Friday, November 6, 2020

The Turning Tide (It's a book title, okay?)



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I promise you this was not planned. The fabulous and iconic Catriona McPherson and I chose this date for her post long ago, and I had no idea what her next book was titled. (Some reporter I am.)

But here you have it. And, since I am typing this introduction at 7:50 pm on Thursday, and I don't know whether it will be prescient or ironic, I will say no more.

Except...it's a good day for a voyage.


THE TURNING TIDE

by Catriona McPherson

No one’s going anywhere much at the moment, right? At least not for pleasure. So it seems like the perfect time for a bit of armchair travel. Plane, train, or automobile though? Well, it just so happens that my new book THE TURNING TIDE has a ferryboat at its heart, so I thought my top five favourite ferry-rides would be a nice idea.

The first thing to say is that even though I lived for many years on an island off the north coast of Europe, I’ve never been to France on a ferry. I used to fly, and then they opened the Chunnel, after which I don’t understand why anyone ever got on a ferry again. You drive your car onto a train – already a thrill – have a cup of coffee, and drive off in Normandy! It’s a miracle akin to the London Underground (my favourite way to travel), where you go downstairs at, say, Regent’s Park, leaving the traffic jam behind, sit and read your book for ten minutes, and come back upstairs at Piccadilly Circus. Wow.

So my favourite ferries are not the least bit Poseidon Adventure-y. They’re pretty tame, to be honest. But here goes anyway:



The Skye Boat (40 mins)

There’s a bridge to Skye now, of course. But one ferry still runs and I’m very glad of it, because when there’s a famous song about a ferry it would be a shame if we had to change the lyrics to “Speed bonny hire car, like a bird on the wing, over the toll-bridge tae Skye”.








Windermere Ferry (10 mins)

This was the first short ferry I fell in love with. It goes - on chains - from Bowness-on-Windermere to Far Sawrey, in the Lake District, in the north of England. When I was a wee girl, we’d wait in the car – stuffed with the accoutrements for a camping holiday – as the queue inched forward down the hill. It took a lot longer to wait for the ferry than to cross by it.

Later, when we were students, Neil and I would take the train and schlep our rucksacks down to the lakeside, passing all the cars and strolling onboard, insufferably I’m sure. At the other side, there was still a fair walk, but it goes right past Beatrix Potter’s cottage. That always helps, doesn’t it?






King Harry Ferry (5 mins)

This little chain ferry might be my favourite of all (I choose not to believe that it got its name when it carried Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to their honeymoon, because . . . eek.)

It crosses the Fal, in Cornwall, connecting the Roseland peninsula to the bit where Truro is. There’s often a massive wait and it only saves 27 miles of driving but that’s by the by. Because no ferry that describes itself as “joining the parish of Philleigh to the parish of Feock” is making a serious bid for that Staten Island vibe. I know it as a way to visit Trelissick National Trust Gardens and be forced to stop at a fantastic little country pub for sustenance. Happy days.









Threave Castle Ferry (3 mins)

Speaking of happy days, before Neil and I made the great westward migration to California, we lived in Galloway, where some of the best weekends were when we stole babysat for my sister’s six little boys. (Well, usually five because we started before the youngest one was born and the oldest one graduated into coolness, and out of aunties, while we were there.) Whatever else we did on these weekends – while my sister walked around quiet, tidy rooms in wonderment, by the way – we always went to Threave Castle. They sold plastic swords and shields at the giftshop and it was usually quiet enough so no one minded the boys (and uncle) re-enacting various battles on the old stones.

Fab as that was, though, hands down the best thing about Threave Castle is that you get there, across the moat, by pulling a bell rope and waiting for a man in a wee boat to chug over and pick you up. Can you imagine the horse-trading that went on about who got to ring that bell?








Ed. note: (Hank here) Oh, I am swooning..

Cramond Ferry (2 mins on a bad day)

Which brings me to the ferryboat across the mouth of the Almond River between Queensferry (where I was born) and the village of Cramond. It’s long gone, although my dad remembers it. These days once you’ve tramped through the estate of Lord Rosebery – who’s kind enough to let you – all the way to the river’s edge, you can see the café on the other side, and smell the hot soup and fresh rolls, but it’s two miles up to the bridge and back down again with your stomach rumbling before you get there.

In THE TURNING TIDE, it’s 1937 and the ferry is still running. But the ferrywoman, Vesper Kemp, is causing trouble. She won’t get in her boat when the sun shines, only when it’s cloudy or raining. That’s as inconvenient as it’s puzzling and so Dandy Gilver and Alec Osborne are on the case.







Nostalgia for a lost ferry ride of two minutes might not seem like a legitimate springboard for a serious novel but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. And I might not be done with that sort of thing, because will you look at this tiny harbour I found on my last trip home? Thinking, thinking . . .

(ed note: See below for the little harbor. No matter what I did, this software would not let me put it here. So scroll down, then come back.)

And now, what have I missed? What are your favourite ferry trips? Or most miraculous-feeling transit methods? And have you ever seen a smaller harbour? If so, let me know.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Miraculous-feeling transit methods? Again, it’s 7:50 on Thursday, and we all may have more to say about that today. (But is that the BEST cover, or what?)


I did take a ferry from Copenhagen to ahh...where in Sweden would it have been? (It was incredible, totally, except for all the herring they served.) And the tiny tiny ferry-like thing from St. Kitts to Nevis, which is magical and time-travel.

How about you Reds and readers?


And here is the darling little harbor. Harbour.













Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland and lived there until immigrating to the US in 2010. She writes the multi-award-winning Dandy Gilver series, set in the old country in the 1930s, as well as a strand of multi-award-winning psychological thrillers. Very different awards. 

After eight years in the new country, she kicked off the humorous Last Ditch Motel series, which takes a wry look at California life. These are not multi-award-winning, but the first two won the same award in consecutive years, which still isn’t too shabby.

 Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime. 


90 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new book, Catriona . . . Vesper Kemp sounds quite mysterious; I’m looking forward to finding out why she won’t get in the boat when the sun in shining . . . .

    That is a VERY small harbor . . . can’t say that I’ve ever seen one any smaller.

    The only ferry we’ve travelled on is the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, which runs between Cape May and Virginia Beach. [We usually ride on the way home from visiting our daughter and her family in Norfolk.] The Delaware River crossing takes about eighty-five minutes and it’s nice to have a break from all that driving . . . .

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    1. Joan, our daughter lives in Lewes and we've been talking about taking the ferry for ages. On my bucket list.

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    2. eighty-five minutes is a serious ferry, compared with mine!

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  2. A new Dandy Gilver book? That's the best news I've heard in ages! I'm really looking forward to this one.

    I don't exactly live in ferry-land, but I have taken a couple of memorable trips by ferry. The first was the Sausalito Ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito. It was great fun and I'm sure it beat the heck out of commuting over the Golden Gate in rush hour. The second was a trip from the Dockyards/National Museum area at the far tip of Bermuda back to Hamilton, across the Great Sound. If any of you Reds and Readers have the opportunity to visit Bermuda, jump on it. It's lovely.

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    1. I forgot about Sausalito and I only live up the road. You might win the "glamorous ferry" prize with "the tip of Bermuda"!

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    2. I live in the South Bay and have only taken the ferry when we have visitors we are entertaining.😎

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    3. If it tips the "glamorous ferry" sweepstakes in my favor, the Bermuda trip was my honeymoon . . .

      And yes, Susan, my aunt lived in Daly City, and put my mother and me on the Sausalito Ferry because we were visitors she needed to entertain.

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  3. You must use a zipped folder to send your weekly assignment to the Dropbox. Do not send subfolders within your zipped folder. Place all of the .java and .class file for the week into the one zipped folder. The zip folder should be named CIS355A_YourLastName_iLab_Week1, and this zip folder will contain all the weekly programming assignments. Required Software. CIS 355A ALL WEEK ILABS LATEST

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  4. I love all these, Catriona. I grew up going to southern California beaches in the summer, and when I was young my grandparents would rent a house on Balboa Island for the month of August. It's a small entirely built-over human-made island in the middle of Newport Harbor. You can drive on over a bridge, but on the other side is a small car ferry (it took maybe three cars) to the Newport Beach arcade area and the actual beach. I loved taking it across (a nickel for walk-ons) and back.

    Your story about smugly walking past the cars reminded me of a time when I rode my bicycle from Medford to Waltham for my job. At the end of the day, one road - one lane in each direction (rte 60 in Arlington, for locals) - would be crawling. I'd just smugly slide by on my bike and be home in a jiff.

    Can't wait to read the new book!

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    1. I mean, I love bridges too. I was born with a view of the Forth Bridge from my house. But there's something bout those wee ferries . . .

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  5. We've taken the ferry to Block Island and a couple of different ones to Martha's Vinyard. We took one from San Angeles to Victoria and one or two in Maine.

    When I was a kid, we took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty which we climbed with our dad. I also did cross the English Channel by ferry when going around Europe with a girlfriend in the early 70's. She and I took one in Sweden, too, but no idea from where to where. There are some high speed ones now in New London, but we haven't been on one yet.

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    1. Judy, I wonder if we were on the same ferry. I'm looking it up now.

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    2. Ooo, maybe. But we went from country to country on a Eurail pass, so it may have been something included on that, like a train on a ferry? Oh dear, so long ago.

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  6. Wow, sorry for that burst of memories.

    Welcome, welcome, Catriona. The last time you visited JRW, I put some of your books on my brand new Kindle. Dandy Gilver is in there, patiently awaiting my attention. The good thing about that is I'll get to read two books about him in a row, which I do love to do. The Turning Tide has a great cover and I believe it's just what is needed this week. The Last Ditch Motel is laugh out loud funny and we all need some laughs right now.

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  7. I cannot wait to read this book! Catriona, do you do SO much research?

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    1. Umm, my research is cleverly disguised as trips to lovely places I would have wanted to go to anyway. Mostly.

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    2. That's my idea of research, too, Catriona!

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    3. You go back in time??? That seems like it'd be worth another blog...

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    4. Time travel? What kind of ferry would take you there?

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  8. My memory is of crossing the English channel on a huge ferry. I was with two French friends. They were hungry and it was lunch time, so we went to the restaurant. I was just 17 and didn't know how to say NO! I tried valiantly but felt so sea sick that, while I ordered a meal, I couldn't eat it. #embarrassed

    Your pics of ferries are gorgeous, Catriona, and now I'm off to put The Turning Tide on my Kindle.

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    1. This is the main reason I can't believe anyone still does that trip when there's a tunnel!

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    2. That tunnel. With fifty billion billon gallons of water above you.

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  9. Congrats, Catriona. The only ferry I have a memory of crossing is the Staten Island ferry when I went to see the Statue of Liberty when I was 14. I'm sure there have been others.

    And that is a very small harbor.

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    1. That ferry - Staten Island - is so thrilling and glamorous to me!

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    2. Yes, it's really a goose-bumpy thing. It seems so historic. (ANd remember in Working Girl?)

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  10. Catriona, congratulations on the new book. Love the title and yes, that tiny harbour made my day!

    In this day of mega-highways, there's still a ferry to take you across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Covington (or close enough!), if you happen to find it when trying to get from one side to the other in a massive highway standstill.

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    1. Flora, I was just writing about it while you were. How funny!

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    2. Aha! That's one for my next big road trip.

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  11. oh, and forgot to say--cover and title are great!!

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  12. Now that's a safe harbor. The ferry photos are making me itch to travel. If not for COVID, we would have gone on an extensive tour of Great Britain this past summer. Now I have more places for us to see. Also, now that I see the bridge to Skye I'm wondering what all the romance was about in that song.

    The new cover is gorgeous! How old was Dandy when you first began writing her, late 30's? It's a bit of a shock to see the grey hair, but a woman like her would not have bothered dyeing hers, would she?

    Catriona, love your new 'do! But of course you would be stunning with any hairstyle.

    Ferry rides are so much more relaxing than driving, and I've always enjoyed being able to use that mode of transportation. We have a ferry here in Cincinnati, that before the interstate was one of the only ways to get to the Cincinnati International Airport--which is actually in Kentucky. The Anderson Ferry over the Ohio still runs on the west side of the city, and my nephew uses it to get to the airport quickly.

    Other ferries I've enjoyed:

    Staten Island Ferry, just from one side of the river to the other. It was a short trip over Easter to NYC with my mother and three daughters, and we only had time to wave at Lady Liberty.

    The ferry between the south shore of Lake Erie to Pelee Island, the southernmost inhabited part of Canada. Friends had a share in the Pelee Club and invited us for a lovely stay.

    Someone else mentioned the Sausalito Ferry; I took the one to Tiburon when my sister-in-law was still alive, to visit her in Mill Valley. Beautiful, beautiful scenery.

    The ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island is another breathtakingly lovely trip.

    Probably the most boring ferry I've taken was the one from one island to another in the Galapagos. It suffered in comparison to the rest of that trip, though.

    I didn't realize you could take a car through the Chunnel! Having heard so many horror stories of how dangerous the English Channel can be, no wonder they spent so much time and energy to get that built. Just riding the train was amazing to me.


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    1. Thank you, Karen, but I'm sorry my blog made the lockdown chafe even worse for you today. As for my "do" I hacked my own fringe (bangs) and chopped away at the back, then put on a box dye and I seem to have given myself a blonde bob! When my hairdresser sees it close up she might smack me with her hard brush but ehh.

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    2. You did that color??? Whoa. I think she'll be impressed!

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  13. Congratulations on The Turning Tide Catriona. I love your descriptions of the ferries and your pictures. I'm looking forward to read this book.
    In Quebec, I took many ferries across the St Lawrence River, some from south coast to the north one, some from the coast to some islands. As the water is flowing towards the sea, the river becomes larger and the crossing becomes longer. Once, on a three hours crossing from Matane to Les Escoumins, I was able to watch whales.

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  14. Catriona, your book sounds wonderful - can't wait to read it! I have 2 ferry stories although they are not so much about the ferries as what happened. In the first I think I must have been in eighth grade and my family was traveling in Quebec, where we had to take a ferry. I've tried to find the ferry since and I can't so probably it has been replaced with a bridge. Somehow on that ferry I struck up a 'conversation' with a boy. That really wasn't all that memorable but all these years later, when we put my father's slides on discs, there I am in my white blazer, with a boy at the rail and it is just getting dark. Had it not been for that picture I might never have remembered. What came back to me however was that I could not understand a word he said!

    The other ferry ride was when we were leaving the Statue of Liberty. They were many family members in our party and some were on the ferry and some were waiting for the next one. As our ferry pulled away I could hear my name over the loudspeaker! I was shocked and wondered what on earth, as the distance grew greater to the island. What happened was someone found my wallet, which I didn't know I had left behind when I bought lemonades for my son and me. I saw my husband waiting to get the next ferry so I yelled "give it to my husband." Found out later that they didn't want to give it to him because he had no ID so he had to try and describe things that would be in the wallet. But I did get it back, nothing was missing and we had a wonderful time.

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    1. I love your Titanic-railing story! And if no one else nabs it, I could use that lost wallet story . . .

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    2. You are more than welcome to it - let me know if you need more details although you pretty much got the gist already. Maybe I'm unpatriotic, but climbing up in that statue with all those bodies crowding us in the heat, we deciding to turn around and come back down. Not even half-way up. That lemonade was calling us.

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  15. Congratulations my sweet Catriona. THE TURNING TIDE came my way some weeks ago, and I devoured it in a couple of evenings. It's another thumping good read by our Catriona, and Dandy gets better every time.

    Ferries I've been on are varied. There's the Texas Free Ferry, running from Galveston to Port Bolivar. It's half an hour of dolphins playing, seagulls pilfering -- best to hold your sandwich with both hands -- and jelly fish schooling, if that's what they do. I've been on this ferry dozens of times, and seen something different each time.

    I've taken both the fast ferry and the elegant slow ferry from Seattle to Vancouver Island. The latter involves a full English breakfast served in an frabjous dining room.

    The ferry from Long Beach to Catalina is an incredible experience, everything from flying fish to sea lions to dolphins to whales! Well worth the trip if you're in the LA area.

    And a couple of years ago we took a river ferry across the St. Lawrence, on our way to Montreal and Three Pines. It was fun if a bit primitive compares to the others.

    I'm not sure I'm a candidate for the Chunnel although we've considered it lots of times. I don't do well in tunnels, even driving thru short ones.

    Now I must ferry myself up the stairs and into the shower for another day of watch the news. It makes me sweaty







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    1. Ha! Yes the hold your butty with both hands thing is one I know well. Once in Cornwall we got fish and chips from a harbourside chippy and wandered out into the sunshine, wondering why everyone else was packed into the steamy little seating area. Then a gull swooped down, stuck its claws into my battered haddock and made off with the whole thing. Everyone inside laughed as I went back to buy another one. But still, how crisp was that batter, eh?

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    2. Butty - sandwich, honest. I just realised that "hold yout butty with both hands" sounds like a pole-dancer move.

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  16. I'm teaching a class this morning for Writers Digest--back in 2 hours! xoxo

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  17. Reading this was magical! Now I need to get the book...
    Every year we take a short ferry ride (15 minutes) from Portland Maine to Peaks Island where my daughter and her husband have a little cottage. Sometimes we drive on, sometimes we park in Portland (their house is just up the hill from the ferry dock.) There are several ferries that leave from Portland heading out to the many islands in Casco Bay. We took a car ferry in Iceland not too long ago to see puffins, of course.

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    1. Puffins! That would be lovely. Have your read the Jenny Colgan book where there's an orphaned baby puffin called Neil? He's a great character. He only ever says "eep" but he puts a lot behind it.

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    2. I have not... looking it up now...

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    3. It's really a high degree of difficulty to write a good puffin.

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    4. Jenny Colgan is always a fun read. I'll have to look for Neil.

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  18. I once took a ferry from Boston to Provincetown in a storm (they shut down the ferry after our boat left). The bit where you're in "open ocean" only lasted about 15 minutes but they were memorable.

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    1. Hallie, do they have ferry from Boston to Martha's Vineyard?

      Diana

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    2. I bet they were. Aw, Provincetown. I spent a wonderful New year's Eve there once.

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    3. The ferry I've taken to Martha's Vineyard leaves from Falmouth. Ditto the one to Nantucket.

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    4. Yes, there's cool high speed ferry from Boston to Provincetown, and you can go to MV and Nantucket from Wood's Hole, too.

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  19. Catriona, welcome to Jungle Reds! I love taking the ferry! Though I visited Scotland several times, I never took a ferry. When the pandemic is over, it would be lovely to take a ferry to the Island of Gigha ? where my 3x great grandparents were born. The name is Galbreath.

    Speaking of ferries, I used to take the ferry from San Francisco to Tiburon/Sausalito / Angel Island and Alcatraz Island. Have you taken that ferry?

    We took a ferry from England to Norway.

    Speaking of trains, I love the train!

    Diana

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    1. p.s. Catriona, congratulations on the new book! We love Dandy Gliver and Alec Fletcher.

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    2. I totally forgot about Sausalito and Tiburon! They're flied in a separate bit of my brain, I think.

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    3. I think they are separate trips? I remember taking the ferry from San Francisco to Larkspur and taking a cab to the Book Passage in Corte Madera.

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  20. Being in the north San Francisco area, one takes the ferry, if for other reason to say you've done that, but in my case, it used to be part of my job when I worked in the recreation field. Larkspur to Angel Island. Pier 41 to Alcatraz. Sausalito to San Francisco. I did take a round trip to Balboa. Victoria from Seattle. A navy base that my parents had friends station at in Puget Sound. I think one of the ferry services ran boats for whale watching out of San Francisco, which was nicer than fishing boats. But now I can see so many others I can aim for, yearn for, dream about if we every get to venture out....

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    1. Som day...xxx What did you do on the ferry, Deana?

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    2. All the ferries in Washington State sound wonderful!

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    3. Hank: I worked for the recreation division of Santa Rosa Parks and Recreation as coordinator. I organized monthly day trips, some were with San Francisco Ferries. I got to Alcatraz 3 times.... whale watching, Deana

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  21. Forgot one that I want to take. Tiburon to PacBell/AT&T or whatever we are calling it this year to watch a Giants game.

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  22. OK, that settles it, as soon as this COVID thing is done, I'm going back to the UK and ride all of these ferrys! I've ridden the one in Windermere and the Channel Ferry, but the rest. Oh, yes, they deserve a prominent space on the bucket list.

    Favorite ferry? Hum, hard to say, the one between St. Kitts and Nevis was wonderful. The Bomba Charger between St. Thomas and Tortola was not really a ferry as no cars were allowed as I recall, but it was still more fun than flying and no matter what hour you left St. Thomas in the 1970s, alcoholic beverages were on offer. Then there was the ferry between Key West (Stock Island really) and Havana. I don't remember too much about it, but my five year old self was fascinated with the sea spray and the vehicle accompaniment. Who knew then that the ferry's days were numbered.

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    1. Kait! Yes, that St. Kitts to Nevis! They've gotten a little fancier now, and the drivers less likely to terrify the tourists.

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  23. First, hi Catriona, and squeal!!! A new Dandy Gilver!!! I cannot wait and I love love love the cover!!!! But you have made me pine, with your ferries. And I'm sorry to say that I've only been on one of them, the ferry to Skye. There have been quite a few others in my ferry history, however. Harwich to Hook of Holland, ugh. So seasick. The English Channel, ugh, so seasick. Thank heavens for the Chunnel, although I've only done that by train so far. Seattle to Vancouver, another long one. Seattle to the San Juan Islands. San Francisco to Tiburon, many times, as I had family in Tiburon for years.

    But now I want to go on a chain ferry! And I want to know what happens in your adorable tiny harbour! (correct spelling!)

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    1. The Tiny Harbour has GOT to be a book title.

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    2. I like ferries on chains because no one ever feels sick on them and (unless you're scared of water, I suppose) everyone can enjoy the ride.

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  24. Catriona, loved traveling by words with you today! Thank you.Can't wait for the book. My first memorable ferry was on my first (ever, anywhere) trip to Europe after grad school. (I'd been to Canada- border a big 20 miles up the road from home) Hook of Holland to Harwich - yes, I crossed the English Channel on a ferry, so excited I could hardly believe it was really me there. And the most memorable, many decades later? Thurso to the Orkneyw Islands. It was a big car-carrying machine, not quaint, but it felt like a fairy tale. Thanks, UK. Lovely memories. (I liked the old fashioned trains of those early trips too)

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    1. Hm, yes those CalMac ferries that go around the islands of Scotland are not things of beauty. But would you want to set out to Orkney in a small boat???

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    2. Nope. Not in a small boat.The big ferry ride was fun.

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  25. Having issues with posting. We’ve ferried somewhere in western Ireland and taken one from Nova Scotia to Maine eons ago. Frank says we took one across the Mississippi at St Francisville, LA. I don’t remember. The eastern end of Galveston Island to Bolivar peninsula. Aransas Pass, TX to Port Aransas. My sister doesn’t like boats. She was absentmindedly “driving” the ferry sitting behind her steering wheel. On that same trip a people only ferry from PA to St Joseph Island. Absolutely nothing there but sea shells and sand dollars.

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    1. Now there is a backseat driver for you! Hilarious.

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    2. A ferry across the Mississippi sounds marvelous!

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  26. For a dozen years I lived on the selfsame Peaks Island in Maine where Hallie visits her daughter and grandchildren. I commuted to work by ferry every day, including in the winter, when mini-icebergs in the harbor sometimes thunked against the hull (no worries, it's made of steel) as we crossed to or from Portland.

    Diane and I have also taken the long (10-hour, turned into 15 hour) ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia (south of St. John's) Newfoundland. The boat was slooooow because it was running on one engine. We docked at about 2:30 in the morning and the owner of the B&B we'd booked for the night was at the dock waiting for us. Island people are sweet like that.

    We've also ferried many times to Grand Manan in New Brunswick, and took a delightful ferry from County Clare to County Kerry in Ireland. I agree Catriona, it is such a fine way to travel.

    Big congratulations to you on The Turning Tide, a fortuitous title for the day, indeed : )

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    1. I read that as a ferry from Sydney to Argentina and was all set to declare you the winner!

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  27. For a dozen years I lived on the selfsame Peaks Island in Maine where Hallie visits her daughter and grandchildren. I commuted to work by ferry every day, including in the winter, when mini-icebergs in the harbor sometimes thunked against the hull (no worries, it's made of steel) as we crossed to or from Portland.

    Diane and I have also taken the long (10-hour, turned into 15 hour) ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia (south of St. John's) Newfoundland. The boat was slooooow because it was running on one engine. We docked at about 2:30 in the morning and the owner of the B&B we'd booked for the night was at the dock waiting for us. Island people are sweet like that.

    We've also ferried many times to Grand Manan in New Brunswick, and took a delightful ferry from County Clare to County Kerry in Ireland. I agree Catriona, it is such a fine way to travel.

    Big congratulations to you on The Turning Tide, a fortuitous title for the day, indeed : )

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  28. It's always great for Catriona to visit here. And, thanks, Catriona, for a subject that brings back fond memories of my hometown area. We had a ferry just down the road, about 20 minutes in Augusta, Kentucky. Augusta is more famous these days for being the hometown of George Clooney, whose parents still live there (I ate at a table next to Nicky and Nina Clooney at the Beehive Tavern, but we didn't bother them). Anyway, I got to ride on the ferry when I was growing up and thought it was amazing. It crosses the Ohio River from Augusta, Kentucky to a point below Ripley, Ohio (Ripley being home to a famous Underground Railroad station). It's a short ride, but you're on the Ohio River and looking at the beautiful scenery around you and thinking of earlier times in our country when ferries were a normal part of traveling and not just a novelty.

    Now, there is another ferry I've been on, but I don't consider it a true ferry, well, not a car ferry anyway. It's the Key West Express, from Ft. Myers, FL to Key West, FL. I've been on it twice, round-trip (you can take it to Key West and stay as long as you want before the return trip. The boat is a large catamaran, and you can spend your time outside or inside where it's air-conditioned. There's a bar, of course, with burgers and sandwiches and snacks. The trip takes about 3 and 1/2 hours. It's been crowded both trips I took.

    Congratulations, Catriona on the new book. And thanks for sharing all those wonderful ferries and your stories that go with them. Oh, and no, I have never seen a smaller harbor.

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    1. Oh, our Lucy is in Key West right now! I bet she knows about that!

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    2. I'm beginning to believe that really is the smallest harbour. You are all so well-travelled but aren't coming up with tinier ones.

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  29. Of course when I am distracted the super wonderful Catriona appears and shares about ferries. How can I not post when I grew up listening to the peal of the ferry as they departed from the Seattle docks on their way to adventure. Before the cruise ships took over, there was a ferry up the inland passage to Alaska. I still have a few ferry trips nearby. Mostly now I am dreaming of train trips connected to ferry rides. Thank you Catriona for bringing the past to the present. Keep on smooth sailing with the wind behind your back.

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  30. What a lovely sentiment. And how romantic to hear the ferries leaving. That and the trains going through towns are so quintessentially American to me . . .

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