ferry can make it across the lake in two hours and 15 minutes. The 171-mile road trip between the two cities usually takes three to four hours -- and even longer when there are traffic tie-ups at the border.
Passengers sipped champagne and tapped their feet to a Rochester Philharmonic quarter as the 280-foot-long, five-story-tall ferry surged out of port. Its horn blasted periodically as the crowds along the docks clapped, whistled and waved.
"I hope everything works out good. It will. Think positive, right?" said Bridie Tranquill, a retired Eastman Kodak Co. production worker who watched the ship surge by. "We need this, because things are not like they used to be here" during the photography giant's heyday.
The Australian-built, twin-hulled aluminum catamaran was supposed to be the first deluxe, high-speed, car-and-passenger ferry plying the Great Lakes, but its April 30 launch was scrubbed after it sideswiped a pier while docking in New York City on April 1.
