CRUISE VIGNETTES 58, Ferry Boats

PLAYING CHICKEN IN YUGOSLAVIA
We are usually first one on a ferry, which means first one off, and while sailing from the Yugoslavian island of Hvar to the city of Split, we were very glad that happened. The ferryboat went around and past other islands, and arrived in Split on time. The problem was, at 1:00 PM, as we approached the harbor in Split, a large passenger ship and two ferryboats were leaving, and three large ferryboats were coming into the harbor, rapidly! Since we could see only two docks for ferry boats, it appeared the ferry captains were playing “chicken” and our captain lost!

After the others got ahead of us, we had to go past the ferryboat unloading dock, then make a very rapid turn-around inside the harbor. Then at a very high speed, we headed toward a spot that wasn’t a place to dock and unload a ferry boat. I told Emmy to sit down, fasten your belt and hold on, since we will be the first vehicle to leave the ferryboat, whether we want to or not. The loading ramp is down, so if the ferryboat hits the dock, we are going to leave without needing the engine.

I started the engine, released the parking brake and put the transmission in neutral, just in case. We would rather “fly” off the boat, into downtown Split, on our own, rather than be pushed off by the vehicles behind us. They managed to get the ferryboat stopped just in time, but we could see the crew members were quite unhappy with the whole situation. There was no place to tie the ferryboat to this dock, so they used the engine to keep it in place. There was a several inch drop-off as we left, but it all ended well. But so dumb and dangerous on the part of the captains involved.”

THE STALE BREAD LADY
We drove along the Main River (just below Würzburg, Germany), stopping to see Kitzingen and other little villages. At one place we found ourselves at a dock, waiting for a very small ferryboat. There was only room for our RV and two other cars, but we got across the Main River with no problem, and it was a lot more fun than a bridge. We have been on far larger ferryboats, one other (from Portugal to Spain) about this size, but none that were smaller.

As we crossed the Main River, a wedge of swans swam with the boat, expecting, and getting, plenty of stale bread from Emmy. Who told them she would be there?