Belize: Three very small ferries

[Mike Buckley]

I had never seen such small ferries, so I'm posting these photos purely for informational purposes for anyone who is as interested in them as my wife and I were when we came upon them.

The first photo displays how the system works in the first two ferries. The boat is attached to a guide cable and another cable is pulled by hand by someone standing in the boat. (The first photo was captured by my wife and post-processed by me.)

The man who runs the second ferry is about to lose his business because a small pedestrian bridge is being built across the river. Even though this tiny ferry is at the end of a road as opposed to the side of the road as in the case of the first ferry, I was really surprised that it is included in our GPS device's map.

We used the third ferry to cross in our car both ways. It's difficult if not impossible to tell from the photo that the ferry is pulled by a man-powered wench. That must be really difficult when it is fully loaded with four cars and all of the people riding in them.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Wavelength]

Lovely images

[george013]

Lovely ferries. The third one does remind me on my youth. There was e ferry like that in my neighbourhood.
Some old pictures from the archive of the council. http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl/beeldb...saukade+pontje. We called him Captain Hook.

George

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, guys!

That ferry in Amsterdam is really interesting, George!

[John 2]

Nice set. Manhandling those ferries must be even harder after the rains.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, John!

Manhandling those ferries must be even harder after the rains.

As you can see in the second ferry, the man pulling the cable is at least in his 60s and is not even wearing gloves. He wasn't straining at all. Any tendency for the boat to go downstream is controlled in all three ferries by a guide cable, so I actually wonder if the increased power of the downstream water makes it more difficult to pull the boat across the stream. I really don't know.